Not Exactly a Love Story

Feb 07, 2013 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: finishedreviewcopy, yabc-reviews

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

Despite not ever having heard anything about Couloumbis or Not Exactly a Love Story, I was intrigued. I mean, how many YA books do you hear about set in the 1970s? That's just not a popular era for historical fiction yet. At first, I wasn't too sure whether this was going to be something I would enjoy. Vinnie's narrative voice grated a bit at first and the plot does some...interesting...things, but in the end, Couloumbis won me over to her odd, unique, surprisingly sweet...more Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

Despite not ever having heard anything about Couloumbis or Not Exactly a Love Story, I was intrigued. I mean, how many YA books do you hear about set in the 1970s? That's just not a popular era for historical fiction yet. At first, I wasn't too sure whether this was going to be something I would enjoy. Vinnie's narrative voice grated a bit at first and the plot does some...interesting...things, but in the end, Couloumbis won me over to her odd, unique, surprisingly sweet story.

When we meet Vinnie, his girl, the girl he's been crushing on, has moved away. His parents then announce their divorce. Vinnie doesn't take this particularly well. His previously high grades slip. He even fails gym, a feat he didn't think was actually possible. Of course, this means his gym teacher, Mr. B, has to meet with his mother about the situation. Then Mr. B and his mom start dating, marry, and move.

Vinnie immediately develops a crush on the gorgeous girl next door, whose room he can see through his window. Yes, he does peek. That's Vinnie. He imagines that she will go for him, even if he isn't a jock type. For the first day of his new school, he dresses to showcase his sweet style by wearing his rad leather pants. Mind you that this was in summer. Oh, Vinnie and his leather pants. This was one of those factors that sold the time period, and reminded me about how crazy the characters all must have looked (like photos of my parents in college). Sadly, though, Patsy, the neighbor, does not take any notice of him, focusing her attentions on the new football star, who Vinnie nicknames Biff.

Here's where things take a turn for the different: Biff obtains Patsy's number, but accidentally drops it in the locker room. Vinnie finds the number and takes it. He decides to call her at midnight, but can't bring himself to say anything. He calls back again, and fails again, now labeled a creepy breather. On the third call, she answers with acid in her voice, and he says something rude, because he feels like she's being to mean to a shy guy. The next night he calls at midnight again to apologize for what he said the previous night. Thus, a strange friendship is born.

Every night at midnight, Vinnie calls Patsy, and every night she answers, even though he is, for all intents and purposes an obscene caller. While I certainly wouldn't recommend this to anyone, it does bring something to Patsy's life and to Vinnie's that was missing before. With the anonymity they feel in the phone calls, they feel free to open up parts of themselves they generally hide from the world. The phone calls involve some humorous back-and-forth, like Patsy attempting to guess his name, which he tells her is Italian.

To add to the hilarity, Patsy begins to express some small amount in Vinnie Gold, his real life self, as well as Vincenzo, his obscene caller self. Vincenzo and Vinnie find themselves jealous of one another, and, for a while there, Vinnie looks like he's about to suffer a mental break. Though set in 1977, Not Exactly a Love Story has a lot of application in a modern teen's life, though rather than phone calls, such an experience would happen on the internet. It's a story about the schism between how you present yourself and how you are, and finding a way to see yourself clearly.

Just as important, Couloumbis tackles the subject of divorce. Vinnie, through the course of the novel, works through his emotions about the separation of his parents. He comes to realize, in a very realistic plot arc, that just because he loves both his parents that they don't necessarily make each other happy anymore. I love that he has not just two present parents, but three, as Mr. B totally steps up. Of course, all of the parents make mistakes, but they're just so obviously a loving family.

