Living with the past can be difficult, even at fifteen...
Jenna doesn’t want to betray her friends and won’t reveal the truth behind her exclusion from school, so she is sent away to live with her aunt in a sleepy countryside village. It’s there she meets Gabriel, who seems so genuine and different from other people she knows. But she is wary of him at first- lately boys have been nothing but trouble for Jenna and Gabe can be moody and withdrawn.
Despite her caution, Jenna can’t help falling in love with Gabriel, and the longer she spends with him, the more deeply in love she falls, Could he be her soul mate? He seems to be the only who understands Jenna and doesn’t leap to conclusions. But then she discovers that Gabriel is living with a deep secret of his own...
Siendo honesta, es el primer libro al cual le doy 3 estrellas. ¿Qué puedo decir? La sinopsis es mejor que el libro en sí.
Primero que nada, Jenna, la protagonista quiere pasarse de tonta. Gabe, por otro lado, no lo es.
Su amor empieza raro. Es como: Tengo dos días ignorandote, pero vamos a vernos en la noche debajo de un árbol y ¡ZAS! Ya me enamoré. Y la cosa no es así.
Me gustan las cosas lentas, con el tiempo.
Lo único bueno que le encontré al libro fue que Gabe era VIH positivo y la tonta de Jenna, en realidad no fue tan tonta, porque no lo abandonó aunque se asustó mucho y se puso paranoica pensando: ''OH DIOS MIO, LO BESÉ. TENDO EL VIRUS''. No chica las cosas no son así.
¿Y el final? El final fue lo peor. No les digo porqué por si acaso se ponen a leerlo. Pero lo odiarán. No hubo un prólogo que me dijera que todo lo que ellos vivieron valió la pena.
Como sea. Se tiene que leer toda clase de cosas y les juro que quise dejarlo, pero Gabe me caía muy bien y no dejo cosas a medias.
Meu livro favorito de todos os tempos. Um dos primeiros romances que li. Ironicamente um livro sobre adolescente, um tipo especifico que raramente leio hoje em dia, mas Soul Love tem um peso enorme sobre minha alma. Apesar de teoricamente ser um livro leve e divertido, aborda temas interessantes e complexos. Obrigada Lynda por ter me apresentado Jane e Gabe. Sempre serei grata por essa preciosidade em forma de livro.
3,5 + ❤️❤️❤️❤️ O final desse livro sempre me deixa triste. Teve algumas coisas que não foram muito exploradas, mas gostei do crescimento e amadurecimento da Jenna. Esse livro tá em uma parte muito especial no meu coração, sempre vou lembrar do meu primeiro casal literário, de como conheci Patti Smith e os sebos.
I used to take this book out of the library repeatedly when I was a teenager. when I saw it in a charity shop for 50p I had to buy and reread it- the nostalgia is real.
When the story begins, Jenna is torn between what she feels is right and her faith and trust towards her friends. She puts her friendship above her own interest since she is excluded from her (very posh and renowned) school for something we learn she didn't do, at least not on her own. She lies for her best friend Mia and her love interest Jackson and takes all the blame though we only learn later in the book why.
Her mother doesn't stand by her (not that Jenna said anything not to sound guilty) and sends her to her sister Sarah's house in a tiny village called Little Netherby. As any village, everyone knows everyone and Jenna learns very quickly that people were awaiting the new trouble girl from London. She realises after a while that being sent in a village in the middle of nowhere isn't as bad as she had anticipated.
The story is like a snapshot in Jenna's life, it doesn't focus on one theme only or one sole aspect of Jenna's life and the characters, as well as the plot, are all multifaceted. The book is told from Jenna's point of view and we can see her evolve and grow up before our eyes. At the beginning of the story, she lives in the shadow of the gorgeous and cunning Mia and she takes the blame for something she didn't do because "that's what friends do". The reader realises soon enough that Jenna is deluding herself when she keeps saying (trying to convince herself?) that Mia will soon accept part of the blame and everything will be solved. Funnily enough, no matter how scorned Jenna feels at the beginning of the story to be sent in an unknown place in the middle of nowhere, it is actually where she can finally be herself. Far from people's expectations and plans, she takes care of her aunt's second-hand bookshop while Sarah stays home, suffering from a breakup (or a pause) with her long time boyfriend Kai.
