A Taxonomy of Love

By: Rachael Allen

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Therese Plummer

The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade, it's...something at first sight. He knows she's special, possibly even magical. The pair become fast friends, climbing trees and planning world travels. After years of being outshone by his older brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, Spencer finally feels like he belongs. But as Hope and Spencer get older and life gets messier, the clear label of "friend" gets messier, too.

Through sibling feuds and family tragedies, new relationships and broken hearts, the two grow together and apart, and Spencer, an aspiring scientist, tries to map it all out using his trusty system of taxonomy. He wants to identify and classify their relationship, but in the end, he finds that life doesn't always fit into easy-to-manage boxes, and it's this messy complexity that makes life so rich and beautiful.

©2018 Rachael Allen (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Great Read

As a ticcer myself, I can say the representation of Tourette’s was spot on and while it was a part of Spencer’s character, it didn’t dominate the plot, which is what I look for in good books. The story starts out feeling a little childish, but the writing style and stakes mature with the characters which I thought was a really nice touch. It gives the feel of a kid growing up. You may think it’s going to be one of those relax, learn, grow type Coming of Age books in the beginning, because that’s all preteens think, “things aren’t going to change” (and the book does a really good job of putting you in the character’s headspace) but with some really well timed trama and character development that is far from linear, the end reaches a really nice conclusion. All the characters are flawed, and they’re all confronted with said flaws at some point. Overall, pretty good book

Delightfully developed story line.

Thoroughly enjoyed following the characters in this book. There is a character for everyone to relate to.

trying too hard

some of it was ok - but most of the time it felt way too strained .. I appreciate the inclusion of various themes - but overall just wasn't my thing.