Lovesick Paperback – June 14, 2007

I had a hard time reading derails about a girl making herself puke in detail.

Really good book.

I think I read maybe two chapters. I just could not get into it at all! Not a book I would recommend if your looking for a page turner from the get go.Maybe after three or four chapters, it gets better? Not sure but I just couldn't hang on long enough to wait for it to get better.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So underrated. Read this book in high school, college, and post grad. It's not complex, but if you want to hangout with really likable people in a digestible read, this is the book for you. I wish Jake wrote more books.

While there are things I liked and things I didn't like about this book, one thing's for sure: LoveSick is definitely different - different from anything I've read before, and different from what I'd expected. The first thing that surprised me is that this novel is based on a true story. In the beginning, the author talks about how he'd heard about Erica's and Ted's story actually happening and how he'd decided to turn it inot a novel, which is crazy - the idea for LoveSick is just so unlikely, something that only happens in books and movies. (Actually, I didn't find that out only once I read the book, mfay2 had already mentioned that in her review, but I'd forgotten and still think it's an interesting fact.)What makes this book so different is the super-descriptive writing. Everything is described down to the smallest detail, especially Erica's bulimia. The reader gets to know every step of what she does in meticulous detail - choosing a store to buy the food, choosing what food to buy, buying the food, calculating the calories, organizing the food, choosing a toilet, cleaning that toilet, setting a timer, and so on. I know, this sounds so weird, but it's actually really interesting - that's a way of looking at bulimia I'd never thought about before. For some reason, this style works - it's blunt and crude but somehow fascinating. Even the back of the cover is that blunt. On the back of the book there's a picture of - I'm not even kidding - a toilet. I know, it's weird and disgusting... but for some reason, I love it.I also loved that this book takes place in college. Why are there so few YA books about college students? As a high school senior, reading about college life would be really interesting to me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So I was really happy to see this book deals with college life.Another thing that makes this book unique are the e-mails and chatroom discussions in between the different passages. At first, I didn't get the point of those e-mails, and found them kind of boring, but later on, I loved them. I especially liked reading the sessions Erica has with her therapist. The two play chess online for Erica's sessions and talk about, well, everything. There's just something about those conversations - they're so real, and I just loved them.While I really liked some aspects of LoveSick, there are things I disliked, too. The plot is only okay, in my opinion - it's very predictable, and only at the end did it get really exciting. I found the characters to be somewhat underdeveloped - for the most part, Ted is defined by being alcoholic and Erica by being bulimic, and we don't know that much more about them. Despite reading from both of their perspectives, I didn't feel like I knew them all that well. The fact that they're defined by alcoholism/bulimia and don't have many other characteristics made it hard for me to relate or connect to either one of the characters. And the secondary characters... well, there are no real secondary characters, except for Erica's father and Charles, the ones who 'hire' Ted. I would have liked to know a little more about some of the other college students, and I found it somewhat unrealistic how Ted and Erica almost only spent time with one another and didn't get to know many other people. That being said, I did love Ted and Erica's relationship - the way they talk to and treat each other made me smile.Despite those negative aspects, I do recommend LoveSick if you're in the mood for something different and unique. While I don't think the descriptive and blunt style will work for everyone, it definitely worked for me!

I should start by saying that according to the author, this book is based on a true story. And that was a surprise for me because the summary sounds so ficticious;something that can't happen in real live. Obviously it wasn't!The book is about this guy named Ted York, a high school graduate that had everything going for him. He played basketball and even had a scholarship for college. But he has a problem: he's alcoholic. And during one short trip to pick up a drink, he got into a bad car accident that damaged his knee. And just like that, his scholarship was taken from him. Now he goes to work and attends AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings. And he feels stuck, with nowhere to go.But one day, a man named Michael knocks on his door with the opportunity of a lifetime. He would go to college, with all expenses paid, if only he would be the look out for this rich girl, Erica. Sounds easy enough, right?Erica has bulimia and his father wants to make sure that she could handle being in college by herself. So, Ted after asking questions and talking to his dad about it, accepts the offer and that decision would change his life forever.Okay, a Young Adult book that takes place in college? I love it already! The plot was so interesting and unique! The story is told very creatively. There's only four chapters because it's divided by months. It takes place from August to November. And inside those chapters we get Ted's and Erica's point of views, emails exchanged from Erica's father, Charles, and the guy who knocked on Ted's door, Michael and Yahoo Chess chat/game conversations with Erica and her psychiatrist.The book is very descriptive, but not in a bad way. I love how the author told the story. We get to see Erica's struggles and let me tell you, the act of eating a donut has never been more detailed as this one. I can't relate to Erica, because I don't suffer from bulimia, but it was really interesting seeing it from her eyes because the author describes the whole process she goes through. From picking out the food she's going to eat, to cleaning the toilet she's going to use, to when she's pucking it all out. It's kind of gross but you're so amazed that you're reading something to detailed and usually something that a lot of people hide, you're just so intrigued!I didn't get how Ted and Erica's relationship worked. I mean, in the beginning it was great, normal and slow building. That was to be expected. But then something happened and they both had feelings for each other, and it felt rushed and I was like, "Huh? When did that happened?" I thought I missed something, some part of the book which explained the big why that was happening. Because that time they spend together and the short conversations they had didn't explained the impact of the things that followed. I don't know if I'm explaining myself. Okay, like you see this guy and girl in the distance walking together, each keeping their distance, then you turn around and blink, and turn around again and you see them in full make out mode, and you're like, "What? Huh?" You get what I'm trying to say? I just wish we had more biuld up to their relationship.But that's not to say I didn't enjoy this book. I was so into it in the last chapters. I'm still surprised it was a true story! I have to admit that I did some research to see if it was really true, but I couldn't find anything. This book was so different from anything I've read. Definitely worth checking out.