This story is full of love, heartbreak, vulnerability and toxic moments as well. It was a eye opening story.

Sometimes you encounter a character so affectingly heartbreaking that you wish you could reach into the book, wrap your arms around him, and tell him everything will be okay.

Such is the case with Paul, the young teeange narrator of this bittersweet story.

Alicia Drake depicts loneliness and isolation so remarkably well that you want to get a group rate on Prozac. As if being fourteen isn't tough enough, Paul loves so many people so deeply with such little reciprocation that it is no wonder that he finds solace and comfort in food. It's the only thing that loves him without reservation. His mother, the beautiful and beauty-obsessed Séverine, has just had a new baby, giving Paul a half-sister. There are a few scenes in shich Séverine delays feeling Lou, and given the priority she places on outer perfection, those scenes feel chilling.

If only Séverine were as concerned as what's on the inside of people. Maybe then she would see how much her son is struggling. Maybe then she would be as worried about his mental and emotional well-being as she is about his math scores.

Just as disappointing is Paul's father, a man whose efforts to compete in triathlons is far more intense than his efforts to connect with his son. Paul fares no better with his grandparents, who seem equally determined to see what they want to see. When he tries to connect with a troubled classmate, you worry even more for him because you sense that he will continue to suffer.

Drake does a fantastic job of infusing this book with a sense of sadness and isolation. She also takes you on a little tour of some areas in Paris, and when she talks about the food there, I want to join Paul at a table. What impresses me most is that, in spite of all of Paul's attempts to have his love reciprocated, only to be disappointed, Drake doesn't let him feel defeated for long. She gives him his chance to act out, to show his frustration, to fill himself with calories just so he can feel some sort of fullness. And she also gives him a hopefulness that gives you hope that Paul will be okay. This is largely found in Lou, the baby he did not want to admit into his heart and whom he found purple and unappealing when she was born. But Lou's heart, untouched by loss and disappointment, is open and innocent. Paul sees her unbridled glee and realizes that life is going to be okay.

Still, though, you want someone to love this kid. He gives, as the title implies, too much love. Someone needs to return it.

Wow. This one kind of punched me in the gut and didn't let go. It's taken me awhile to even write about it as most of the characters were so despicable I had trouble not throwing the book across the room. Thirteen-year-old Paul lives in Paris and is shuffled between two selfish and self-absorbed parents--his father, who harbors his own dark secrets, and his mother who is concerned only with her new infant daughter and her much younger lover. Paul feels unloved--as well he should as neither of his parents seem concerned about his well-being or happiness at all; he is literally being raised by his mother's maid who overfeeds him to compensate for his lack of familial love. When he meets Scarlett at school and she befriends him, he feels "seen" for the first time in forever. But nothing is meant to last as he witnesses the dark side of both adults and adolescents as he begins to see the disparity between the glamorous world of wealthy Parisians and the innocence of young love. This is a lovely, albeit dark, coming-of-age story that will resonate with you long after its end.