All the characters in the book are so fascinating in their own way that you can't help falling for them. I really liked Jenna as a character, and how she learns to stand up for herself. Gabriel was such an interesting character as well and I loved reading the moments where he spent time with Jenna, only Jenna. The feelings they have for each other are so pure and keep growing as the story unfolds. Jenna trusts Gabe as she had never trust anyone before, even though both prefer keeping their secrets. I enjoyed reading about the few adult characters in the story because they felt so real in my eyes. They all have their own problems and sometimes they really don't act as if they are fully fledged adults. Sarah, with whom Jenna stays, is so caught up in her feelings for the poet Kai that she doesn't stop to think about what he is doing. Jenna has never really liked Kai, so the reader sees him (or rather, doesn't see him) through her eyes. He is full of himself and is quite a flirt. Jenna thinks he uses Sarah and she doesn't understand why her aunt would bother with him in the first place. Jenna also doesn't understand the cultural and spiritual aspect of their relationship. Kai is so perfectly described that I felt flustered whenever he was mentioned and wanted to throw random objects at him. As you will read in the interview below, Sarah and Kai relationship offer a contrast from the stable feelings Jenna and Gabe have for each other. There are various themes in the book and I really liked how trust was treated when you compare the trust between Jenna and Gabe, or the one Jenna has with her family or her best friend Mia.
Unlike some books I read with HIV positive characters, Soul Love isn't a book about HIV but rather a book which happens to have an HIV positive character in it. Of course, the issue is explored and the book isn't always light but the general story is so much more that HIV isn't seen as this horrifying virus threatening people, but as a hard condition to live with. I felt the subject was treated with a lot of sensitivity and gave information about how teenagers live with it, especially their need to keep it a secret.
The context of the book is simply amazing. As Jenna, you find yourself seeing before your eyes that tiny village and its tiny second-hand bookshop where you meet some adorable (and odd!) regular customers. You can even feel the anti-folk music from Charlie's band coming out of the pages. The book is so wonderfully written that you get immediately taken in the story and feel for the amazing characters.
It is one of the best Young Adult contemporary novels I have read and the story has stayed with me ever since. I cannot wait to discover more books by Lynda Waterhouse!
When Jenna gets in trouble and gets expelled from school she is sent away from London to live with her aunt in a quiet country village. She doesn't want to get her friends in trouble by explaining what really happened and is determined to keep her secret. While living with her aunt she meets and falls for Gabriel, but Gabe has a secret of his own. How will things change between them when the truth becomes known?
This is another one of the books I reviewed as part of the YA book bloggers campaign to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and I found it really interesting to find out more about what life is like for a HIV sufferer. I'd never really thought about the way people can sometimes look at someone with HIV. I liked the comparison that one of the characters made about how if you are suffering with cancer people will offer you sympathy and help but if you have HIV people look at you differently, like it is your own fault that you caught it. I think it is sad that we live in a society where people can be judged for something that was completely beyond their control. Yes HIV can be caught by sharing contaminated needles which you could say was somebody's own fault but that isn't always the case and even if it is what right do we have to judge someone who has become a drug addict? How are we to know what happened in their life that turned them down that path in the first place? What about people who were infected by a blood transfusion or because of a sexual assault? Even if it was caught through consensual sex with a partner that is something that could happen to any of us.
I think it is important to read stories like this one and think about how a sufferer must feel. Not only are they dealing with a life threatening illness they have to cope with the attitudes of their family, friends and even strangers, I'm not saying that this reaction is always negative but it saddens me that sometimes it can be. There is no cure for HIV and AIDS so the only thing we can do is try to stop it from spreading. The best way to do this is by raising awareness about how it is transmitted and ways to prevent it. This book would be a great way of opening a discussion with teens and adults alike and I'd strongly recommend it to anyone.
Although the story talks about HIV that isn't the only theme - its really a coming of age story. Its about learning who to trust and also about not giving into peer pressure and being forced to do something you know is wrong. At the beginning of the book Jenna acts like a sullen, sulky teenager and I was irritated by her childish behaviour. We don't know the full story of what happened in London but the fact that she refused to talk about it annoyed me. As you find out more and get to know Jenna better you understand why she didn't want to speak up. As she adjusts to life in the sleepy village she becomes a much more likable character and you want to see her turn her life around. By the end of the book she is like a different person and I enjoyed seeing the change happen.
I don't want to say too much more for fear of spoilers but this was a lovely story and one I'd recommend. The romance is sweet and endearing and although the ending isn't what I was expecting it was true to real life which I liked. If you're looking for a touching story about romance and first love you should definitely check this one out
I don't remember very much this book, but I remember that I stolen the book from my sisters and I've read so fast and liked so much, I got so involved that I cried.
Esse foi um dos primeiros livros que me lembro ter lido por espontânea vontade, e não pra a escola. Eu devia ter 14 ou 15 anos, eu acho.
Entendi porque eu gostei na época. Hoje, trabalhando com adolescentes, muita coisa que eu enquanto adulta não gosto ou não concordo faz sentido quando penso neles.
