#BlogTour-‘Love And Other Things To Live For’ by Louise Leverett

About the book..

Jessica Wood is an aspiring photographer living in London. She’s had her heart broken, and her friends have pieced it back together again.

But across the neon lights of Soho, in the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke, on every night bus, in every song, every time she tries to forget: she remembers him.

Now, in a battle between the past and the future, choosing between having a life and making a living, finding her feet or spreading her wings, Jessica must ask herself: who is she really living for?

Love and Other Things to Live For is an ode to modern girls and triumph over heartbreak, perfect for fans of Holly Bourne and Dolly Alderton.

Many thanks to Nina Douglas of HQ Stories for the chance to review this sparkling and poetic debut novel, Love And Other Things To Live For’ by Louise Leverett. Available now, in paperback this is the story of Jess and her uni friends, Amber, Marlowe and Sean who have stuck together through all the trials that life has thrown at them.

Jess starts the book being less than honest with hrself-she is an adjunct to her boyfriend’s existence, coming a poor second to pretty much everything else in his life. She decides to leave after having had enough of being disresepcted whilst part of her feels that she deserves this(she absolutely does not, no one does).

Wallowing, she finally admits to the world that she did not leave her law course, she failed and left before she was kicked off, much to the chagrin of her father who was paying her fees and did not apporve of her lifestyle change. But if Jess is ever to be honest with creating a future for herself, she needs to tackle her past head on. There is so much to live for and she needs to find her way to those things….

Meanwhile, her friends are having struggles of their own, and where Louise comes into her own is deflecting off Jess and showing her satellite characters as rounded individuals. They are not exactly best positioned to advise Jess but they constantly have each other’s backs, after their own fashion.

Marlowe is trapped in a marriage with a child and no recollection of what life was before this , Amber is having an affair with her boss and Sean is still not over the death of his boyfriend, a mutual uni friend of all four of them. They are drawn together and stay together, learning from their mistakes and continuing to grow .

Jess makes good her resolution to take her photography seriously-whilst she sees it as a hobby it will never progress beyond being just that. A low paid job and free apprenticeship leaves her nowhere to hide from her illusions of what life should be and so, looking to her past helps her plan for, and work towards the future. Her broken heart can no longer be the reason for her to pause her life, she needs to find and see the scenery of life through her own eyes rather than the prism of their relationship.

It’s a really well written character study in modern relationships-and how to survive them-even if, at times, Jess’ behaviour seemed inexplicable with regards to the one who broke her heart, this is exactly what humans are. Complex, acting with their hearts over their heads-or vice versa-and often in need of stepping back to gain a better perspective on life, this is an enagaging read and a promising first novel from someone I am looking forward to reading more by.

About the author…

Louise Leverett graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London on a full scholarship before moving on to study at the Lee Strasberg Institute of Film in New York.
Since establishing her own business ‘Rock the Tribes’ she is now working on a collection of writings that will eventually be turned into adaptations for screen.

Twitter @LouiseLeverett

@ninadouglas

@HQStories

Links-http://www.indiethinking.co.uk/6587/love-and-other-things-to-live-for-by-louise-leverett/