Audrey Couloumbis' Not Exactly a Love Story is a quirky book, full of heart and (not so) obscene phone calls. This a great read for those who enjoy a focus on family dynamics and a bit of weirdness. Or, perhaps, for adults nostalgic for the days when kids wore leather pants to school.(less)

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Jan 31, 2013 Rose rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, realistic-fiction, humor, romance, coming-of-age, arc-or-galley, netgalley

Initial reaction: Very interesting story about an awkward teen growing up in the 70s who falls in love with a girl he happens to get her number and goes through a number of unfortunate mishaps along the way. I think the mystery man/stalker thing was weird, but Vinny and Patsy are characters I liked for the most part, and I thought the story had some interesting humor in spurts. I wouldn't necessarily take this story for all the comparisons it has in its blurb, but it is a decent read of its own...more Initial reaction: Very interesting story about an awkward teen growing up in the 70s who falls in love with a girl he happens to get her number and goes through a number of unfortunate mishaps along the way. I think the mystery man/stalker thing was weird, but Vinny and Patsy are characters I liked for the most part, and I thought the story had some interesting humor in spurts. I wouldn't necessarily take this story for all the comparisons it has in its blurb, but it is a decent read of its own character.

Full review:

I really didn't know what I was going into when I picked up Audrey Couloumbis's "Not Exactly a Love Story". Sure, I like periodic reflections, and the fact that this story takes place in the 70s was a factor I don't usually come across in YA literature. I did find it sadly lacking in terms of setting the period (because there aren't really any cue to give you a sense of familiarity with the time), but I honestly liked the voices of the characters in this.

Vinny is a 15-year-old boy who can't seem to catch a break if his life depended on it, at least in the beginning of the story. His parents are divorcing, he breaks out with a really bad case of acne, his mother seems to jump into another relationship at the drop of a hat (let alone with his teacher), and they all move to a different place before Vinny can really make sense of things. Yet a bright spot in Vinny's life is when he becomes invested in a girl named Patsy. He happens to get her number, tries to work up his mettle to ask her out, gets marked as a "stalker" because of being incredibly nervous the first several times he tries to call her, and eventually the two end up having phone conversations at midnight each night. Patsy has no idea who Vinny is (because he doesn't tell her his name, only that his name is Italian, and that prompts Patsy to try to play guessing games with his name each time they start a conversation).

I'll admit I was weirded out about the stalker premise of this particular tale - mainly because I've seen this troupe begin and end very badly in YA works. Vinny manages to be a likable guy though, very socially awkward and just having a lot of bad deals handed to him in parts of the story. I did like him and I felt for him in his awkward moments. His interactions with Patsy are funny and sweet in spurts. I don't know how I felt about some parts of the story in the way that they were handled, though. Some parts I think really did get under my skin such as Patsy's relationship with Biff (who doesn't treat her all that well, and Vinny points this out), and the attributional "stalker" elements that were through the work (because considering the implications and interactions in that, I just didn't find them funny). In the collective measure of things though, I found it easy to go along with Vinny and Patsy's experiences, and the way they eventually come together was a nice touch.

It's not so much a deeply invested love story as it is a light tale of two different kids who find a point to bond in some interesting ways. I liked reading it, particularly since I ended up reading this twice - the ARC galley of it as well as the audiobook version - which featured a nice reading by Maxwell Glick.

Overall score: 3/5

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Random House BFYR.(less)

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Feb 20, 2013 Karen Yingling rated it 3 of 5 stars

Vinnie's life is fairly typical for 1977-- his parents are divorcing because his career woman mother is fed up with his actor father. Just when Vinnie gets used to this, his mother decides to marry his gym teacher and move to Long Island to get out of the city. Moving in November is hard, and while Mr. B., his new stepfather is making a great effort, Vinnie misses his father. He notices the neighbor girl, who is quiet pretty but whom he feels would never pay any attention to him, and finds her p...more

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Apr 10, 2013 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

OK, I think I'd give this book a 1.5 stars if you could give 1/2 stars. Here's the thing about this book...looking at the cover, reading the title, you might think that it was a romance of sorts for young adults. What you get, is something, which at the beginning feels a little Flannery O'Conner-Joyce Carol Oates-y sort of creepy...the story is told from the perspective of the "boy next door", who calls the girl next door to ask her out and who, because he's nervous, turns the call into an obsce...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book.

