PUB DAY REVIEW: Every once in a while I read an advanced copy of an upcoming book - thank you @duttonbooks for the #gifted copy of THIS IS A LOVE STORY.

You’re going to be seeing this book everywhere - it’s the Barnes and Noble and Read With Jenna Book Club pick for February and grab your tissues because it is a weeper.

Abe and Jane have been married for fifty years but Jane is dying. Now at the end of her life Abe spends his days retelling their memories of a life built together. In the first chapter he recounts their early moments together, their first meeting, the parts of each other that drew them like magnets together.

“I remember we lay on a blanket, our sweaters rolled up under our heads, and watched the sky. I remember how you made time expand. I remember you turned to me and said, Isn’t this something? Just being here? It is, I said. I remember, with you, the reel stopped running. Like: I am. You are. This is enough. Please stay.“

The story is emotional and poignant, but what I found unique about this book is the writing style. This is an element that is going to make or break the book for a lot of readers. While the writing is beautifully lyrical, the story is told in an almost stream of consciousness style like this:

“You remember I kept my hand on your back as if you were a stray egg—and that we never stopped talking, laughing, telling each other everything. What exactly? you say.”

The format was at first hard to follow and took a little time for me to fully catch on to. We not only hear Abe’s memories but also Jane’s and those of their son Max. While this is a love story about two people and the life they made it is also a love letter to New York City’s Central Park. The Park is featured prominently throughout the book and at times is its own character.

While I loved the story and found a lot of the writing to be simply beautiful, it was the style that held me back from fully enjoying this. The employment of “you remember” and “I remember” to start most sentences was at times tricky for me to follow and pulled me out of the narrative. That said, THIS IS A LOVE STORY is a beautifully written tale of love and marriage spanning a lifetime.

A journey through the remembered lives of husband and wife Abe and Jane as she is dying and Interspersed with the stories of their loved ones. A unique look at the many facets of lifelong love and the challenges of parenting, grief, and the importance of art. Unconventional pacing, format and sentence structures make for an unusual read.

This isn’t really a love story or a typical romance. But it is a nostalgic and reflective love letter- to a long relationship and marriage with lots of history, and to Central Park which is an anchor in the narrator’s memories and emotions.

For readers who appreciate lyrical prose, atmospheric writing and don’t mind second-person. If you’re in the mood for something fast-paced or plot-driven, save this for a moment when you are looking for something introspective and quiet- a narrative of vignettes, a meditation on memory, and on the ways that love evolves over time and with reflection.

I found this to be a beautiful story and the writing style to be incredibly unique. Can’t wait to get this in reader’s hands!

If you enjoyed The Days I Loved You Most by Amy Neff, then I believe you will like This is a Love Story. Both focus on an elderly couple looking back over their lives and pinpointing both important and seemingly throwaway moments in time. I found the writing style interesting here and am not a big fan of second person so it did make it a little difficult for me, but overall a sweet story.

Jane and Abe have been in love, and been married for decades. Now Jane is dying, and they take turns remembering people and events from their lives together. They don’t shy away from remembering the difficult times too, because that is all part of the story.
I did not understand the portions about Central Park in New York, and had trouble tying them in to Abe and jane's story, especially since they moved away from the city in their later years together.

I know that this one wasn't for everybody, but I quite enjoyed it. I loved seeing the story through different perspectives and the characters were lovely.

I was given an advance reader copy of this title by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Very poignant portrayal of love and loss that touched me deeply. Loved that it was centered around nyc and Central Park, genius!

This was a very sad book. Reliving s life from the end of a life is hard - but this one is told with love of Central Park, art and imperfect people. It was an easy read and enters your thoughts days after reading. Definitely glad I read it.

The story of a marriage over the years as the wife is faced with a terminal illness. I really disliked the writing style of this book. The only thing I liked about the book was that it is also a love story of Central Park.

This is a mixed review for me. It took me awhile to get into the rhythm of the writing, in the beginning it was a stream of consciousness and I kept thinking I was missing something important. The parts that were straight up narrative were interesting, but I felt like Alice got too much play in a 40+ year marriage. Max and Jane's story was heartbreaking to read, I wish there was more time spent on Max's story. Once you got used to the writing style used in the reminiscent chapters they became much more poignant and beautiful. Made you think about what you remember about your own life. Rounded up to 4 stars because of the writing and the emotions and thoughts that this novel evoked and continue to evoke long after you are done reading.

Concept is good. Married couple. Wife is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Couple sentimentally recall the memories they have shared over the coarse of their marriage at one of their favorite places, Central Park.
The style of writing is horrible. A bunch of short thoughts bundled together made this entire book feel like a big run-on sentence. I would finish a page and think, what did I just read? Just a mess of a book.

"The Park is a beating heart, an adagio, a dreamy parenthesis."

