Love Crunches Us

So here, we go: the first book completed for my 2011 Book Challenge. I really wanted my first-read book to be a blockbuster one, either commercially, or artistically. But it turns out that I finished one that is more subtle. THE BIG CRUNCH is a YA (Young Adult) title, but there is a big trend nowadays for established authors to write YA literature. Pete Hautman, the author of this book is no lightweight - he's won a National Book Award.  


THE BIG CRUNCH is a simple love story. And it has no gimmicks - no vampires, no angels with wings, no zombies. However, I think everyone will relate to the story it tells, and it is of your first love. Most of our stories have no frills - we just meet someone, things happen, and then boom, before we know it we just wake up one day that we are head over heels in love with someone. The book captures that simplicity, but it is not without depth. We feel the gravity of it in the book, and we realize how it changes our life forever. The story may seem ordinary, and it is, but that makes it more relatable. We will see ourselves instantly in any or both of the characters. I liked the book a lot, it has an effortless charm that will have you hooked instantly. It made me reminisce about when I was younger, and I could just easily fall into my emotions. At my age now, I don't have the luxury, or the energy to do that anymore. It is a perfect first book for my challenge: in moving forward, we need to look back and see how far we have traveled, to give us the insight to where we are going. The book will not change people's lives, but it will just make them *feel* their lives fuller. 


Here is the book description:



Jen and Wes do not "meet cute." They do not fall in love at first sight. They do not swoon with scorching desire. They do not believe that they are instant soul mates destined to be together forever.

This is not that kind of love story.

Instead, they just hang around in each other's orbits...until eventually they collide. And even after that happens, they're still not sure where it will go. Especially when Jen starts to pity-date one of Wes's friends, and Wes makes some choices that he immediately regrets.




BC/1