There was a tiny little shelf and I remember noticing that half of the books were about cheerleaders. A lot of conversations could have or should have happened earlier to get to the good stuff toward the end. In addition, this is definitely a ‘it’s not the book, it’s me thing,’ but I also wasn’t super invested in the Atlantis sub-plot. I get the part where the chapters represent the 26 things on Olive’s list but does this story really need 26 chapters?

I'm Lauren, d girl who can almost always be found reading a book, screaming at the Carolina Panthers, and eating too much pizza.

To me, the best part of the story were facts surrounding Atlantis, that made me feel like I was getting something out of the story, that I've learned something. Love and Olives’s story revolved around the theme of losing inhibitions and forgiveness, whereas Love and Gelato was centered around grief and confusion and looking for guidance. That all goes downhill when Liv receives a letter from her dad, who left them when she was 8 to go back to Greece and hasn’t been in contact with them since.

In 2020 where we can barely go between different states in the US, I was eager to read a book set overseas in a different pandemic-less time. She’s got a hot senior boyfriend, she’s figured out her personal style and pulls it off with aplomb, she’s got a great stepdad and half brother, with another one on the way.Welch spoke with PW about the importance of setting, the place of romance in YA, and her journey to publication. I loved that they struggled in the beginning and had a fallout because yea, she did have a boyfriend at the time and still didn’t want to leave him. Simply sautéing whole olives in extra virgin olive oil and serving them warm brings out their most flavorful characteristics; with the addition of fresh lemon peel and sprigs of verdant rosemary, they are are oh so juicy and simply bursting with flavor.