Love and Other Theories audiobook

I so love this quote:"According to Shelby, the longer you know someone, the more time they have to let you down. But sometimes, the longer you know someone, the more time they have to surprise you."

Love and Other Theories was one of my most anticipated YA contemporary reads for December and because of that I feel I need to be completely honest with this review.While I enjoyed this read, it left me feeling sad and a little bit angry. Sad for girls who feel they need to play games and have a misconstrued idea about what love means and sad for those boys that give them those ideas and thoughts.To be honest, I am still not exactly sure if I loved Aubrey and her friends but I do know that I loved Nathan and my heart broke for him numerous times throughout the story.I don't think I quite have all my thoughts and feelings together over whether I liked this story or hated it.Like I said earlier, there were parts that made me angry and parts that made me sad and very little left me smiling.The writing was fabulous but the messages weren't always great and the girl's attitude and ideas (their theories) about dating, boys, and falling in love were worse. I wanted to shake some of them and help open their eyes to the boys that weren't worth the time and especially, to the boys that were. I didn't like that Brey went along with things that she shouldn't have. That she should have followed her heart so many times and didn't and because of it, hurt a lot of others along the way. I didn't like that this didn't end on an upbeat and happy note and...well. I really don't even now how to express how much it is possible to love a book and hate it at the same time, but there you have it. I loved this and I hated it but because of that, I still have no idea how to rate it.How do you rate something that you both loved because of the wonderful writing and because Brey did grow up and she did change, but hated because it was so awful seeing what these girls were doing to themselves and others around them?I honestly still don't know but I will say this, the writing was fabulous and the messages while sometimes sad, weren't all bad, they were and are a very realistic part of what it is like growing up, a huge part of how you find out what you want, what you need, in life, so for that this deserves four stars.

P.S.: Apologize for the allovertheplace review. It’s hard getting my thought together!I’m going to be 100% honest–I wasn’t expecting to love this one. It sounded a bit corny with the theory of Don’t Fall in Love. The characters, even from the synopsis, struck me as the kinds of characters who grow from being bitches to being human, and I’m not always a fan of those stories. And Love and Other Theories honestly wasn’t my favorite at first…but oh man. It was amazing and stunning and gorgeous and so much more complex than I could even imagine.I started out as not-a-huge-fan. The main character and all her friends were undoubtedly bitchy and stand-offish and cruel. I wasn’t in love with the way time passed in the story and how we were left hanging so much at the end of the chapter. The romance with Nathan seemed a bit rushed…and then I read more and I realized how complex each of Aubrey’s friends were. They were cruel and they were terrible and their skepticism of love was crushing, but so were they. They were so complex under their layers of fun and drinking and passing guys around and it was just…heartbreaking. Bass’s writing ended up being utterly unique in the way it was written and I just fell in love with that. And Nathan? Nathan broke my heart more times than I could count.I, honestly, didn’t even notice when I started to love this book. It was such a small thing–I was close to DNFing it, then realized that it’d become decent…so I might as well continue reading. And then I read and I read and I fell in utter love. The romance in this is slow building and heart racing. We know they fall in love and from what it looks like, it’s almost instant–the fact that he’s so “different”. But there’s so much more than that and you can practically feel Nathan and Aubrey’s emotions leaping off the page into you. You feel a swell of adoration, then a sudden burst of despair, and everything all over again. View Spoiler »Aubrey. Aubrey was such a fantastic voice throughout the story. We see her breaking down to Nathan. We see her starting to love him and break away from her theories. We see Nathan coming out of his shell. They break each others’ hearts and fix them all over again and honestly, I can’t say more than that because everything that happens are just so intertwined with each other it’s hard not to spoil anything. But there were so many moments where I swear my heart stopped and moments where I screamed into my pillow in frustration and there were definitely moments where tears managed to leak out of my eyes. The story inside is so much…I don’t want to say darker than I expected, but it was different from what I expected. It was compelling and gorgeous and it’s so hard not to just sing praises for this book because of how much I absolutely adored it. It’s not a book with happy endings, but it’s not a book about tragedies and disasters–it’s just about loving and loves and the things that hurt us and the things that help.Love and Other Theories is a romance and it isn’t. It’s a book about falling in and out of love once, twice, maybe even three times. It’s about rebounds and second chances and maybe even third chances. First loves, last loves, new chances, and old mistakes–behind the pretense of what seems like maybe a light hearted read, there’s a simply mind-blowingly, breathtakingly, utterly stunning novel that broke my heart over and over. One of my absolute favorites of the year I don’t think this review can even express how much I adored this book and how many emotions these complicated characters handed over to me.