Tem passagens muito boas, mas não lembrava que Kai e Sarah ficavam juntos! Que ódio isso me deu!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Foi no fundamental que li esse livro e me tocou muito tanto pelos temas abordados como pela a importância dele na minha formação de personalidade/valores e tals. Lembro que gostei muito, por isso 4 estrelas.
To be fair I knew it was a shit book when I picked it up, I just needed something to distract me from my school work. The plot is okay but it gets too messy and the ending is just rushed and pointless.
Good book overall , recommend to anyone that loves romance or loves a good read . I was so attached to all characters and had a clear picture of what they looked Like .
Foi o primeiro livro que o meu colégio recomendou que eu realmente A-ME-I, juro, eu ri, chorei, me apaixonei tudo em um livrinho só. Super recomendo, é um cliche tão lindo
Soul Love é um livro bem curtinho e fácil de ler, apesar de ter alguns momentos meio entediantes, conclui a leitura em 2 ou 3 dias. Ele conta a história da Jenna, que se envolve em uma confusão na escola, que é um dos mistérios do livros que é revelado próximo ao final, e por este motivo é mandada por sua mãe para uma cidade do interior para passar o verão com a tia Sarah, uma hippie dona de um sebo (meu sonho sempre foi trabalhar em um sebo haha) que tem um relacionamento conturbado com o namorado. A partir daí a Jenna começa a trabalhar no sebo da tia e no meio de tudo isso ela conhece alguns garotos, entre eles um chama mais sua atenção: o Gabe. E o sentimento é mútuo. A partir dessa “química” que rola entre eles, bem no comecinho do livro, eles começam a se encontrar a noite para conversar sobre a vida e para observar o céu estrelado (simmm, daí que vem o nome do livro). Assim como a Jenna, o Gabe também tem alguns mistérios sobre ele, o que vai criando uma atmosfera de suspense e que as vezes me fazia pensar “esse menino é meio doido”, mas depois tudo é explicado. Em resumo é um romance adolescente sobre amor de verão, mas existe uma coisa muito interessante nesse livro que é: a autora não tem medo de tocar em assuntos delicados. Esse livro abordou 2 temas muito importantes que vejo pouquíssimos livros abordarem, o primeiro são DSTs, que não vou falar muito sobre para não dar spoiler, e o segundo é amizades abusivas. A Jenna ao ir morar em uma cidade menor, longe de seus “amigos”, começa a refletir sobre essas amizades e essa parte é bem interessante. Para mim os grandes momentos do livro foram esses. Foi uma leitura bem rápida e não me deixou tão curiosa e ansiosa para terminar, mas foi boa para refletir sobre as questões que falei acima. Acredito que se eu tivesse lido quando era adolescente teria gostado mais do livro.
3.5 este libro me gustó, me hizo querer leer más de lo que había estado leyendo los últimos días lo cual es bueno, sin embargo no creo considerarlo "favorito" de este año.
La historia en si esta bien planteada pero me molestó que se dejaran en segundo plano varios personajes que me agradaron por ejemplo Charlie, ¿estaba o no enamorado de la protagonista? y lo más importante de todo... EL FINAL.
El libro prácticamente me lo termine en un segundo, el plot twist es totalmente original y con tema tabú del cual muy poco se hace escuchar en libros, y menos en este género sin embargo no creo que haya sido suficiente para gustarme, y el final me dejo un poco mal.
No quiero hacer entender que todo tiene que ser perfecto por siempre porque NO es real, pero si me gusta que de alguna forma la historia sea realista y tenga sentido con los acontecimientos como si estuvieran en la vida real, y ciertamente lo que hace Gabe NO lo acepto, me podrán llamar egoísta pero es que yo en esa posición e incluso en otra seguiría pensado que lo que hizo estuvo mal en todos los sentidos, es un final que no me gustó para nada... Me encontraré en negación pero esta historia no necesitaba ese "final filosófico" o típico de "película" para ser bueno.
Living with the past can be difficult, even at fifteen...
Jenna doesn't want to betray her friends and won't reveal the truth behind her exclusion from school, so she is sent away to live with her aunt in a sleepy countryside village.
It's here that she meets Gabriel, who seems so genuine and different from other people she knows. But she is wary of him at first - lately boys have been nothing but trouble for Jenna, and Gabe can be moody and withdrawn.
Despite her caution, Jenna can't help falling in love with Gabriel, and the longer she spends with him, the more deeply in love she falls. Could he be her soul mate? He seems to the only one who understands Jenna and doesn't leap to conclusions. But then she discovers that Gabriel is living with a deep secret of his own...
Note: Brought tears to my eyes. Such depth into the world of true love and understanding the person who you are meant to be with, even if it's not always happy endings.