Review: Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

Title: Love & Leftovers
Author: Sarah Tregay
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: December 27, 2011
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: ARC Tour

My wish
is to fall
cranium over Converse
in dizzy, daydream-worthy
love.

When her parents split, Marcie is dragged from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She leaves behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father.

By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this "vacation" has become permanent. She starts at a new school where a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up. But understanding love, especially when you've watched your parents' affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? Can you even know it until you've lost it?

Marcie's story is told via a notebook that she fills with poetry - a novel in verse. The style is easy to read and does a great job of letting the reader into Marcie's thoughts.

Marcie is a character that I both liked and disliked at varying intervals, and that, I think, is a good thing. She has a quirky voice that is tempered with angst. Some of her actions irritate me, but the verse still makes me sympathetic to the reasons behind those actions so that understanding and forgiveness come easily. For a while, I was worried that her confused behavior would be condoned or that she wouldn't suffer any sort of repercussions for her choices so that it would look as though one can act however one feels like it with little to no consequences, but I am pleased by the way that she is made to work through her situation and I am also happy with the way that things turn out for her in the end.

The story is told through Marcie's poetry, but it is still easy to get a good feel for the other characters based upon Marcie's feelings and thoughts regarding each one of them. Those feelings are made clear: frustration and pity for her mother, confusion regarding her father, longing for her friends back home, and the loneliness that evaporates when a boy at her new school starts paying attention to her. The plot focuses on these feelings that Marcie is going through as her parents split apart, and the ways in which she reacts and adjusts to these changes happening in her life.

I enjoyed Love & Leftovers. It is a quick read with delightful verse. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fast, cute story and to lovers of novels in verse.