Vinnie is leading your basic, somewhat miserable, teenager life: face full of acne; parents divorced; mom starts dating and then moves in with his gym teacher. He manages to get the phone number of his crush, Patsy, and calls her up in the middle of the night. Paralyzed by teenage fear, he pretends to be a mystery prank caller, and Patsy takes the bait. From then on, Vinnie lives a double life around Patsy: By day, the awkward, bumbling boy-next-door;...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Les rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not exactly a great story. I would have given it 3 stars except for the whole weird phone relationship being just too implausable. I assume the author set the story in 1977 to avoid pesky things like *69 that would have made it simple for her to trace Vinnie's number and destroy the whole premise of the story. You wonder where the parents are because they talk every night at midnight, but never once does a parent overhear the phone ring or interrupt their child chatting in the wee hours.

However,...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Sam rated it 4 of 5 stars

So I had mixed feelings for Not Exactly a Love Story. I felt compelled to read it to the point that I couldn’t put it down, yet at the same time I didn’t love the protagonist.

Don’t get me wrong, I commiserated with his feelings of inadequacy, his nervousness, and even his changing personalities, but I just couldn’t relate to some of the personalities he creates in the book, nor the drastic change in between each personality. For a character who doesn’t have a serious mental disability the changi...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

When this book showed up in my mailbox, I was really intrigued by the cover. I had never heard of it before, but it sounded like something I would love to read. A YA book about "not exactly" a romance? Tell me more! Sadly, the story just seemed to be lacking characters and a plot that could keep my attention.

Vinnie is a 15-year-old who just can't seem to figure things out. His "girl" he's been crushing on moves away, his parents announce they're getting a divorce, and he has to move out of the...more When this book showed up in my mailbox, I was really intrigued by the cover. I had never heard of it before, but it sounded like something I would love to read. A YA book about "not exactly" a romance? Tell me more! Sadly, the story just seemed to be lacking characters and a plot that could keep my attention.

Vinnie is a 15-year-old who just can't seem to figure things out. His "girl" he's been crushing on moves away, his parents announce they're getting a divorce, and he has to move out of the city when his mom meets a new man. Oh, and all this is happening in the 1970s. This start looking up, though, when he gets sight of his new neighbor Patsy. Vinnie tries calling her when he finds her phone number in the boys locker room, but one tongue-tied conversation later and Vinnie is Patsy's anonymous phone caller she talks to every night at 12 on the dot. Growing a relationship over the phone with the girl next door, Vinnie has no idea how he can turn the charming Italian phone guy into the real-life Vinnie.

The first thing that bothered me about this book was the fact that it took place in the 70s. The time period isn't bad, but there weren't that many details that actually showed you it was in the 70s aside from the phones. If the author decided to make the story take place during that time period, which doesn't usually happen in YA books, I think she should have used it to her advantage and include all of the things awesome about the 70s instead of writing a story that could have taken place today. Also, I wasn't really that big of a fan of Vinnie. Maybe it's because I normally don't read books from a guy's point of view, but I just didn't really care about how he felt about Patsy. His story was really slow-going and nothing really happened until well into the book.

Not Exactly a Love Story had a lot of potential, but it fell short while I was actually reading it. While I expected much more romance and humor, i got a shy boy who couldn't carry the story on his own. (less)

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Dec 01, 2012 Jessikah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
3 stars
One thing that has always bothered me about a majority of romantic comedy films is stalking. I don't mean to be totally rude. The protagonist of this story is not a bad person. He is actually pretty like-able. Like-able for a stalker. As much as I wanted to root for him, I just found his methods unsettling. It also kept me from loving this book. Allow me to elaborate a bit.