This is one of the best romances I've ever read!And, that's because it was so much more than a romance. I don't want to spoil it or anything...but the end is super empowering and unique for YA contemporary.Definitely read this book! It's both enjoyable and gut wrenching at the same time.

This book reminds me a little bit of 17 First Kisses, a little bit of Before I Fall, and a little bit of the movie Mean Girls. And… I love it. I’ve read a few not-so-favorable reviews of this novel, reviews that knock MC Aubrey and her friends for being mean and shallow and (gasp) slutty. Just… ugh. (Have I mentioned that the “unlikeable teen girl” is one of my most loathed literary gripes?) Admittedly, Aubrey and her BFFs are not perfect. They make some choices that are dangerous and selfish and worrisome and immature, but who hasn’t? These girls have reasons for behaving as they do, and it’s their unapologetic realness (the good, the bad, and the ugly) that makes me a big fan of this debut. Along with characters who leap of the page, Love & Other Theories brims with earnest romance and unavoidable loss and enviably authentic voice, plus an examination of that pivotal time in high school when you start to become the person you’re meant to be — when you feel powerless and confused and you’re grappling with identity and life’s just hard. Alexis Bass captures it perfectly. (Also, Trip. I adore Trip!)

***If you want more, you have to give less***This Book left me in tears, it was probably One of the more realistic YA contemporary books I have read. I'm kind of disappointed this book has such low ratings, because even though these girls weren't always kind to each other, they were definitely real. Aubrey, Was such a good character, we really could understand where she was coming from. I think being a teenage girl is hard, you want to please everyone around you, and sometimes you do that at your own detriment.. And I think when I came down to it, even though this group of girls has some pretty ridiculous rules, and did some pretty mean things to one another, they definitely truly cared for each other. I also might be in the minority, because I wasn't always crazy about Nathan, I'm not sure if he even deserved Aubrey. On the other hand(view spoiler)[ I definitely liked Trip, I was cheering for him entire book, and that ended, I actually cried!!! (hide spoiler)]

Actual rating - 3.5It took me a while to warm to the main characters, but when I did, I really liked them.There was a few parts in this that dragged a bit, so I lost interest at points. Apart from those bits though it was an enjoyable read. Overall, A decent read.

Alexis Bass's Love And Other Theories is about this girl named Aubrey who decides along with her group of friends to date as if they were boys. Read my full review here Link goes live 3/27/2017

Eeeeeek been waiting so long for this cover and for this book to enter the world! I was lucky enough to read this once upon a time while interning and it's so phenomenal. So excited for the finished version!

Challenging. Thought-provoking. So real.

Received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book. It is my true opinion only. This was a great contemporary story about friendship, love, moving on and moving forward for the future.I really enjoyed this storyline and characters. At times I didn't like Nathan because of his actions. And Shelby I was a bit touch and go on. It was fun, and packed with giggles as well as seriousness. It went from light and happy times to dark times so vastly.Completely packed full of emotions. This is one book you need to check out.My only criticism is for me it felt a bit long and could have easily been a bit shorter as certain events seemed stretched out. It does have short chapters though, which is great.The ending of this book is one of those that has to be controlled by your imagination. A bit like with Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. Overall was a great read and leaves you with a smile on your face.Review also here: Kitkatscanread

I loved this book! As someone else above said, it does have deceit plot line, but unlike the other reviewer, I thought that's what makes the book real. I also have a history with and strong personal feelings against deceit and am often turned off by plot lines with betrayal. That being said, this book does not do that. It doesn't romanticize deception, it instead include it in the reality of what might happen in love, especially if you shield yourself from the realities of love by using theories to mask real feeling and emotion. And at the end of the day, the characters are NOT okay with the betrayal, but that realization is part of the process of love and learning. I fell in love with the characters, I laughed, I cried, and I loved every second. I strongly recommend this book.

Broke my heart and left me sleepless. A fresh, original, realistic look at what it means to love and grow.