Skip to the content Skip to the main menu
MuggleNet Book Trolley
  • Home
  • Book Reviews
  • Blog Tour
  • Giveaways
  • Interviews
  • MuggleNet
  • Bookshop.org Shop
  • Amazon Shop
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Bookshop.org Shop
  • Amazon Shop
  • Home
  • Book Reviews
  • Blog Tour
  • Giveaways
  • Interviews
  • MuggleNet
  • Bookshop.org Shop
  • Amazon Shop
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Bookshop.org Shop
  • Amazon Shop
Love In English

Book Review: “Love in English” by Maria E. Andreu

Love In English

“How do you get an apple in your eye?”

“Just how easy is pie?”

“Who would eat crow or eat their heart out?”

—Excerpts, Love in English

English can be a confusing language. This is something 16-year-old Argentina native Ana quickly finds out. Ana’s dad has lived in America for three years and is finally joined by his wife and daughter. Starting her third year of high school, Ana is no longer the child he knew. Through ESL classes, tutoring, and a newfound Spanish-speaking friend, Ana goes through the school year learning what it means to live and grow up in America.

“Why you come here [to America], Ana?”

It’s only five words, but such a big question… I have learned enough English to know the answer is “a better life.” It’s what teachers say… But better life is not quite right. It makes me feel disloyal… to my friends and family back home, like somehow my life with them was something that needed bettering… There’s a different word I would choose.

“A bigger life,” I say.

—Excerpt, Love in English

Before chapter one of Love in English begins, author Maria E. Andreu shares with the readers that she herself went through an experience similar to Ana’s. Ana’s thoughts are filled with rich complexity. Readers are treated with a three-dimensional character who speaks from real experience. You will follow her teenage soul-searching journey while searching for the right words in English. This book will melt out of your hand and into your heart as your mind becomes one with Ana’s thoughts and actions.

Going through high school is tough for any teenager. Throw into the mix a teenage girl who can barely speak English to communicate with a love and talent for poetry, and readers are taken on a beautiful and challenging journey layered with art, heartache, joy, confusion, realization, and self-discovery. Ana’s interactions with her family, old friends, and new friends illuminate the challenges and rewards of growing up in a new environment.

It’s a pleasure to accompany Ana on her journey. You will pick up the novel with curiosity and put it down with a better understanding of what it’s like to find your voice in a language that you don’t speak.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher, Balzer + Bray, for review.

Buy on Bookshop Buy on Amazon

  • Post date
    February 9, 2021
  • Posted by
    Darlene Alegrado
  • Posted in Book Reviews
  • Tagged with Balzer + Bray, Love in English, Maria E. Andreu
Previous post: Script Review: “A Strange Loop” by Michael R. Jackson Next post: Book Review: “The Illustrated Bestiary” by Maia Toll

Related Posts

Book Review: “Call Down the Hawk” by Maggie Stiefvater

  • Post date
    December 16, 2019

Book Review: “Harley Quinn: Reckoning” by Rachael Allen

  • Post date
    November 6, 2022

Book Review: Patrick Taylor’s “Irish Country” Series

  • Post date
    August 17, 2015

Book Review: “All the Tides of Fate” (“All the Stars and Teeth” #2) by Adalyn Grace

  • Post date
    February 2, 2021

Theme by Anders Norén