Vinny (Vincenzo) Gold, a 15 year-old living in 1977, is surprised and disheartened to...more Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
3 stars
One thing that has always bothered me about a majority of romantic comedy films is stalking. I don't mean to be totally rude. The protagonist of this story is not a bad person. He is actually pretty like-able. Like-able for a stalker. As much as I wanted to root for him, I just found his methods unsettling. It also kept me from loving this book. Allow me to elaborate a bit.

Vinny (Vincenzo) Gold, a 15 year-old living in 1977, is surprised and disheartened to find out that his parents are getting a divorce. They assure him that they still care about one another (in fact it appears that dad is still in love with mom, adding insult to injury), but their relation has lost whatever spark brought them together. Vinny's mom then marries his high school gym teacher, who is obsessed with football, as per the stereotype. Vinny is not the football type. Then, after a mugging in the subway, Vinny's mom and new stepdad decide to move to Long Island, where the stepfather has just accepted a job!

It is hard not to feel for Vinny. He is pushed from one place or another due to things that affect him, yet are out of his control. We also discover that Vinny has "a girl" in his NYC school. Sadly for Vinny, she moved away. Sad for only Vinny, because this girl was unaware that she was "Vinny's". He had been pining for her and done nothing about it. So, pretty early on we know that Vinny is pretty shy, especially when it comes to girls. In fact, we can assume that Vinny is just shy in general, because after arriving at this Long Island high school, he doesn't seem to be interested in making male friends. He goes right from mourning the one sided relationship in his old school to lusting after his pretty female neighborm Patsy, in his new home.

After watching Patsy dress through his window to hers, Vinny becomes fixated on Patsy and begins a campaign of late night calls to her. After eavesdropping on a conversation from a high school jock/classmate of his, Vinny gains access to Patsy's unlisted phone number. His first few calls, which always seem to happen after midnight, are a disaster when Vinny makes an obscene comment to her. Let me just explain, that I am not so much disturbed by Vinny's voyeur activities as I am by what happens with Patsy's phone number. Vinny is a teenage boy and I am sure that a majority of teenagers his age would have succumbed to watching an attractive classmate dress if given the opportunity. What bothered me was the relationship Vinny and Patsy forge through what is definitely phone stalking.

Vinny feels badly about his racy comments to Patsy and continues to call trying to apologize. On the same level though, he appears to be empowered by his status as "obscene caller". He even uses this term to gleefully refer to himself several times. I get that he is trying to be funny, but it came off as creepy. Sure, Patsy calls him out on being creepy but plays this game with him hanging up whenever she feels the conversation has gone too far and continues to pick up every night when he calls back. Since this is the late 70's Patsy can ask an operator if the call is local, but there are no other methods of discovering her caller's identity.

Still, it is Vinny who has all the power in this relationship. He only tells her that his name is "Italian" when she finally asks. He begins to see himself as suave "Vincenzo" and acts like kind of a jerk to Patsy. She knows he is a student in her school but that is it. So basically she is being watched by someone who knows everything about her school social life (friends, boyfriends, etc) but does not know who it is. For all she knows it could be a teacher? She also at one point opens her heart to Vincenzo and asks for his number so she can call him back but he refuses. We are expected to believe that this is due to Vinny's under confidence that he believes she would not want to date him if she "met" him, but really it keeps him in a position of power over her. Again, creepy.

So when Vinny starts spending time with Patsy herself he struggles to merge his two personalities. He clearly is not a bad guy, he defends Patsy's honor when the aforementioned jock disrespects her, but just does not say terribly kind things to her himself during their phone calls. This is supposed to be romantic? It really bothered me.

Again, what kept me reading way that I did feel that Vinny was a good person. Like I said, he is like-able, but the choices he makes just made my stomach churn. The fact that he was empowered by these calls did not sit well with me. I wish that we could have seen Vinny pursue regular friendships at school other than listening in on Patsy's friends conversations. I appreciated the view of Vinny's ever changing relationship with his parents and their new lives. I did enjoy reading his story, I just had too much trouble with what felt like the glorification of a habit that would become less charming as Vinny grew older. Let us hope he learned his lesson.(less)

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Dec 31, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: regular-fiction, young-adult, character-driven

LOVED this book.

