I Love You Too Much Hardcover – January 23, 2018

I am not a sentimental person, easily moved to tears. This book made me well up. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and so real.

This book was SO beautiful and hauntingly written. The story follows Paul, a boy growing up in Paris, with parents who want him only when it's convenient, a school life that is fraught with struggle and heartache, and a friendship that isn't what it seems. The painful wistfulness of Paris, combined with the mind of a boy trying to find his place in a world that keeps rejecting him, makes for such a wrenching read. I love stories of childhood growth and angst, and the written journey of adolescence into adulthood. And to that end this book did not disappoint me.Paul is an intensely likable character, and Drake did a wonderful job of portraying the emotional pain of being unseen and unloved. Or really, just the pain of living. The pain of breathing and walking, and making it through every day of life because you have to. It was absolutely filled with passages that broke my heart, such as this one:"You could have trusted me, but you never did. Don't you remember the wounded hearts, Paul? There are some wounds that never heal. Sometimes you die wounded."I just can't possibly express enough the wrenching agony of this book, and because of that, this is where I'd like to insert a slight caution to those readers who enjoy a read that ends on a critical lesson, or a more uplifting message... this book doesn't. It portrays life, not life with a happy ending, and the depression found within the pages is just SO persistent. I am one such reader, and would normally have awarded this book 2 or 3 stars rather than 4, but in this case, the author's breathtaking skill, and stunningly beautiful writing made me add on an extra star.I also could go no lower than 4 stars, because this book will haunt me possibly forever. Its existence makes me feel as if I am changed somehow, and not really for better or worse, just changed. It is seldom that I come across a literary work that moves me as much as this one did, and though what I got from it wasn't ultimately what I wanted, I am not sorry in the slightest to have read it!!!I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher. My opinions are my own.

A 13-year old in Paris forever fails to live up to his parents’ expectations. He never has the scholastic abilities to enter into the school of their choice—a choice that will make them socially proud, nor the physical beauty both his parents possess. His father, always training for a marathon, can’t accept his clumsy, overweight son.Lonely and unloved, Paul eats. He gobbles sweets and cookies and the special rice dishes his mother’s Filipina housekeeper, the only one who seems to care for him, prepares for him as comfort food.We meet Paul soon after his parents’ separation, with the divorce still pending, but his exceptionally beautiful mother gives birth to a baby girl her musician boyfriend has fathered.While the adults around Paul continue to move in their own self-centered universes and Paul continues to gain weight, a popular girl in his school befriends him. She’s first notices him while both families are on vacation, and unbelieving his good luck, in the coming months Paul becomes her friend and confidant. But Scarlett is fickle, disturbed, and no less self-centered than the other people in Paul’s life.The novel is well-written with sensitivity to a growing boy’s emotions and challenges. The author uses interesting and diversified ways to describe the anger, frustration and pain that are all-consuming in the world a maturing boy must navigate.

When I tell you that I Love You Too Much by Alicia Drake will settle within your soul long after you are finished reading, it is no exaggeration! We all know teenage years are tough, no matter where you are in the world, but being able to get inside the mind of an adolescent and relive those emotions is truly something unique and special. Page after page you continuously see how much work and research has gone into writing this book and it is truly amazing!

This read to me like another manic pixie girl book. I gave up a little less than halfway in.

I thought I knew what I was getting with this book: a coming-of-age of a teenage boy in Paris, set against a portrait of his relationship to his mother. The book was this--but more. There are twists and turns with the characters and story line that made me enjoy the ride. Not entirely what I expected, but gorgeous writing and a well-told story. If you think you can predict this book, think again.

Visit a Paris no tourist sees, the details are fascinating, the story riveting. I truly wept reading this novel, with the uplift of a great story and characters you think of long after, reveling in how they found their way.