Love & Olives
By: Jenna Evans Welsch
Published Year: 2021
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 506
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Santorini felt like an island holding its breath. As if it were keeping in a secret...
Liv Varanakis doesn’t like to think about her father much, which makes sense—he fled to Greece when she was only eight, leaving her with just a few painful memories of their shared love for the lost city of Atlantis. So when teenage Liv suddenly receives a postcard from her father, who explains that National Geographic is supporting a documentary about his theories on Atlantis—and asks if she will fly out to Greece and help—Liv is less than thrilled.
When she arrives in gorgeous Santorini, things are just as awkward as she'd imagined. There are so many questions, so many emotions that flood to the surface after seeing her father for the first time in years. Liv doesn’t want to get sucked back into her father's world. She also definitely doesn’t want Theo, her father’s charismatic so-called protégé, to witness her struggle.
Even so, she can't help but be charmed by everything Santorini has to offer—the beautiful sunsets, the turquoise water, the sun-drenched villages, and the delicious cuisine. But not everything on the Greek island is as perfect as it seems. Because as Liv slowly begins to discover, her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important.
First Impressions
This is technically the third book in a series, but the books are all standalone novels. I was really excited wen I saw this was coming out because I had really enjoyed the two previous stories (Love & Gelato and Love & Luck). The cover fits right in with the others and I was excited about a story that took place in Greece.
What I thought
Holy cow this book was long. This book was about 500 pages and, unfortunately, felt like it.
Olive/Liv is in the summer before her senior year of high school. Everything is perfectly planned from applying to college to going on a summer trip with her boyfriend, until she receives a postcard from her father who left 9 years ago, asking her to come help him in Greece. Her mom insists she goes, and all of a sudden she’s on a plane to Santorini.
First and foremost, I appreciate that while Liv did have some protest about going she wasn’t whiney about it. It’s always hard for me to read books where teenage characters are forced abroad and they’re just so angry about it. I understand some of the frustration and disappointment, especially for those characters that have plans, but I would’ve killed to be sent abroad as a teenager so it often comes across as selfish and privileged. Luckily, Liv never came off that way to me.
I truly enjoyed this story, I just felt like it was a bit long. I would’ve liked it much more if about 100-150 pages had been trimmed out. The first 200-300 pages I was very into it and wanted to follow Liv, Theo, and her dad on their adventure to find Atlantis. But then it just felt like, are we there yet? So the last 200 pages of the book I found myself skimming a lot and, honestly, the last 100 pages the story was really good. But at that point I just found myself a little over it.
Like I mentioned, I did enjoy Liv. I liked learning about her dad and the reason why her dad left. The book followed a 26 chapter format where each chapter started with an object that Liv’s dad left behind when he left. I really liked that idea and looked forward to the beginning of each new chapter because of that. I do wish they had worked on their issues a little sooner, but again, I think this was because of the length of the book. I did, however, enjoy the slow burn of the friendship of Liv and Theo.
This is a cute, classic summer YA tale of growth and finding oneself. I didn’t like it as much as I remember liking the first two, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad in any way. It also probably didn’t help that I started this book just after finishing a book I loved. The writing was good, the characters enjoyable, and the story, while predictable still felt fresh and fun. If only it had been about 150 pages shorter I think I would’ve loved it. I’m looking forward to more books in this series and can’t wait to see where we travel to next.