The main character is a young man going through some crap, although dealing fairly well. He could use a break, or something good. Like an equally smart and quirky young woman. The popular crowd contains somebody who just might be more than what she seems - Patsy.

He overhears a jerk-jock at school bragging about having Patsy's number - which is unlisted. Jerk-jock slips the piece of paper in his locker as he swaggers away - but it falls back out. Our main character grabs it. Not...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Bethany rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley, realistic-fiction

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley on behalf of Random House Children's Books

Not Exactly a Love Story was a fun and comical look into the life of a teenager in the 70s. Vinnie Gold is your average teen. But his life takes a few turns and all of a sudden he is in a new house with a new stepdad and at a new school.

Trying to figure out where to fit in and constantly being urged by his stepfather to choose a sport to play seems to be all Vinnie's life is about. But then he begins to t...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Book Twirps rated it 4 of 5 stars

To say fifteen-year-old Vinnie's life sucks would be an extreme understatement. His "girl" (who wasn't really his girl, more like a crush who barely knew he existed) just moved away, his acne is totally out of control, and his parents just got a divorce. No sooner is the divorce final than Vinnie's mom is whisking him away to Long Island to live with her.

The only bright spot in his "new" life is the beautiful girl next door -- Patsy. Vinnie is immediately smitten with her, and even takes to glan...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Vinnie is his own Cyrano de Bergerac. Feeling awkward with an acute case of acne and recently displaced from Queens to Long Island when his mother divorces his dad and marries his gym teacher (!), Vinnie falls for Patsy, the girl next door--everybody's dream girl. He acts cool and somewhat aloof around her in school, but after an initial obscene phone call (!) to her bedroom one night, he continues to call her every night at midnight and they talk anonymously and truthfully. Because Patsy has he...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Reving rated it 5 of 5 stars

Not Exactly a Love Story was a quick and fun read, filled with down-to-earth and believable characters, perfect for a guy or girl, looking for a good, solid story. Vinnie is dealing with a lot: his parents' divorce, his mom's remarriage to his gym teacher, a move from Queens to Long Island and The Girl Next Door. Vinnie's got a crush of sorts, and while at first, he hardly ever speaks to Patsy face-to-face, he is calling her and talking to her every night at midnight. He won't tell her who he is...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Kris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-reviewed, contemporary, ya-books

Vinnie is a high school student with a face full of acne and an extremely awkward personality that makes you sympathize with him. To make matters worse, his mom divorces his father and marries his gym teacher, and they decide to move to Long Island. There, he goes right from mourning his old relationship to crushing on Patsy, the gorgeous girl next door, whose room he can see through his window. Then, Vinnie accidentally finds Patsy's number in locker room. He decides to call her at midnight but...more Vinnie is a high school student with a face full of acne and an extremely awkward personality that makes you sympathize with him. To make matters worse, his mom divorces his father and marries his gym teacher, and they decide to move to Long Island. There, he goes right from mourning his old relationship to crushing on Patsy, the gorgeous girl next door, whose room he can see through his window. Then, Vinnie accidentally finds Patsy's number in locker room. He decides to call her at midnight but can't bring himself to say anything. At his third call, Patsy answers acidly, and Vinnie says something rude in response. Vinnie feels badly about his racy comments to Patsy and continues to call her every night at midnight trying to apologize to her. In the process, a strange friendship is born between them.

Vinnie's actions border on stalkerish, and yet I couldn't help wanting to support him. He's in an awkward stage of life and is like every other teenager looking for happiness in life. I like the connection that Vinnie and Patsy form during their late-night calls. Talking to each other anonymously allows them to chat freely and without fear of judgment. I'm sure Vinnie and Patsy wouldn't have gotten to know each other so well if they just met each other in the class. They come from such different backgrounds.