Jessica Soffer is such a delightful writer. Her prose reads like poetry, like symphony. And this book isn't so much a love story as a love letter to Central Park.

"The Park is their home away, homing device, pen pal, fifth season."

And somehow, it's told in second person. Told well. Of course, obligatory first person as well. But who needs that?

"Evrry word must count."

I don't know what I was expecting, but this surpasses everything. I don't know who is going to read this book, but they should.

"But it's habit, the expectation of your response. Like catching an apple that you've batted my way. The satisfaction of that. The sacred code."

Love and loss and life. And The Park.

"And yet, just when it feels like the whole world has gone insane, loveless, lovelorn - and it is just getting worse - the cherry blossoms bloom in the Park. Does it feel better in here? It does. Does it cure anything? It does not. Still, see how the sun flickers on the water. It's angelic, isn't it? As in, angels do exist."

This one is getting so much love/ hype, but unfortunately I don’t see what the hype is about. I found it to be very slow, and if I’m being honest a tad bit confusing. This one was r for me.

What a beautiful story. This was marketed as being the story of a long marriage, but I was expecting elderly protagonists. They were younger than my parents, and so complicated and imperfect. Neither was particularly likeable, though I felt compassion for both. This is a very real and complicated novel about love—and art—but most of all, it is a beautiful love letter to New York City.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing me with the DRC.

It's been a couple of days since I finished "This Is A Love Story". It is one of those books that stays with you long after you've read the last page. It is also not a book for everyone, It is very easy to see why some have given it 3 , 2, even 1 star reviews. When I started reading I was going between thinking it would be a DNF, to if I did finish maybe a 2 or 3 star read. I am so glad I persevered and gave it more of a chance. It took a bit to click with the characters as well as Soffer's the writing style.

Initially I was turned off with Soffer's writing style. The book started with a long run-on stream of consciousness chapter about Central Park. After quite a bit of interesting information about the Park, Soffer moved into Abe's voice. We follow along as he is reminiscing with his wife, Jane, about their early days. It becomes clear Jane is ill, and Abe is talking & talking to keep her as present as he can. Throughout the book we hear the voices of Jane, their son Max, and Alice, a student of Abe's. Each section is interspersed with more information about Central Park.

You are invited into the inner most thoughts and memories of each voice, it's intimate, and at times voyeuristic. Soffer excels at portraying an honest look at relationships, be it marriage through the years, parenthood, and young adulthood.

My advice- if you are reading this review and struggling with the book, give it more of a chance, it might end up being one of your favorite reads of the year.

I would have liked this book much more if the narrative style was different. Books told in second voice narrative are not pleasurable for me. But having said that, the story was engaging. Abe and Jane have been married for many years, and Jane is dying. Abe recounts their life in this story, the good, the bad and the ugly. NYC is beautifully represented, and Central Park plays a significant role in the narrative. Recommended for all public libraries.

This Is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer is the highly recommended literary New York City story which covers decades of a marriage and family, while also serving as an ode to Central Park. The chapters are told from the point-of-view of each person and that of the park.

Central Park has been part of the lives and marriage of Abe and Jane for fifty years. The park witnesses their love, struggles, emotions, depression, and frustration. Now Jane, an accomplished artist, is dying from cancer, and Abe, a successful author, is recount their lives and relationship, every little memory, beginning with when they met. Next chapters unfold from the point of view of Alice, a graduate student who falls in love with Abe. The story of Max, the son of Abe and Jane comes next. He resents his mother, avoids relationships and is also well acquainted with the park. The narrative then moves back to Abe and Jane.

The narrative captures the complexity and intimacy of each person's story. There are parts of the novel that are quite touching, insightful, and poignant. There are beautifully written sections, but I can't say that about the whole novel. This Is a Love Story has a whole lot of potential but I struggled with the style of the writing. Then, once I was getting into the cadence of it, the switch in characters happened and I had to attend to a new characters emotions.

I appreciate the story and the intense emotions, but the writing was a turn-off for me. These might have worked better as interconnected short stories with a clear delineation between them. 3.5 rounded up. Thanks to Penguin/Dutton for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Quiet, intimate, and impactful This is a Love Story is a poetically written story that showcases all facets of a romantic relationship including the beauty, the boring, the cruel, and the power to endure. Predominantly told in second person, this is the story of Abe and Jane and their 50 year romance. Jane is dying and Abe recounts their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew—their courtship and early marriage, their blossoming creative lives—and the parts they didn’t always want to know—the determined young student of Abe’s looking for a love story of her own, and their son, Max, who believes his mother chose art over parenthood and who has avoided love and intimacy at all costs.

I strongly dislike anything written in second person, so this book just did not work for me. I tried, because the general idea and theme are appealing to me, but the tone and structure was ultimately too off-putting.