Kalamata's Review!

     Jenna Evans Welch has returned once more! Love and Olives introduces Liv (a new-and-improved

version of Olive). She's lived with her mom for the past nine years and hasn't spoken with her father since

he scurried across the Mediterranean Sea to settle into his home town of Santorini, Greece.  Liv's grown

up believing her father had abandoned her and her mother in order to discover the Lost City of Atlantis,

something both Liv and her father had worked on studying together for most of her childhood. Liv has

the summer planned to-a-T with her boyfriend, Dax. They'll be camping with each other in a few weeks,

making last memories with each other before senior year and colleges in the future. Liv was looking

forward to having everything structured... until she receives a postcard with distinctive handwriting

informing her that he's very close to finding Atlantis and could really use her help. It was her father and

he was reaching out.

     In true fashion of a mother, Liv's mom convinces her to take the chance and travel to Santorini to see

her father. It couldn't hurt visiting a place where the pictures were worth more than a thousand words

and Liv is speechless once the plane touches down on the Greek soil. The water views are breathtaking,

the tiny homes scattered up and down cliffs, even the hole-in-the-wall romance bookstore Liv uncovers

to be her father's and his friend's hidden gem. All scenic settings and how fitting, considering Liv is an

artist who works great in location settings. She's introduced to her dad's confidant, Theo, a young man

around Liv's age who's hand is permanently attached to a video camera. He explains to Liv that not only

is her father going to share with her all of his recent research and knowledge of the fact that Atlantis

exists, they're going to be competing a documentary to submit to National Geographic in the process.

A dream come true for a man who's dedicated his life to uncovering something many believed to be

truly lost forever... but a hesitant daughter stands askew in accepting to help her father uncover his dream

when it seems he left her in order to achieve it.

     Filming occurs throughout the novel, along with travel along the island of Santorini. Liv and Theo

develop a relationship, dancing along the line of friendship/romantic relationship. Theo has a way about

him that makes Liv want to return to being Olive, the young girl she once was who wasn't afraid of

adventure or curious to discover hidden wonders. Liv's relationship with her father also

develops throughout the novel, more accordingly rushing forth towards the end of Evan Welch's story.

In accepting and understanding why Liv's dad left her, she also embraces her true self as a young woman

and makes it known what she wants--between loving someone new, remembering who she once was and

deserves to be once more.

     I've read both Evans Welch's other two novels, Love and Gelato and Love and Luck, but neither

compares to the complexities discussed within this particular novel. The allure of traveling and depth

in descriptions is done beautifully throughout all three novels, obviously given to the fact that all three

novels take place in different areas of the world and it's only fair to do each and every one of them justice

with exquisite illustrations. All three main young women developed romantic relationships between

characters within their stories, but also embraced their true characters/selves and emboldened their futures.

In Love and Olives, however, I noticed some changes and enhancements that pushed this story that much

further (at least in my opinion).

     Mental health disorder has held a stigma for so long in society and most days, I believe it always

will, unfortunately. I've noticed more recently, however, that YA novels are developing on the topic of

mental health disorders in storylines--whether it be main characters living with said disorders or family

members within the story dealing with disorders, thus having the main character impacted by it. I

appreciate Evans Welch's depiction of bipolar disorder. As this particular mental disorder hits home for

myself, I was comfortable in reading her depiction of the disorder and how it impacted Olive's character

in the storyline and over the years. I think it was ultimately very realistic, and most fiction pieces have

that element now-a-days, to depict this as Olive's father's reasoning for distancing himself. Living with a

mental disorder is difficult enough and to share that burden with a family is something else entirely.

     I truly enjoyed this piece and I do believe it's the last one of Evans Welch's "Love" stories. They are all

in fact worth investing in and I will always recommend them for a top read in YA romance novels.