Still, I don't like how Patsy entertains a mysterious male caller every night. It's also strange that her parents never hear her on the phone. I wonder where Vinnie and Patsy's parents are because not once does any of them interrupts their child talking during such late hours or brings it up during the day. I also would have liked to see Vinnie make some regular friendships at school and do something other than listening in on Patsy's friends' conversations. It would help round out his character and add more to the story than the blooming romance between him and Patsy.

Not Exactly a Love Story is a book about a regular guy's quest for the girl next door and, in the process, his exploration of his identity. What I love most about this story is how Vinnie is able work through his emotions about the divorce of his parents and how he understands that he loves both his parents even though they are not together anymore.

Review by Alice

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For more of my reviews, visit my blog Imaginary Reads.

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May 02, 2013 TheSaint rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

The historical setting (eek! 1977) is so important to the plot in this book. In fact, the action could not have taken place in the era of cell phones. But the author wisely didn't throw in gratuitous popular culture references that would put off YA readers. Except for "the Fonz". They're just going to have to Google that one.

The conceit of having Patsy try to guess the identity of her mystery caller by going through the alphabet of Italian names actually gave a good structure to the plot as well...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Kath Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age, family-problems, high-school, love-story, divorce, relationships, secrets

Vinnie or Vincenzo?
On the heels of his dog dying, his parents divorcing, his mom remarrying and a move from Queens to Long Island, Vinnie develops a crush on the girl next door. Patsy. A cute,popular and probably most unattainable girl. It starts with a phone call to her unlisted phone number... in the middle of the night. The first call he says nothing, so he calls again and says something so outrageous, it's surprising Patsy picks the phone up again the next night, and the next, and the next...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Holly {Currently dating 1 irish and 4 british boys} rated it 3 of 5 stars

The only books that I give five stars to have at least one of the following:
-Funny
-Suspenseful
-Romantic
-Or just plain INTERESTING
Don't get me wrong, this book was interesting at least, it just wasn't interesting ENOUGH for my five-star standards. I never really liked average life stories. I am more of ascience fiction, romance, or suspensefully person. Even though it may sound like a romance novel; it wasn't really. Ok, so I know the title is NOT EXACTLY a Love Story, bust still, it should have...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Jen Ryland added it

Shelves: debut-challenge-2012

Sometimes, there's nothing like old-school YA, sans vampires, swoony insta-love, and dystopian doom and gloom. Not Exactly a Love Story was a refreshing change of pace. Sometimes I enjoy reading about a breathtakingly gorgeous kickbutt heroine with two hot guys drooling over her, but after that I'm SO ready for some realistic teen characters, complete with acne and insecurities and real-life problems.

Vinnie's mom has decided that she wants to reinvent herself, which involves ditching Vinnie's fa...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Maggie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: whats-new-in-ya-lit-2013

This is a quick read for teen readers. Vinnie did not win my heart in the beginning but then he grew on me. His first obscene/anonymous phone call to his neighbor, Patsy, was not one I would want my son to make or my daughter to receive. However, it made me feel better knowing that Vinnie wasn't proud of himself either. This story is about being a teen and fearing what others are going to think about you while trying to deal with family issues, divorce, moving, new school, etc. Vinnie's voice is...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, psc-reviews, realistic-fiction, young-adult

When Vinnie's parents divorce, his girl moves to CA without even saying goodbye, and then he abruptly moves from Queens to Long Island, he's convinced it is going to be the worst year of his life. Until he realizes that his next door neighbor is Patsy: beautiful, blonde, witty. A prank call in the middle of the night turns into a series of conversations where real feeling starts to develop. However, real life is about to collide with fantasy. Set in 1977, students may find the lack of technology...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Lori rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-december, earc-have, from-netgalley, read-in-2012

This is difficult for me to rate. I'm going with 2.5 stars for now. This book wasn't bad but it was very hard for me to get through. It was slow with characters that were just okay. In fact, I think the biggest problem with this book was that everything was just ok. I had no real strong pull towards the characters, the story, the romance, the family, or the outcome. It took me almost a month to read. But it wasn't bad. And that's really all I've got right now.
I will say that it posed an interes...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Raelynn Fry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Not Exactly a Love Story
By Audrey Couloumbis
Random House Children’s Books
$17.99 Hardcover
$10.99 eBook

Publisher’s Summary:
It's 1977.

