Review on The Principles of Love

Does anyone out there hate their name? Did somebody have hippie parents or named them Rainbow or something? Naming is a big thing. It can impact a child for years. You need to consider if your kid would get made fun of for their name and if there are any cute nicknames with the name. Also, the two people in the couple must agree on the name. And then you have to decide on the middle name. You want to know why I'm talking about names? Well, I just read a book about a girl with the name of Love. Yep, her name is Love. It's not short for anything and there's no nickname. Just Love. And you would think she'd at least have an exotic or awesome last name to make up for it. Yeah, not really. Love Bukowski is her name and this is the review on her story.
The Principles of Love by Emily Franklin


Format: Paperback/ e-book
Pub. Date: July 5th, 2005
Summary:
The Gilmore Girls meets The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in this fun, sophisticated teen novel about the lovable Love Bukowski. First in a brand-new series.

The "movie version" of Love Bukowski's life is picture perfect. She can roll out of bed and be at class in her new prep school within minutes because she lives in an amazing house on Hadley Hall Campus, where her Dad just happens to be the principal. And though she's just joined the ranks of the nation's future leaders and lushes of America, they've all become her best friends. Gorgeous upperclassmen crowd around her doorstep just to catch a glimpse of her performing her original songs. Life is sweet!

Unfortunately, the not-so-glamorous reality of her life is that her Dad is the principal of the this prototypical New England prep school. Friends are hard to come by, and the only guys who come near her front door are the ones she wants to swat away. Not that there's a shortage of Hadley hotties; it's just that the one Love's singled out is an utterly incredible and totally unattainable senior. Now, Love will have to figure out the true meaning of her name to make her reality as awesome as her fantasies.
My rating: 3  out of 5 movies!
My recommendation: Anyone who likes contemporary novels that involve boarding schools.
My review:
My copy was provided to me by Netgalley.
I found the title of this book to be humorous. First off, it involves both the principles of love and the principles of Love, the person. Also, principles. Her father is a principal at Love's new school, the school where everything happens. Coincidence? Probably.
Love just moved to a new school where her father is the principal. This means kids thinking that Love is being treated special, harassment from other students, and Love having to act like a perfect student to protect her image as principal's daughter. But high school is never easy. Love finds herself in a kind of love square, maybe even a love pentagon. She likes a guy named Robinson who is dating Love's new friend Lila. Love also can't stop thinking about Quiet Jacob who appreciates music just like she does. Also, she's constantly e-mailing this guy at her school and she doesn't even know who he is. Talk about complicated!
As well as dealing with boys and jealousy, Love has to grow up. The important adults in her life are discovering love and she needs to learn that people move on.
This book read to me as immature. All the parentheses and side notes annoyed me and the way that Love thought sometimes reminded of a middle schooler. The book actually surprised me whenever Love or someone else cursed because I was not expecting it. I thought of Love as being an innocent girl who then suddenly drops the f-bomb.
I had serious problems with the father. He doesn't tell Love anything about her mother. He just talks about how the past is in the past and Love just forgets about it. Who just asks about the mother she's never known, gets told nothing, and forgets the whole thing? The book never gets into anything more about the mother so I really hope Love actually develops some curiosity and wants to know about her mother.
The father also only cared about the school's image. He didn't want the faculty to think that Love is some spoiled partier whose father bails her out all the time. He grounds her over little things and yells at her for getting caught in the boy's dorm. But then he doesn't care when Love leaves for the weekend with her boyfriend to New York. I mean, who knows what could've happened to Love there?
And all the problems seemed simple and mundane. Nothing really struck me as interesting in this book and it kind of bored me. I mean, the plot kept me going and the music references, while being too numerous for my liking, kept my interest in the book, but everything else had no emotion in it. The big reveal on who Love's e-mail pal, DrakeFan, is very predictable and I saw it coming long before it finally came out.
The main purpose of this book is to talk about growing up and making your own decisions. But of course the book leaves off at a cliffhanger with a big decision Love has to make.
This book was okay to me. It was kinda boring at some points, interesting in others, but it didn't stick with me, except for her name. Ironically, she's never made fun of for her name which I totally didn't expect.