Love by the Book by Jessica George [Book Review]

Forget finding Mr. Right. Love by the Book makes a pretty convincing case that finding the right friend is harder, messier, and possibly more important.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

One of the stranger things about getting older is realizing that friendship breakups can hurt just as much as romantic ones.

We talk constantly about finding “the one.” We rarely talk about what it’s like when the people who have always known you start drifting into different lives. Jessica George’s Love by the Book gets that better than most novels I’ve read lately. Despite the title, it isn’t really a romance. It’s a book about loneliness, and about finally being seen by someone who doesn’t already think they know you.

Two Women Looking for Connection

Remy’s debut novel was a bestseller, and her agent and publisher want the next one. The problem is that her inspiration disappeared just as her friendships started to fall apart. One friend moves to New York, one gets pregnant, and one gets back together with her awful boyfriend. The life that inspired her first book no longer exists.

Simone teaches kindergarten, earns good money from a side hustle, and is sure her close-knit family is all she needs. Then the truth about that side job comes out, and her family cuts her off.

They literally crash into each other in a bookstore. Simone doesn’t think she needs friends, and Remy is a mess. It takes a while.

The Real Love Story

I liked that the book doesn’t pretend romance fixes everything. Remy and Simone’s relationship is the heart of the story, and it asks a bigger question: what happens when the person who understands you best is a friend, not a partner?

George also understands what friendship looks like in your thirties. Babies and distance pull people apart, usually unintentionally. People just turn into different versions of themselves.

There’s a catch, too. Remy is a novelist who already wrote one successful book about the people closest to her, so every vulnerable conversation comes with a little tension. Does someone you love get to turn your life into art? George doesn’t give an easy answer, and I liked that.

Final Thoughts

Love by the Book cares more about emotional honesty than twists, and I think that’s the right call. It doesn’t always move at the speed I wanted, but it knows what it wants to say.

If you want a fast-paced romance, skip it. If you like character-driven fiction that takes friendship as seriously as love, read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader’s copy. All opinions are my own.