Stephanie Jane reviewed The Love Genes by Eleni Cay
Noir romance
4 stars
The Love Genes is the third novel in Eleni Cay's 'Seven Kinds of Love' series and, true to form, I haven't yet read the first two books. However, other than a couple of moments where significant previous events were referenced, I didn't feel at a disadvantage for starting with book three. In fact I enjoyed the read so much, I have already added The Love Genes' prequels to my wishlist.
Appropriately for a book about love, I myself loved Cay's portrayal of a woman attempting to make a new life for herself in a country with a subtly different culture to her own. It is the small details that are most unexpected and I was impressed with how Cay puts them across. Katie's developing friendships allowed me to really understand her immersion into Swedish culture. I chuckled at moments like the expectation that understanding Swedish would also 'automatically' allow her …
The Love Genes is the third novel in Eleni Cay's 'Seven Kinds of Love' series and, true to form, I haven't yet read the first two books. However, other than a couple of moments where significant previous events were referenced, I didn't feel at a disadvantage for starting with book three. In fact I enjoyed the read so much, I have already added The Love Genes' prequels to my wishlist.
Appropriately for a book about love, I myself loved Cay's portrayal of a woman attempting to make a new life for herself in a country with a subtly different culture to her own. It is the small details that are most unexpected and I was impressed with how Cay puts them across. Katie's developing friendships allowed me to really understand her immersion into Swedish culture. I chuckled at moments like the expectation that understanding Swedish would also 'automatically' allow her to understand the other Scandinavian languages. Things are often very different when viewed from outside a particular culture!
While I didn't particularly warm to Katie, I was intrigued by her choices and motivations, especially when it came to her prospective romance. Could she genuinely not recognise the red flags surrounding Erik? Or was she so determined that this relationship be successful that she didn't even see them?
I thought that The Love Genes gives a realistic and thoughtful depiction of Katie's experiences. This novel is a love story in a way, but it's a dark descent rather than a romantic tale, and its noir atmosphere had me gripped. Eleni Cay is definitely an author I will be looking out for in the future, once I've caught up with the present of course.