Love and Other Train Wrecks

by Leah Konen

When their train breaks down during a snowstorm, Noah, a hopeless romantic, and Ammy, who refuses to believe in true love, are forced to travel together to reach their destinations.

• ISBN10: 0062402528
• ISBN13: 9780062402523
• Publish Date: 2 January 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

"Love isn't the answer, a lot of the time. At least not romantic love. Sometimes, the other kind- the loyal kind- is what really matters."

A snowstorm, a train that suddenly stops for no real reason, and two older teenagers trying to get to where they need/want to be. To me, this sounded like such a fun wintery type of read.

I've really grown to love stories that take place over a short amount of time with two people exploring or getting to a certain destination.

In this one, we have Noah and Ammy who both are riding on the AmTrack trying to get to different things.
Noah wants to go and win a girl over and take her out.
While Ammy is trying to make it to her dad's wedding that really isn't a wedding (basically a commitment ceremony). Ammy is also dealing with some things that are happening with her mom and feels guilty about her parents splitting up.

“It makes me feel free like I could get lost in the woods and live my best life or something.”

Noah is so nice and tries to help Ammy, but she was upset still because of everything that was going on at home, so she didn't really care for it. While she wasn't completely rude at times, she also didn't want to tell him where she was going even after they started trying to find a different way to get to their destinations. All Noah knew is that they were going to the same area. With little to work with, and spotty phone coverage for the GPS things go a little wrong, fairly quickly.

"Captain Obvious is nothing without his lesser-known counterpart, Queen Snark."

Overall I enjoyed this book. I was hoping for a little bit more adventure and fewer secrets. Love and Other Train Wrecks takes place over two days and has many miss adventures. I really liked the friendship that Noah and Ammy were starting to have. They are full both full of snarkiness and banter between the two once they start adventuring. Noah is the take charge one who keeps trying to find a way to get to their destinations. Two failed attempts later due to the snow storm, they end up having to stay in a hotel together. This is where we really start to see Ammy opening up a little bit and finally starting to let out everything she's been holding in that has made her seem so angsty throughout most of the book.

Things, of course, happen that upset both of them and make them question what they were starting to feel for each other. Will they keep their new friendship? Or will what they discover make them go there separate ways and never talk about it again? You'll have to read it to find out.

For me I really loved the setting of this book, I love train books, and if you add in snow as well then I am sold. If you know any other books that have those two things please tell me below.

[Sam@WLABB]

I really enjoyed Konen's last book, The Romantics, and had high hopes for this book. I am happy to report, that Love and Other Train Wrecks delighted me in many of the same ways.

•Pro: Noah was a sweet cupcake and I loved him. He was not perfect, as I found out, but he had a huge and beautiful, if slightly misguided, heart.

•Pro: I loved the dynamic between Ammy and Noah. Eavesdropping on their conversations was quite a treat, and seeing them go from strangers to enemies to friends to more warmed my heart.

•Pro: Both Ammy and Noah were nursing some serious guilt, and Konen's slow reveal really had quite an impact.

•Pro: This was a physical and emotional journey for both Ammy and Noah. As they shared their stories with each other, they realized a lot of important things about themselves.

•Pro: There is a lot of bookish love in this story, as both Ammy and Noah are book lovers. I have to award bonus points for that.

•Pro: There were some humorous travel snafus a la Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. I felt bad to for Ammy and Noah, but I also couldn't hold back my laughter.

•Pro: The duel point of view was used quite well, and I was especially fond of when Konen had those little overlaps. I love when we get to experience the same moment from both POVs.

•Pro: I am going to give Konen a round of applause for that big speed bump she threw in there. I did NOT see that coming.

•Pro: The ending is a big YES! from me. If you read this, you will understand a why I liked it so much. (hint: I got closure.)



Overall: This was a trip worth taking! I really enjoyed making this journey with Ammy and Noah as each of them "unpacked" some of their emotional luggage and filled in those spaces with much better things.

*I would like to thank the publisher for the review copy of this book.

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[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

2.5*

I have some of the mixed feelings about this particular book. Obviously the best way to decipher said feelings is with a good old fashioned list.

Things I Liked:

• A train trip! Who doesn't love that idea, it sounds so fun, and kind of a cute, old-fashioned way to meet.



• Shenanigans ensue. Obviously, a mundane train ride does not a novel make. So some stuff has to happen that interrupts said comfy ride. And our main characters have to figure out what to do about it.



• Character development for the win! I did not really love either character in the beginning. Ammy was pretty full of herself, and I couldn't decide if Noah was a doormat or just an outright fool. But, as the book goes on, the characters do begin to realize some things about themselves, so that's good news.



• It was a super quick book and held my attention. 

Things I Did Not:

• So. Much. The Hunger Games Hate. At first, I was mildly irritated, because hi, that is my favorite series of all time, and the characters spend half the damn trip (fine, I am mildly exaggerating, shh) making fun of the books, the movies, and basically using it as a way to insult one another. I understand full well that this is a huge personal preference issue, but I kind of don't like the idea demeaning anyone based on something that they enjoy? It just rubs me the wrong way. And honestly, in a book, it irritates me to be making fun of another book. I could be reading too much into it, sure, but it aggravated me and this is my review, so there you have it.



• This is a very character driven book, and I didn't care for the characters. Ammy is just... ugh. Look, you guys know I am usually super lenient with characters and flaws, because who among us doesn't have flaws. But Ammy was too irritating, too self absorbed, and I just couldn't handle her. Especially while she was making fun of my favorite books. Noah was running around trying to be a different person for some ex-girlfriend. Their relationship was totally unhealthy, and I wanted to yell at him. But he was okay, he didn't really bug me like Ammy did. Like I am totally down with characters having to grow and learn, like Noah. Otherwise, what's the point of the book? But I think for me to like Ammy, she would have needed a personality transplant, and I guess I missed that chapter.

Bottom Line: In a super character driven novel like this, in which we're really only seeing the two main characters, it's hard to love the book if you don't connect to them. And I kind of didn't.

[Amber]

Love and Other Train Wrecks is one of those books that is simply alright. There’s nothing standout about it, in my opinion, but it was an easy read. The two main characters (stupidly) get off a train to Hudson in an attempt to get to their destinations faster, but almost everything that could go wrong does go wrong along the way.

The over the top situations were amusing, but mostly I felt like the characters acted like idiots throughout most of it. It didn’t frustrate me at all, but I was rolling my eyes a lot because so many of these situations could have been avoided, especially if they had just stayed on the bloody train. And none of this “they’re just teenagers!” stuff. They’re 17, not 13. It was stupid.

I didn’t like Ammy, the female main character, all that much. Mostly it was because she is a book snob, and looked down on the guy for reading The Hunger Games. She’s one of those people who only reads classics, and thinks YA is dumb and bestsellers are generic. Like, get over yourself, love. You’re in a YA book.

Otherwise, I really liked the overall feel of the book. It’s set during a snowy winter, and it felt very Christmas-y and atmospheric. That was nice.