Love and Other Perishable Items

by Laura Buzo

Love is awkward, as fans of Rainbow Rowell and E. Lockhart well know. Funny and heartbreaking in equal measure, this grocery store romance was a Morris Award Finalist for Best YA debut.

"Smart, honest and full of achingly real characters. And it made me laugh. What else would you want in a book?" —Melina Marchetta, Printz Award-winning author

From the moment Amelia sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, 15, is 15.

Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?

Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break your heart can still crack you up.

"A sweet and scathingly funny love story." —Kirkus, Starred Review

• ISBN10: 0307929744
• ISBN13: 9780307929747
• Publish Date: 10 December 2013 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ember
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 256
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780307929747

Reviews

[Angie]

I really need to read more Australian YA novels. Love and Other Perishable Items was just cute, relatable, and I love reading stories set in other countries. I remember being 15 and having a crush on a 20 year old guy. He was nothing like Chris; in fact, he wasn't exactly the kind of guy you should crush on in the first place. But most teenage crushes don't make sense. Anyway, I could relate to Amelia on this. She's pining after Chris almost as soon as he starts training her for her cash register position. Chris is friendly and sweet, so of course Amelia can't help herself. Unfortunately for her, Chris has her firmly in the friend zone, but maybe he'll come to see her differently?

Amelia and Chris' story is awkward, adorable, and totally believable. In general, 15 and 22 year olds just don't go together. Amelia knows this, but she hopes otherwise. Love and Other Perishable Items is told from both of their perspectives which made it that much more enjoyable. Often we don't get to really know the love interest. We just see how the heroine views him. Well, in this case we get to know the real Chris through his diary entries. I wish more books used diary entries! I really love that writing style. Each time period (spanning a year) is essentially told twice--first by Amelia and then by Chris--but it doesn't feel like everything is just being repeated by Chris. They each have their own lives outside of the grocery store. It was definitely interesting to see what Amelia and Chris thought about the same events, especially the Christmas flowers incident.

Love and Other Perishable Items also stands out from other YA romances because Amelia actually has meaningful conversations with Chris. I was surprised by some of the depth mixed in with the adorable fluffiness that is Amelia's crush. These two have lengthy discussions on literature and feminism, but it doesn't feel forced or thrown in to make them seem more sophisticated. From what we learn about Amelia and Chris, it's clear that these are topics they're both interested in. They also talk about their relationship with their parents and the conflicts within them. It was quite refreshing. I also loved Chris' entry about presenting an edited form of yourself to the public, even friends. In order to get more of Chris' attention, Amelia does edit herself a bit to seem more mature, failing miserably though.

The ending of Love and Other Perishable Items was realistic, and I don't think any other conclusion would have worked. The author doesn't compromise either character by having them make a decision that goes against who they are, which I liked. I was a little put off by Amelia's last two pages. I wanted to shake some sense in to her, but then when I thought about it, her reaction makes perfect sense. It's not how I wanted her to act, but it is how I believed she would. Basically, this book is definitely worth the read.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo takes us into the minds and lives of two young people over the course of year. Buzo delivers humor, heartbreak and beautifully captures youth on the verge of adulthood in all of it awkward glory.

The tale begins when we meet Amelia a fifteen year old middle child who works at the local grocery. Her co-worker Chris is a twenty-one year old college student with an outgoing personality whom she secretly crushes on. The author takes us into both of their lives over the course of a year as she fleshes them out. We see a lot of firsts for Amelia and get to see things from Chris’s point of view making this an interesting tale. I would not call this a love story but a coming of age story.

I liked Amelia from the start, she is a bright and naïve "good" girl. She does not have a lot of “street cred” and is at times socially awkward, for instant she does know what a bowl is. Her crush on Chris is sweet, and the descriptions and fantasies she had were hilarious. Chris is exactly what you would expect a twenty-one year old boy to be. He is charming, aloof and still lives at home. He is still smarting from his break-up with his first love and longs for the perfect relationship. The prospect of finishing college and moving on with the next phase of his life scares him and I found his perspective interesting. The other employees added to the tale and were all at different phases in their lives with unique personalities.

I laughed at how they referred to the grocery store where they all work as “The Land of Dreams”. The relationship between Chris and Amelia is sweet and at times downright adorable. I loved their banter and her awkward blushes. There isn’t a lot of dialogue its more their perspectives and thoughts. We literally experience life through their eyes and I think that is what makes this so unique. The tale is first told through Amelia and then we slip back in time to see it through Chris’s eyes. Some may argue that not a lot happens, but I think the author beautifully depicted youth for a lot of us and her message was special. While we do not get any real closure at the end Buzo does give us hope.

I would recommend Love and Other Perishable Items to fans of coming of age stories. While I didn’t flip over this, I certainly appreciated and enjoyed it. I laughed and thought back to my own firsts. Buzo’s writing style was unique and I enjoyed this first Australian author read.

I want to thank Random House for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer