Who Do You Love

August 31, 2015
Weiner (All Fall Down) tugs at the heartstrings with her latest tale of angst and love. Rachel Blum and Andy Landis are eight years old when they meet in a Miami hospital's emergency room. Rachel has a congenital heart deformity that has required multiple surgeries, so she's an old hand at hospitals and enjoys hanging out in the ER area for a little excitement. Andy and his mother are visiting Florida; he has a broken arm. Their backgrounds couldn't be more dissimiliar: Rachel is the pampered daughter of an affluent couple in Miami; Andy is the child of a struggling hairdresser in Philadelphia. But to distract Andy from his pain while his mother is located, Rachel gives him a stuffed animal and tells him her own version of "Hansel and Gretel." When they part ways in the ER, both assume it will be the last time they see each other. But following an unexpected reunion at a volunteer camp, Rachel and Andy's paths intertwine for the next three decades, as Andy follows his dream of winning an Olympic gold medal in running and Rachel becomes a social worker. While the two have a romantic relationship as young adults, circumstances pull them apart, and they remain on the fringes of each others' lives until another chance meeting changes them once again. The story is in alternating points of viewâRachel's in the first person, Andy's in the third personâand it meanders a bit, but Weiner's achingly real characters will keep readers engaged all the way through.

August 1, 2015
Andy and Rachel fall in love and fall apart, over and over, in this emotional outing from Weiner (All Fall Down, 2014, etc.). Eight-year-old Rachel Blum and Andy Landis meet in a hospital ER-she's there because of a congenital heart deformity while he's suffering from a broken arm caused by lack of parental supervision, having fallen off a balcony while doing circus tricks on the railing. They tell each other about the challenges in their young lives-for Rachel, it's that her surgery makes everyone think she's fragile, and for Andy, it's being biracial, which makes him feel like he doesn't fit in with white or black kids. When they meet again as teenagers, they almost instantly fall in love. But their relationship isn't without its obstacles-while Rachel is a Jewish upper-middle-class girl, Andy lives in poverty with his single mother. Andy and Rachel break off and rekindle their romance multiple times as he sets his sights on becoming an Olympic runner and she finds her way in her own career in social work. Through marriages, deaths, scandals, and successes, they keep finding their ways back to each other. Does their connection mean they're meant to be together-or are their differences simply too big to overcome? It's hard not to get invested in Weiner's characters, particularly Andy, who struggles to deal with his father's absence, his biracial identity, and feelings of being left out of Rachel's privileged world. Although some side characters are painted with broad strokes, Andy and Rachel feel fully realized and easy to root for, even when they're behaving badly and making mistakes. There are plenty of twists and turns (both predictable and surprising) in their relationship, and it's satisfying to watch them wend their ways toward the novel's perfectly realized conclusion. This moving story of love that spans a lifetime is Weiner at her heartstring-tugging best.

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Starred review from August 1, 2015
Rachel and Andy meet when they are children and reconnect as teenagers, falling into a pattern of finding and losing one another again as adults. Rachel, who was born with a heart defect, is recuperating in the hospital yet again when she comes across Andy, who is there with a broken arm. They couldn't be more differentRachel is spoiled by her wealthy, over-protective parents, while Andy and his single mom live in near povertybut they have an instant connection. When they meet again by chance on a high-school volunteer trip, they fall madly in love the way that only teenagers can. In college, Rachel ends up a sorority girl, while Andy relentlessly trains to make the Olympic track team, and even though the two have different life goals, they are drawn to each other again and again. But can they overcome their differences? Weiner's latest is pure romance and utterly heart tugging, showcasing her ability to write characters that readers will instantly connect with, flaws and all. There is a special delight here in getting to know Rachel and Andy from childhood to adulthood, and readers will find themselves laughing, crying, and hoping right along with the pair.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Weiner's previous novels have always contained romantic elements, but this one is decidedly a romance. That won't matter to women's fiction fans, who will drive it to the top of the best-seller lists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)