Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner

Who do You Love is a touching love story, and a well-written book about second chances and how the past can truly shape the present. It is the story of Rachel and Andy, who happen to meet in a hospital waiting room when they are 8 years old. Rachel is no stranger to hospitals, because she was born with a congenital heart defect and spends a lot of time in the hospital for multiple surgeries and tests. Her Jewish family is by-the-book, and affluent and she hasn’t ever had to do without much in her life. On the flip side, Andy is a sullen, mixed race boy who lives with his single mom in a poor neighborhood and acquires all of his clothing second-hand. After spending a few hours together sharing stories and laughing, both Rachel and Andy made lasting impressions on each other. Eight years later, Rachel and Andy happen to be on the same mission trip building a house together. Now they are no longer innocent 8 year olds, but hormone-raging teenagers who remember each other like they just met the day before. And Rachel thought the mission trip was going to be boring! Think again. The story continues to switch back and forth between the lives of Rachel, once snippy, sorority girl turned adult social worker and mother, and Andy, an avid runner who becomes an Olympic medalist and then a hardware store manager after an unfortunate, irreversible decision he makes. Each time Rachel and Andy meet up through the years, it’s clear that they are meant to be together but something always seems to get in their way. As the reader on the outside looking in at their relationship, I was even upset because I loved their characters and I wanted them to be together. Obviously, if a boy made me a heart out of a red paperclip, I would swoon and follow him to the ends of the earth!  Seriously though, I couldn’t put this book down. I really enjoyed the story line and the ending.