Review Detail

Although I am an avowed Apocalypsies fan, I have to confess that I was skeptical about this one, because I'm really not a poetry fan for the most part. It just never has moved me so much as prose, although I will admit that the best prose does seem to have a lyrical quality to it, so I suppose one could make the argument that all writing is poetry in some sense.

Anyway, this book totally worked for me, and I will definitely be keeping my free copy in my collection. A big part of the reason that I don't like poetry most of the time is that it seems so pompous and self-congratulatory. That totally is not the feeling I got from Love & Leftovers. It's more like Marcie just thinks in poetry; it's who she is.

In fact, I think the poetry is what made the book really work. I didn't much like Marcie, because she did some things that are completely unforgivable in my opinion. She's not a great person by any means. However, because of the format, which totally seems like a window into her character, I could help being drawn in and caring about her, despite wanting to give her a serious shake most of the time.

Love & Leftovers is a beautiful book and, because poems are short, can be read in just a few hours. If you like Sarah Dessen, I think you'll like Love & Leftovers.