You Made Me Love You: Book Review

You Made Me Love You, by Joanna Goodman, has made it to my top 10 favorite books, at least for now. I started this book before I received a bunch of books for Christmas, so I figured I'd finish it up before I started reading any new ones. I'm so glad I did! I bought this book at the library when they were having a sale to get rid of older books and receive newer ones. I'm usually one to look at books and see if I know the author before I buy it, but this time, after reading what the book was about, I was sold! I didn't care if I had never heard of the author before, all I knew was that I needed to read the book.

Synopsis from Barnes & Noble:

The Zarr sisters have traveled far and wide to discover their dreams-and themselves. "Make it in Hollywood" was always Estelle's mantra. She's made it to Hollywood, but she's far from becoming a celebrated fi lm editor. Her sister Erica is in New York, where she's writing fiction, but not feeling quite at home in the literary salon. Meanwhile back in Toronto, Jessie's perfect life, set in stone at the age of twenty-one when she married a doctor and then had two children, has begun to crumble. Even their mother is having doubts about the life she chose, wondering if maybe she should never have put marriage ahead of her blossoming career in show biz...


My Review: 


This book is told in a couple different perspectives, from the three sisters, to their mother, and even their father. I loved how their perspectives were separated into different chapters. I found myself feeling bad for Lilly, the mother of the three sisters, because her husband has been, and is still in love with someone else. I identified with each sister, but especially with Erica, because at one point in the book, while she is with someone else, she falls in love with another man. This same situation happened to me, and while I picked the other man because I saw how much better he could and would treat me, Erica picked... well you'll just have to read to find that part out. She's also an aspiring writer, like me. 


Page after page, I found myself getting more and more attached to each character, crying when they cried, laughing when they laughed. You feel as if you're in the room with them, experiencing their situations. I didn't want to put the book down, and with that it only took me a few days to read, hours really if you count the time I was actually reading the book. It's amazing that the moral of the story is -'one always wants what one can't have.' I mean isn't it true? We're always looking at the next best thing our friend, neighbor, loved one has, and we want it; even in relationships; you have that one person ... but then when you break up you want them more than ever before. 


This book was definitely a must read, and I recommend it to all my readers, friends, and family. I never read book over again, but this might be one of those books that I will pick up later in the year and read. It was powerfully written, with such intense characters, who were all so different, but the same through and through.


Quotes that Stuck:


"You did more than lead me on. You made me love you. So either it was part of some perverse game, or else you have feelings for me too. Because I didn't dream this all up. I know I didn't" [pg 286; Erica].


"After awhile, she sneaks a sidelong glance at Josh and is overwhelmed with pity. All he's done is adore her! And she is so rotten and unlovable that she doesn't trust his love. He's probably the only man on earth who would put up with her shtick and all she can do in return is resent him"[pg 323; Estelle].


"And he was right. A path or a calling isn't decided by the approval you're going to get from it. It's just what comes naturally to you. It's whatever piques your interest" [pg 367; Erica].


"Mitchell is like wrapping herself up in something worn-in and familiar. And yet he is constantly surprising her" [pg 388; Erica]. 


My Rating: 5 Stars