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| All Stories are Love Stories |
Title: All Stories Are Love Stories
Author: Elizabeth Percer
Publication Date: 3/22/16
Pages: 368
How I Found It: TLC Book Tours
Date Completed: 3/24/16
Summary: Max, Vashti, and Gene all find their lives at risk when the big one finally hits San Fransisco. In the midst of the physical catastrophes and the upheaval, they seek to understand and affirm the relationships that shape them.
What I Thought: Percer's writing is unexpectedly beautiful. I never going into a book hoping for mediocrity, but it so often is there. To find, instead, such a lovely command of words and expression is always a delightful surprise.
Set against the backdrop of a massive earthquake and the ensuing fire, Percer offers up three equally engaging, equally broken protagonists. They are so different, yet so similar in their desires. Each wants happiness and reconciliation in their most cherished relationship, even though it may seem impossible for some. The details of these love stories are revealed little by little. The climax of the plot comes in tandem with the climax of understanding for the reader. For me, this parallelism played beautifully.
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| Elizabeth Percer |
Percer's decision to use an earthquake as her plot device is interesting. These same stories could have played out in a variety of ways. After all, the book is about the characters, not the destruction or devastation caused by the earthquake. It is merely the vehicle she uses for her character development. Personally, I am a huge sucker for disaster movies (the cheesier and more ridiculous, the better), so having a massive earthquake in the story was a good hook to pull me in. I enjoyed that Percer kept relating her fictional quake back to the real one in 1906. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that her fiction could easily be fact.
I really enjoyed this book. Percer's focus on her characters and her ability to express their hearts are enchanting. The book is set in San Fransisco, so there's a wide range of lifestyles and worldviews portrayed; I found that to be an important part in expressing her thesis. "All Stories Are Love Stories," after all, inherently speaks to everyone's story.
*To read other bloggers' thoughts on All Stories Are Love Stories, check out the full tour schedule.*
Rating: ★★★★☆
Will I Re-Read: Probably at some point, yes
A Reduced Review: A beautiful, character-driven exploration of love and loss, set against the backdrop of a massive San Francisco earthquake.
I'm a huge sucker for disaster movies as well, so that aspect of the book really appeals to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour!