The concept behind I Loved You In Another Life is intriguing and romantic. The writing is similarly romantic and dreamy, bordering on the poetic. In that sense, the writing is lovely, it is very thoughtful and a very different tone to any other young adult novel I have read. I would say however that I think there is a reason for that. I find the intensity of sentiment and the curated language to be discordant with the age and life-point of the characters involved. I myself was a very dreamy teenager, with lots of romantic ideas about tragedy and romance and poetry, but at no point in my mid-teen years was I genuinely profound and mature in the ways that these characters, particularly Evan, are shown to be. I'm not claiming that every teen is the same or that it's not possible for them to be mature or profound, I'm just saying that to me these characters do not sit as entirely realistic.
For my personal tastes, the overall sincerity of this book is exhausting. I find the intense yearning tone to be dull after a prolonged period, and the truth of every line to be tiring.
Personal feelings aside, I do recognise that this book is well written, and the story is moving. The characters are all interesting, and even though I don't fully believe them I like them. I am no great fan of nostalgic or sentimental literature, but even still I would be interested to read more by David Arnold.
For my personal tastes, the overall sincerity of this book is exhausting. I find the intense yearning tone to be dull after a prolonged period, and the truth of every line to be tiring.
Personal feelings aside, I do recognise that this book is well written, and the story is moving. The characters are all interesting, and even though I don't fully believe them I like them. I am no great fan of nostalgic or sentimental literature, but even still I would be interested to read more by David Arnold.