A Taxonomy of Love is about a boy named Spencer who lives next door to Hope, his lifelong crush. Spencer suffers from Tourette Syndrome—a mental illness which causes ticks (verbal or physical) that are repeated over and over again.
Because of this, he gets made fun of because of it, however, Hope sees past that and befriends him. You see their friendship evolve over the course of the book in which Hope begins to drift away from Spencer after an incident between them happen.
Overall, this young adult novel was an amazing read. It gives an accurate representation into Tourette’s and what it is like for a person to live with it as the main ticks we see Spencer do are sniff and shoulder ticks, which are common in people who have Tourette’s. The pacing of the story was quick and almost unnoticeable until Spencer reveals how many years he has kept something that Hope threw away a long time ago.
What the novel does focus on is how people view Spencer. His brother, dad, and himself run his dad’s store and his dad will tell him that the store is too loud and he should not go, which is very infuriating to read as a reader. The novel also touches base on how Spencer feels about his family. You see a clear feud between Spencer and his brother as his brother is clearly the one who is getting the whole spotlight and Spencer is kind of just there seeing his brother get it all.
Overall, the book itself was a fun and light-hearted read. However, this book did fall short of the perfect read as there were a few things that I personally did not like and certain aspects of the story and characters could have been fleshed out more.
Have you read A Taxonomy of Love? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
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.
One of the best books I have ever read. I found it due to the title and my work around taxonomies, but it was my month to choose our book club’s selection and it was a huge hit by all. Deep and difficult subjects put in approachable ways through the lens of a young adult. AND set in the south without making everyone appear uneducated and biased. Great job!