Fifteen-year old Vinnie isn't having a good year. He's recovering from the worst case of galloping acne his dermatologist's ever seen. His girl moved to California without even saying good-bye. And the ink on his parent’s divorce papers is barely dry, when his mom announces that they're moving from Queens to Long Island.

The silver lining in all this is that they mov...more Not Exactly a Love Story
By Audrey Couloumbis
Random House Children’s Books
$17.99 Hardcover
$10.99 eBook

Publisher’s Summary:
It's 1977.

Fifteen-year old Vinnie isn't having a good year. He's recovering from the worst case of galloping acne his dermatologist's ever seen. His girl moved to California without even saying good-bye. And the ink on his parent’s divorce papers is barely dry, when his mom announces that they're moving from Queens to Long Island.

The silver lining in all this is that they move next door to Patsy—everyone's dream girl. Not that she'd ever notice him. But when Vinnie calls Patsy one night, it leads to a chain of anonymous midnight conversations. Under the cover of darkness, Vinnie becomes Vincenzo, Patsy's mystery caller, and the two share a side of themselves they would never reveal in daylight and develop a surprisingly real connection (despite the lies it's built on). As Vinnie gets to know Patsy in real life though, it becomes clear both identifies can't survive and he'll have to find a way to hang-up the phone and step into the daylight. Fraught with complications and crackling with witty dialogue, and all the angst and electricity that comes with always being just a phone wire away from the one you want, it's not exactly a love story . . . but it's pretty close.
My Review:
I thought this book was especially charming and cute. Told in the very real voice of 15-year-old, parents recently divorced, just moved to a new neighborhood, Vinnie, Love Story is witty, quick, and fun. Back before cell phones and computers, if a boy liked a girl, he had to steal her number and call her from the safety of his dark bedroom, anonymously. Not really, but it adds to this story.
This is Couloumbis’ debut novel for young adults, and I must say, it is a grand success. A quick voice, plenty of smashing dialogue, a charming ending, and some surprisingly profound moments--like the one below--make up this pretty pleasing package.
“No one tells you how things really are. Everything coming in waves, one rolling in after the other, and in case you’re thinking that doesn’t sound so bad, keep this in mind: that’s how huge rocks, boulders, become sand on the beach.” (pg 14, ebook)
Rating:
I really liked it. It’s deep enough to keep older readers interested and challenging and clean enough for your younger YA reader. I’d rate it a PG (content wise). There are a couple of mild fight scenes and some language.
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Jan 09, 2013 Mara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Achingly slow beginning that left me wondering where the plot was headed. The novel definitely picks up the pace once the "obscene" phone calls begin. I kept wondering why it was important that this book was set in 1977-- very few references to the decade and it didn't seem to matter, really. I guess it helped make the plot more believeable-- no caller ID available at the time. Still-- there are ways around that. Overall, though, I liked the writing and became more engrossed as the story went on...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Julia Di Piazza rated it 2 of 5 stars

Let's be real, Vinnie is a full-blown stalker. It started back in Queens when he was delusional enough to think his friend (who didn't even notify him that she was moving away forever) was actually his "girl". When he moves to Long Island and sees his neighbor taking her shirt off in her bedroom, he decides to anonymously call her every night at midnight. He even pulls out all the stops, including putting a t-shirt over the phone receiver in order to muffle his voice. Creepy, right? The book is...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Cathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age, realistic-fiction, high-school, new-york, teen-book, romance

When Vinnie gold's parents divorce and his mom marries a high school football coach they move from Queens to Long Island, right next door to a girl named Patsy. Vinnie likes her, but he's too shy to speak to her so he starts calling her but won't give her his name, just that he's Italian. He calls every night at 11:59 and she calls him a different name every night. She also hangs up on him frequently, especially when he teases her about her boyfriend, whom he calls Biff.

