Book: Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan

★★★/★★★★★

"Relationships are tricky. You need to speak the same language. Or learn each other's, but that doesn't always work."

Initially, I thought I won't be liking Josie that much. And true enough, I was halfway done and she still irritated me for being too smart and stubborn! The fact that she needed to analyze and know EVERYTHING made me dislike her more. 

The book follows Josie's story and her struggle to understand why her sister, Kate, is marrying a man named Geoff. Josie hates Geoff because he's a 'know-it-all' kind of guy and despite Kate's effort on bringing her sister and her fiancé close, she miserably fails. And so begins Josie's quest on understanding what Love really means that Kate insists that she and Geoff are in love with each other. With the help of her family and friends, Josie tries to navigate different languages just to understand what the language of love really is.

“I can speak the languages of lots of groups and learn others with some ease, but no matter how fluent I am, when I'm not speaking Josie, I am merely acting. We all are when we interact outside of our natural cultures. It is inevitable, because it is impossible to be fully yourself in a foreign language.”

Ugh! Did I mention that I hate Kate? She's just too impossible to like and I give it to her parents for being so patient to her. I didn't connect with her at all! And I don't understand why it was so hard for her to just accept the fact that Kate loved Geoff no matter how different they were. Maybe it was the romantic in me but didn't she know that 'opposites attract' and 'love conquers all'? 

What I did like in the book were her relationship with her sisters and Stu. I liked that Josie was close to her sisters and they shared everything with each other because that's what I do with my sisters. We share everything EVERYTHING with each other! And I related when they fought but then forgave each other and even those little threats they give each other when they fought felt normal. I also understand why Kate wanted Josie to like Geoff but Josie was just too stubborn to accept him. It was like once she made up her mind on something, nothing could change it anymore. And Stu? He's probably the only character I liked in the book. The moment he was introduced in the book, I knew what the ending would be. Tsk! 

“Stu, you’re my best friend in the world. I don’t want to lose that.” 
“You’re the person I see myself with forever. I don’t want to lose that.”

I think Josie was just too much for me that's why I didn't enjoy this book that much. She was fifteen, okay, sixteen and smart but she acted so childish at times. And for me, being smart and childish are not really a combo. So 2.75 stars for this book!