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A review by juliettreip
Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber
3.0
A few chapters into this book I decided I was going to hate it. It completely set itself up to be a bland romance between a boy and a girl who had no real connection at all.
And then it surprised me. By acknowledging that there was no connection there.
The ending of the story left me with no reason to really dislike it. My initial problem was that I didn’t like Seth at all, and I didn’t really like Reiko either. Then it became clear that the relationship between them was toxic, and I thought that it was going to be resolved with Reiko realising that she was wrong all along and forgiving Seth for treating her so badly, and it would all end happily ever after. Instead, Reiko acknowledges that, although she didn’t behave well, Seth didn’t either, and that she never really liked him for him anyway. She liked him for what she thought he was. She got out of the toxic relationship, and she grew as a person. She grew into a character that I actually liked.
I actually related a lot to Reiko as well, in the end. I’ve never really read a book that talks about relationships going wrong in this way, but it’s something that’s happened to me, and something that has happened to countless other people. Liking someone, ‘falling’ for someone, romantically or otherwise, because of your false perception of who they are.
So. Surprisingly, I liked this book.
And then it surprised me. By acknowledging that there was no connection there.
The ending of the story left me with no reason to really dislike it. My initial problem was that I didn’t like Seth at all, and I didn’t really like Reiko either. Then it became clear that the relationship between them was toxic, and I thought that it was going to be resolved with Reiko realising that she was wrong all along and forgiving Seth for treating her so badly, and it would all end happily ever after. Instead, Reiko acknowledges that, although she didn’t behave well, Seth didn’t either, and that she never really liked him for him anyway. She liked him for what she thought he was. She got out of the toxic relationship, and she grew as a person. She grew into a character that I actually liked.
I actually related a lot to Reiko as well, in the end. I’ve never really read a book that talks about relationships going wrong in this way, but it’s something that’s happened to me, and something that has happened to countless other people. Liking someone, ‘falling’ for someone, romantically or otherwise, because of your false perception of who they are.
So. Surprisingly, I liked this book.