Definitely Not a Love Story

This is a really original book by Claudia Recinos.
Ana's dream is to be a writer so she decides to take part in a writing contest. But her teacher says it must be teamwork. And Ana is paired with Alejandro, his childhood best friend.
But they are not best friends anymore. They rarely talk.
I liked this book a lot. It's written in verse so it's very easy to read. It can be read in just an hour. It's a beautiful book about life changes.

I truly enjoyed this story! I think for me personally it's a little young for me, but i loved the perspective of love and why people may run away or be afraid of it. I think that this story was beautifully told in verse, with few words but felt like they said it all. I think this would be a great read for middle schoolers!


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc!

Another fantastic story from Claudia Recinos Seldeen ☺️ ... I LOVE how the author can capture so much emotion, and have me rooting so hard for her characters in such a compact story. I especially loved the exploration of friendship dynamics - it took me right back to my teen years - when I drifted apart from some people, and rekindled friendships with others. It's such a turbulent time, and I feel this story truly captures the essence of that specific time in a person's life. And of course, with this being a YA novel, I'm certain it'll appeal to teen readers just as much as it does to a very much not teen reader like me 😅

P.s. I want fairy hair!!

Thank you to NetGalley, West 44 Books, Rosen Publishing Group, and Claudia Recinos Seldeen for the opportunity to read Definitely Not a Love Story in exchange for an honest review.

Definitely Not a Love Story is a young adult hi-lo novel-in-verse, making it both interesting and easy to read.

This novel follows Ana, a high school students who is also an aspiring writer. When she is paired with Alejandro, a friend in childhood but distance grew between them, she is determined to have them win the short story writing contest.

Alejandro wants there to be some kind of romance or love in their story, but Ana doesn't want any of that. She has seen what love can do between the experiences of her parents, her constantly-dating sister, and her best friend. Love is just something that tears people apart in the end.

But love is also a key element to being human. Ana must learn how to face her fears when it comes to love and the possibilities of loss therein, for what is life without love? Maybe she'll find it's worth the risk.

This novel has an "Enjoy the now and don't worry about the future" message to it. After reading some of Seldeen's other works, such as Catch Me If I Fall and Everything I Know, I knew I would not fear falling in love with yet another one of her novels. Her stories are diverse while being written in verse, making an enjoyable array of choices for young readers. Definitely Not a Love Story is yet another hit, and I can't emphasize enough how amazing Seldeen's novels are.

Thank you so much to Rosen Publishing / West 44 Books and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Ana is a writer, but not like her mom who writes romance books, Ana doesn’t like love especially as she sees how her parents fight all the time, her sister get heartbroken over break ups constantly and her best friend is always bickering with her girlfriend. When a writing contest arises she is paired with Alejandro the romance writer in her class, but she doesn’t want to include any love in her story.

I really loved the relationship between Alejandro and Ana, they were really cute together, they fit together so nicely, like you could tell they had a past, a connection they’d formed long ago and being paired together brought that connection back and heightens it more. The two then ended up falling slowly for each other regardless of the fact Ana didn’t want any love in her life. I loved that aspect of the story.

I really liked this story it was full of reality of how life and love is, how scary, how messy, how unexplained and unexpected it can be, but no matter how much you resist it, it will always be there in what ever form it may arise in. Ana hated love but as the story progressed learnt to understand love a little more and accepted it for the first time in her life.

This was a really beautifully written verse book, it flowed so naturally, the story was so realistic, the connections, the relationships, the characters were all amazing and I really fell into the story quickly. I enjoyed reading this one a lot.

A highly readable novel-in-verse that sees its flawed protagonist navigating family, friendship, love and more.

Although I think this book is more suited for a younger audience, I appreciate how it explores various themes such as love for the written word, love in its different forms, family dynamics and others issues that teens will be able to relate to.

It was an easy read even though the plot was not the most compelling and the romance was weak. I would also have preferred a stronger and more complex conflict, but I liked all the parallels and how everything came together in the end.

I've read a few books by the author and look forward to more from her.

I have never read anything by the author but will read more after reading the story.

the story is really original and unique.
Ana is our main character who is a writer and wants to enter a writing contest. The teacher tells her she cannot do this alone and must be part of a team.

This was a different format for me because it is written in verse but can easily be read very quickly. Good writing and good story.

Thanks NEtGalley for letting me read and review.