A sweet private school story with nice characters. Are all teen books about falling for the wrong boy? I couldn't get into the story because while the characters were all nice, they weren't great. I had trouble keeping them in my head, even though I read the book in a single day. For some reason, the picture just wasn't vivid enough. I also absolutely hated the oldies references. Maybe it's just me, but back in high school, I couldn't think of anything lamer than my parents' generation's musical tastes, and we certainly made lots and lots of fun of hippies. Maybe that's changed. Maybe that was just us. But in this book, it seems *everybody* goes for old-school movie and music references. Didn't work for me. (And yes, i admit it didn't help that I didn't get most of them either) ( )

reviewed here: http://book-splot.blogspot.com/2008/07/principles-of-love-emily-franklin.html ( )

Cute book! One massive complaint before moving on to details--the font. I hate being so nitpicky, but ugh, could there be a smaller, tougher-to-read font? Quite frankly, that's the only reason I'm docking a star, because sometimes, it just gets really hard to read, no matter how interesting the book is, when your head's throbbing from squinting at the pages.
Now on to specifics. I have a lot to talk about with the names. Obviously, the first name to discuss would be Love's. How amazing is that? I really want to name my kid Love or something like it now, that's got to be the prettiest name ever, and it suits her, too! Oh, the irony of it all, right? Another name: Robinson. Is it just me, or is the bad guy always named Robinson? And third, Jacob. Jacob, Jacob, Jacob. Anyone else seeing the horrible Jacob Black parallels here? He's the other guy, the friend. Kind of awesome.
Plot stuffs. Love's got the coolest Dad in the world, seriously. I would definitely love to see more about her mom, and seeing as we've now got a box of her letters, I think I'd bet we're about to learn more, and I'm excited. I totally saw the DrakeFan thing coming wayyyy early, it was pretty obvious that it was Jacob. I did not, however, see Love and Jacob together, although I thought they were adorable. You knew Robinson was the bad guy, the first guy, the 'lust' guy, he's always a bad guy, at least in the YAs.
The cultural references were stunning. Could it get any more Gilmore Girls than this? LOVE it.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought I'd like this book a lot less than I did, and envisioned, God forbid, something more like "Prep". Glad that was disproved. Highly looking forward to the rest of the series! ( )

For a book belonging to the rapidly expanding genre of boarding school stories, THE PRINCIPLES OF LOVE is still an enjoyable read. Love is a witty narrator whose well-expressed struggles makes up for the lack of shine some of the other supporting characters. Emily Franklin attempts to be poignant with Love’s questioning her past and the mystery that is her mother, and she succeeds…sort of. Obviously the focus of the book is to be teen angsty and dramatic. Still, it makes for a slightly more intellectual read than, say, Gossip Girl, with its plethora of obscure music knowledge. ( )

A sweet private school story with nice characters. Are all teen books about falling for the wrong boy? I couldn't get into the story because while the characters were all nice, they weren't great. I had trouble keeping them in my head, even though I read the book in a single day. For some reason, the picture just wasn't vivid enough. I also absolutely hated the oldies references. Maybe it's just me, but back in high school, I couldn't think of anything lamer than my parents' generation's musical tastes, and we certainly made lots and lots of fun of hippies. Maybe that's changed. Maybe that was just us. But in this book, it seems *everybody* goes for old-school movie and music references. Didn't work for me. (And yes, i admit it didn't help that I didn't get most of them either) ( )