Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: This is Not a Love Story
SERIES: Love Story Universe
AUTHOR: Suki Fleet
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 453 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2019
BLURB:
When fifteen-year-old Romeo’s mother leaves one day and doesn’t return, he finds himself homeless and trying to survive on the streets. Mute and terrified, his silence makes him vulnerable, and one night he is beaten by a gang of other kids, only to be rescued by a boy who pledges to take care of him.
Julian is barely two years older than Romeo. After running away from an increasingly violent homelife, he makes some difficult choices and ends up selling himself on the street to survive. Taking care of Romeo changes him, gives him a purpose in life, gives him hope, and though he tries to be strong and keep his troubles with drugs behind him, living as they do is slowly destroying him, and he begins to doubt he can be strong enough.
This is the story of their struggle to find a way off the streets and stay together at all costs. But when events threaten to tear them apart, Romeo knows he must find the strength within himself to help Julian (and not let their love story turn into a tragedy).
REVIEW:
I beg to differ. This is most definitely a love story, at least it’s a story about love, love so encompassing it survives insurmountable difficulties, even when it was no means certain the lovers would, themselves, survive. A better description, perhaps, would be “This is not just a love story”. It most certainly isn’t a romance.
Two young people trying desperately hard to not only survive but rise above the streets that are slowly killing them. Innocent, sweet Romeo and streetwise Julian who does whatever it takes to keep, first his friend, then his lover, safe. It’s an impossible task.
This book is raw. There’s no other word for it. It isn’t “nice”, it isn’t “sweet” it isn’t “romantic” even thought it has elements of all of that and more. This is a story of people, not just the main characters, who have been stripped down to almost nothing and survive on spirit alone. It guts you, wrenches out your heart, hands it to you on a plate then proceeds to shred it, but in such a beautiful way you can’t stop asking for more.
To say I loved these characters would be such an understatement. I lived with them. They were my children and I wanted to take them home with me and save them, but in the end, no one could save them but themselves.
The love Julian and Romeo have is something that comes along once in a blue moon and is so rare and precious it should never be beaten and trampled, but it was.
What more can I say? The story twists and turns, keeping you breathless and gasping with brief pauses of sweetness that range from heartwarming to bitter. The story is beautifully crafted with breathtaking characterization and descriptions of a London most of us (thankfully) will never see. I can’t say enough good things. It’s another of those books I think should be on curriculum in all schools. It’s part of our shame as a country and not something to be brushed under the carpet.
If I could give more than five stars, I would.
RATING: 
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