Ariadne (Ari) Mitchell attends public high school in Brooklyn. She is artistic and dreams of one day attending Parsons School of Design and of falling in love. Ari’s best friend Summer is beautiful and flashy and attends the exclusive Hollister Prep on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. When Ari’s family receives an inheritance, they decide to send her to Hollister Prep. Ari’s preppy style and artistic sensibility is more of a match at Hollister. She quickly makes a new friend Leigh who introduces her to her wealthy family and takes her to nightclubs and museums. Leigh also introduces Ari to her gorgeous cousin Blake, and Ari can’t believe he is interested in her. They begin a relationship and Ari is so infatuated she forgets about her studies, friends, family and plans for the future. When there are some bumps in the road with Blake, Ari struggles to find her footing and find herself again.

This is a wonderful coming of age book by debut author Lorraine Zago Rosenthal. The setting is New York in the mid 1980′s at the time of AIDS blood tests, Live Aid, Madonna and Duran Duran. Ari is easy to relate to with her over-bearing mother, and pretty and popular best friend. Ari suffers from stress migraines and is a nice and hard-working girl. She wonders if she has what it takes to be an artist and if she will ever find love.

Ari’s relationships with her family and friends are vividly described. Ari’s mother wants the best for Ari. Her eldest daughter Evelyn married young after a teen pregnancy. She is very protective of Ari and holds her to high standards and does not want her to lose sight of her goals. Ari’s friend Summer is the popular and boy-crazy girl who we are not sure has Ari’s best interests at heart. Ari’s sister Evelyn suffers from depression and is threatened by Ari. Leigh is the friend that seems the most perfect for Ari. They both are quiet and kind and love art. Blake seems like the too-perfect boyfriend who is kind, polite and considerate.

The friend relationships ring very true. Ari has always had one best friend Summer, but is now managing the complexity of having another good friend Leigh. Adding Blake to the equation adds more drama to Ari’s life than she has ever experienced.

The writing in this book is beautiful and descriptive. I felt like I was there in New York in the 1980s. The story is something anyone can relate to about first love and following your dreams. This story is uniquely told and a fast read. Recommended for fans of contemporary young adult novels, and older teens. I am looking forward to reading more from this author. ( )

I was first drawn to Lorraine Zago Rosenthal's debut by the title and cover. It was immediately obvious that it was a contemporary YA title, which I'm always on the lookout for, and including "love" in the title always catches my eye. Little did I know that OTHER WORDS FOR LOVE would end up being so much more to me than a well told, entertaining story.

OTHER WORDS FOR LOVE tackles a variety of pertinent issues, including depression, discrimination based on socioeconomic status and cultural differences, teen sex and pregnancy, and general teenage angst. The novel's 1985 setting offers a twist while reminding readers that these issues, in many ways, defy time.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Rosenthal's debut was her treatment of Ari's first crush, first love and first real relationship. This novel poses the question: "[Was it] true love... or something else?" In many cases, especially in YA literature, true love is always the answer, but Rosenthal strays from this well-beaten path and battles through the unforgiving undergrowth of that little used second path. Love is not simple or easy or perfect, but it can make us radiantly happy for a time and teach us valuable lessons - Ari's story reinforces this.

I read this novel at a time when I was feeling jaded about relationships and love, so maybe this mindset influenced me somewhat and fostered a closer connection with Ari... Regardless, Ari's romantic adventures left me hopeful. I love a happy ending with passionate kissing and whatnot, but the ending of OTHER WORDS FOR LOVE was different. It was still happy, but it wasn't happy because of a boy or a relationship... it was happy because Ari knew who she was, what she wanted, and that she was perfectly capable of being single. Go, Ari!

OTHER WORDS FOR LOVE is a gorgeous novel and I'll definitely be reading more from Rosenthal. Don't miss this fantastic debut! ( )

Full review on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com/2011/12/other-words-for-love.html

Though the story of Other Words for Love is set in the '80s, this story could have been happening right now. The emotions are so real, the relationships and complications so true-to-life. Ari is the perfect character for this story to happen to - just enough naivete, just enough repressed anger, just enough dreams and fantasies.

I love how there are so many layers to the story and how Lorraine knits them all together to create a perfectly woven, multi-layered story. Each thread is followed through and creates problems just when another thread seems to be finally coming together.

And the ending is great, too. It's not a "happy-ever-after," but it's true to real life. We're left with hope for Ari, hope that she learned something from this whole thing, hope that somewhere out there is the perfect situation for her - and I especially like that her hope does not hinge on her finding a guy! ( )

Ari? This is a must read :D

Lorraine Zago Rosenthal's Other Words For Love is one of those rare novels that had my heart threatening to fall right out of my chest; the emotions, characters and situations felt so real and stomachache-inducingly familiar. Books about first love usually resonate with me far more than any other subject -- it's something close to my own heart, I guess. And if I had big expectations about this one after reading so many glowing reviews, they were all met. And then some.

Ari is the novel's backbone -- our narrator; our heroine. Told in her matter-of-fact and almost deadpan style, we get to know the Mitchell and Cagney families intimately in a very short time. At 17, Ari finds herself drawn to Patrick, her older sister's firefighter husband -- and who wouldn't? Patrick is everything Ari longs for: handsome; dependable; family-oriented; strong. And, more than anything, he takes an interest in her . . . too much, Evelyn gripes. Too much of an interest in her.

Oh, this book . . . it's hard to even pinpoint why I adored it so much. The love story that transpires had me breathless, remembering, and it's difficult to not feel tossed right back into the maelstrom of your own first love while dissolving into Other Words For Love. Rosenthal does an incredible job making us love and care for these people -- and Ari felt like a friend I could head to Brooklyn and visit. The glittering world of Leigh, Blake and Delsin -- Ari's new friends in the city -- was sparkling, yes, but it wasn't their wealth that made them so appealing to Ari. It was a sense of belonging and camaraderie -- and of love -- that made their presence like a drug to her.

In the story, Summer accuses Ari of not really being in love -- of simply thinking she is -- because she's in a state of limerence, when feelings of romantic love are so intense that your affection becomes obsession. But who doesn't look back on their first great love and remember those sleepless nights spent replaying every word and look exchanged, and the very first time you kissed? Of the way you felt when you realized your feelings were returned -- when you wanted to wake up and shout "I'm in love!" while dancing in traffic on the roof of your car?

If you have a desire to replay that time in your life -- or simply read a sweet, understated but beautiful novel -- don't miss out on Other Words For Love. Though labeled as young adult literature, our protagonist is anything but a "typical" teen -- and this is anything but a one-note love story. ( )