Review of The Love of Whitney

[Mayang Bature]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Love of Whitney" by Andrew P. LeBel.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Have you seen a TV show with a decent plot and execution? Perhaps it had a good story that had you glued to your screen, and waiting a year for the next season felt like torture. It appears that the entire crew gave it their all to make the program what they wanted it to be—a flawless final product. Now, this book is just like that: a flawless final product with appropriate character development and a fantastic plot that will have you turning the pages till the story concludes.

The Love of Whitney was written by Andrew LeBel. The author recounts his adolescent years in the small town of Merrimac. Whitney, Andy's long-time crush, had finally become his girl in the winter of 1978. This victory, however, came with its own baggage, as Whitney previously had a horrible experience with her date, which resulted in a series of disastrous occurrences, including her emotional breakdown. This book covers a wide range of things and will make you feel a multitude of emotions.

Whitney's family was the type of family that makes you shake your head when you hear about them. They suffered a lot of tragedy, and Andy's mother regularly said, "That family will soon have no one in it." Despite all of the difficulties that this family endured, the author managed to tone it down such that the reader was not overwhelmed by grief. He had a knack for balancing each part of the plot so that none of them overshadowed the others. For each tragic occurrence, the author attempted to provide insight into the criminal's mind in order to demonstrate that not all acts were mindless. This now reveals the criminal's human side, prompting the reader to want to truly understand. It was entertaining since the plot continued in this manner, gradually flowing from one occurrence to the next. As Ledar illustrated in this book, a good story does not have to be full of jokes.

Despite its brief length, this novel ensured that you fully understood each character. Every character had a distinct identity, and you could tell who they were by what they said. Jonathan, one of Andy's acquaintances, had what you'd call an unfettered tongue. He did anything without regard for what others thought of him, which I admired. He was, without question, my favorite character. This book only included elements that were necessary to the plot and no superfluous backstories. I didn't like how new characters were introduced unexpectedly in the plot, but even when that happened, a little background check on them was done to keep the reader in the loop. The author was excellent at succinctly describing ideas, and I believe this was the most engaging aspect of the book for me.

The Love of Whitney is a novel that deserves a perfect score, but the editing issues I discovered prevent it from receiving one. These mistakes appeared careless, and the editing team should have done a better job. Nothing would prevent me from giving it an exceptional rating if the essential changes were made. As a result, I give this book four out of five stars.

Those who enjoy typical teen stories, despite their usually exploratory sides and raging sexual hormones, will enjoy this book. There is a lot of murder and other little crimes that may bother some people; therefore, readers beware.

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The Love of Whitney
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[Ajibola Gabriel]

This doesn’t sound like a book for me. While the summary sounds all nice considering Andy and his lover, the murder do not excite me.