It’s hard to scroll through TikTok or Instagram lately without seeing Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren pop up at least once or twice. I’m a pretty big fan of them and their work, so this was a no brainer addition to the TBR pile.

Love and Other Words is a dual perspective second chance romance following two timelines. Yes, that is a fair amount of twos in one sentence, but it is what it is. The story follows Macy and Elliot as teenagers and adults.

Macy’s dad bought the house next door to Elliot’s after her mom died. It was meant to be a kind of escape for her, and that’s exactly what it became. She and Elliot became friends while reading in her closet-turned-library and sharing their favorite words of the moment.

The modern day timeline tells us that they are no longer together or in contact at all due to something big happening, but we don’t know what it is. Macy and Elliot run into each other at a coffee shop, and have to reckon with where there lives are now and what happened a decade earlier.

As per usual, Christina and Lauren wrote this beautifully. Handling dual perspectives and dual timelines is no easy feat, but they wove this story together so freaking well. This book was a fast and easy read that will probably wreck you at least a little bit. It is an absolutely emotional ride, especially toward the end (but no spoilers here!). Plus, the favorite word conversations are just adorable and add so much to the emotion of each scene.