Customer Reviews

Love Will Tear Us Apart: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Heard about this book from a friend and have been thanking him ever since. Great characters, great story, great writing. Rainone does a wonderful job inviting us into the complicated lives of a group of childhood friends by splitting the narrating among four of the main characters.

It is witty, smart writing that truly captures the voice of today's mid-20's generation, and truly captures the reader. Couldn't put this book down. A great summer read!

A great read from start to finish, Rainone's Love Will Tear Us Apart is a coming-of-age novel whose great storytelling and pop culture references should set off the nostalgia alarm in anyone who grew up in the 80's, spent hours watching cheesy Saturday morning cartoons or The Neverending Story, or can vividly remember where they were when they heard Biggie, Tupac or Kurt Cobain died.

Through a series of flashbacks inspired by a wedding playlist, Love Will Tear Us Apart beautifully, yet honestly, tells the story of a group of friends and their, at sometimes awkward, journey from elementary school to adulthood. I dare anyone between the ages of 18-35 to convince me that they can't see a little piece of themselves in at least one of the main protagonists who, in their early-to-mid-twenties, have still not realized that for the most part they're still immature kids.

HIGHLY recommended!

I loved this book. I've always loved stories that take place from multiple perspectives, and Love will tear us Apart tells an engaging story from the perspectives of incredibly vivid characters. I loved the characters, at times; hated them at times; and empathized with them throughout -- and mostly just found the story incredibly entertaining and enjoyable. I also thoroughly enjoyed the trip down memory lane, the at times painful trip back to high school, and the music that weaves it all together. I highly recommend this amazing first novel by Sarah Rainone!

Hilarious and heartbreaking. An absorbing portrait of the ways in which the past forms the present through the eyes of four very different childhood friends reunited at a wedding. Incredibly real, smart, and funny in new and unexpected ways. If you grew up in the `80s and `90s, this is a must-read.

Although my daughter tells me I can not write an unbiased review of her book, Love Will Tear Us Apart,a 'generation-X' meets The Big Chill type of novel, I will attempt to do so. The characters are well developed throughout the storyline, of six friends returning home for a typical Irish-Italian wedding of two of the friends. The characters are described through their own personal music playlists as they come to life through past experiences that they each shared. The book is geared to the 25-35 year old age group, but sixty year olds will also be impressed with the way the author describes the 80's, 90's and present day dealings of her generation. It is humorous, sad and very well written. As mentioned, although a biased reviewer, I think you will enjoy the ups and downs of six very different individuals who all share a common thread of dealing with life's challenges.

I came across this first novel by chance, loved the cover, loved the title (no Joy Division fan should be put out by it - it's true to the spirit of the band), bought it, and read it in a single sitting. The book's about music and how it reconnects us to our past, telling the story of four twentysomethings who went to high school together in the 80s and early 90s. In one way or another, post-college life hasn't really worked out all that well for any of them, so when they meet again a few years down the line at a wedding, there are plenty of opportunities to reminisce about the past and try to figure out why things have turned out the way they have. Sounds potentially maudlin, but is in fact a great, unsentimental read because the author does an amazing job at capturing the - very different - voices of the four main characters (two guys, two girls). There's a great rhythm to the novel, too, so in the end it's not just about music, but in itself a piece of music. If you're looking for fresh and smart writing, look no further!

This story was so tired, so done before, and its modern twist, in terms of language and lifestyle, was just atrocious. If you're anything like me, you read stories to get away from the morons of everyday life whose vocabularies don't extend beyond "Dude, hook me up wit some blow..." Welcome to the mind of every single character is this book...

In the very first section, Ben introduces us to Dan with many less than charming pet names: "Mr. Dan," "Daniel-san," "My boy Dan," and "Sir Dan" are just several. Beyond gimmicky. Additionally, every one of the characters irritating voices was the same. Without reading the name at the beginning of each chapter, I'd have no idea who was speaking. Very poor characterization. And while I wanted to feel sorry for these characters who had somehow lost their way in life, many were just completely unlikable.

Using music as a thread throughout the story has been done, writing about the drama surrounding a wedding has been done, using a group of friends to tell the story has been done; in this case, it was just done badly. A fine substitute for a soap opera or People magazine, but not if you're looking for anything of real substance.