When they become friends...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Bookworm1858 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2012, netgalley, ya-read

3.5/5...very mixed feelings...

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As seems to happen so often to me of late, I am of two minds about this book, one very positive, the other latching onto one element that really drags down the rating of the book because it just strikes me the wrong way. It's a huge bummer because of course I want to love every book I read.

Let's start with the good, which is that this is a historical. It is so weird to classify this it that way...more 3.5/5...very mixed feelings...

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As seems to happen so often to me of late, I am of two minds about this book, one very positive, the other latching onto one element that really drags down the rating of the book because it just strikes me the wrong way. It's a huge bummer because of course I want to love every book I read.

Let's start with the good, which is that this is a historical. It is so weird to classify this it that way but it is set in 1977 while being written today so that is what it technically is (sidenote: props to Coulombis for not making any characters obsessed with Star Wars because I would have been unable to resist that temptation). But it feels very contemporary with its focus on high school, love, and family. I especially loved the family plot, which has Vinnie's parents getting divorced, his mother almost immediately remarried, and Vinnie moving across the city, forced to attend a new school and getting bullied. He's also navigating crushes including the beautiful popular Patsy who is dating Vinnie's bully. All of these parts were just fine with a good balance struck between everything.

What is the bad then? Well, Vinnie steals the phone number to the private line of Patsy, who lives next door to him. He decides to call her at midnight and his opening line is...shall we say...not smooth. He sounds like a pervert and he continues to call her, trying to develop a real relationship. Along the way he thinks about how she could've been nicer and more understanding but it's not like she owes him anything. It's also really creepy that she learns he goes to her school but he refuses to divulge his name or his private number or anything about himself. Vinnie can learn as much about Patsy as he wants but she is stymied in learning the most basic facts about him-he has all the power in the relationship and I was really uncomfortable because Vinnie is our hero. I hope he's not going to be used as a role model for similarly awkward boys. And because it's 1977, all Patsy can do is find out from the operator that the number is local-there are no other ways to trace.

Overall: As I said, this one negative element really gave me pause and dragged down the rating of the book. It's my one big hesitation when thinking about whether or not to recommend it to others so I guess I'd say the writing is good but this one plot point was a big sticking point for me.(less)

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Nov 30, 2012 Estelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-new-releases, netgalley, young-adult, new-york

Review originally posted on Rather Be Reading Blog

Oh man. Oh man. Or should I say: oh boy. Oh boy. Because I have been spoiled with some great titles with refreshing male voices this year. (See: Lexapros and Cons, Curveball, Beautiful Music for Ugly Children.)

Not Exactly a Love Story joins this awesome list.

Main character Vinnie is just your normal guy wearing leather pants on his first day of school, in the late 70s. (For the record: not the best fashion choice.) He’s kind of the guy that girls...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Cara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, net-galley, ebook, teen-fiction

Vinnie is not having a good year, and he keeps messing up. He doesn't mean to make things harder for himself, but it keeps happening. First his parents split up, and then his mom starts dating someone new. This results in Vinnie moving to a new school with a new set of problems.

Patsy is one of the popular girls at school, and she is also Vinnie’s neighbor. She doesn’t seem to notice him at first. Vinnie finds her unlisted number and calls her late one night. It doesn’t go very well. He comes ac...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Cathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sometimes I wish there was a half star because I would have given this book a 3 1/2. Set in the 1970's, this is the story of teenager Vinnie, who is suddenly uprooted from Queens to Long Island as his parents divorce and his mom remarries. Awkward and a little nerdy, Vinnie ends up falling for his neighbor, the popular and pretty Patsy. He lucks into finding her phone number and thus begins a phone relationship where he becomes his own Cyrano de Bergerac. Of course there's an antagonist, meat-he...more

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