Instructions for an Inexperienced Lover by Amanda Leduc

Instructions for an Inexperienced Lover Reviews

• 
  Katelyn (Tales of Books and Bands)

  This is one of those books that you read and enjoy but as time goes on you find that you like it even more. At first the characters were okay, the situations the main character, Rosa went through were slightly entertaining, and the style of writing seemed to bounce around. However, as I stated just a moment ago, I found myself REALLY liking it the more I continued to read this story.
  
  Rosa is a young woman trying her hand at writing. At a first glance she is a rather boring character. She always does the right thing, doesn’t have a social life, and the only relationship she has ever had with a guy is the crush she has on her much older, former teacher named James. Rosa as a character, much like every other aspect of the book, got better in time. Once she met Aylish, a character I will talk about in a moment, she comes out of her shell. She starts to make things interesting by going out more with Aylish, furthering her relationship abilities, and ultimately create intriguing stories based on her experiences with Aylish. Rosa gradually grows as a character throughout the whole book. She really thinks about what she wants out of life including her religion, her relationships with both James and Aylish, as well as what she wants to do with her future. Even though I was not a fan of Rosa at the beginning, she certainly grew on me throughout the book.
  
  Aylish and James are two completely different characters but they both have one main similarity and that Rosa is in love with them. Aylish is sporadic, funny, out-going, and extremely indecisive. James is caring, mature, knowledgeable, and like Aylish, very indecisive. Both of these characters string Rosa along. They make the time for her when they need her but it seemed to me that when Rosa really needed them to be there for her, they were absent. I really did not like the way that Aylish knew she had a certain control over Rosa. She could convince her to do things that normally went against her morals. She challenged Rosa’s religion and beliefs but in the end, Rosa still felt strongly for her. I may not have liked Aylish at all but she was a vital character for Rosa’s growth. James is a character I liked only slightly more than Aylish. Like Aylish, he knows that Rosa is his; hook, line, sinker BUT he never does anything to try and let her know that he is just not interested. He likes the fact that Rosa would walk to the ends of the Earth just to make him happy and that irritated me. James was not my favorite but he still caused major changes in Rosa that would have not been possible in any other way.
  
  This book ended up being a so-so read for me but I am still a fan of Amanda Leduc’s writing style. Like I stated earlier, it took a while getting used to, but it was beautiful in its originality. This book felt so incredibly real to me. It was almost as if I was reading someone’s extra long diary. I was able to learn a lot about Rosa and why she did and thought the way that she did. At a glance the story may seem like the situations the character goes through are insignificant but in my opinion that is the most intriguing part of this story. Amanda didn’t create a character dealing with the death of the parent or someone who inherits supernatural abilities, she created a regular Joe. Rosa could be anyone, your neighbor, the young woman at the grocery store, or a girl that sits near you in class. She is just so normal that you feel you are getting to know a real person.
  
  Amanda’s unique writing style will take some getting used to but in the end, it is worth it. I can’t wait to read what she comes up with next!
• 
  JudithAnn

  Rosa Delacroix is 22 years old and has left home for the first time to study writing at university. She lives in Victoria, Canada in a small apartment and feels grown-up and independent. But when it comes to it, she hasn’t experienced much in life at all. How can she be a writer without being able to fall back on all kinds of different personal experiences?
  
  Her old teacher James, on whom she has had a crush for years and who, for some reason, keeps in contact with Rosa, thinks she shouldn’t lock herself up in her room to write. Instead she should meet people, have fun, do things.
  
  Then she meets Aylish at her writing workshop. Aylish is Irish, has a live-in boyfriend, has travelled the world and seems to be the opposite of Rosa. Aylish tells her she has to find herself a boyfriend, or otherwise, seduce James.
  
  But Rosa is a bit shy, and very religious. She goes to church every Sunday and would like to “save herself” for the right man.
  
  In this beautifully written story, Rosa learn more about the world, about sex and men, but not quite in a way she might have expected.
  
  Don’t worry, the sex-thing isn’t overpowering.
  
  I loved the writing style! I’m not surprised this book was shortlisted for a prize (2008 UK Daily Mail First Novel Award). The writing is very original, in my opinion. It starts of in the third person future tense and later it changes to present tense.
  
  I loved the way the story flows and how Rosa grows during the book, and the ending was a little vague, but interesting. Recomended to any modern literary fiction reader.
• 
  Heidi Polk Issa

  I must admit a bit of initial prejudice on my part when I first started reading this novel. From the summary, I thought it might a ‘read on the beach’ type of book and, while I don’t mind these from time to time, I had in mind pretty much how I thought the plot would evolve, how the characters would interact, etc…
  
  However, I should have known better…
  
  On the surface, the story is simple enough – a young woman who is in the midst of a university degree, who struggles to find her niche in school, love and her chosen profession (writing). She is quiet and feels herself to be a bit of a blank page, certainly nothing which might interest her former teacher, the object of Rosa’s unrequited love. Enter Aylish, a fellow student, who brings splashes of bold and brilliant color into Rosa’s life.
  
  **Potential spoiler alerts**
  
  I found the novel a bit slow in the opening chapters but, upon further reflection, I think it actually suits the story quite well. There is a thoughtful tone throughout the book, which is an appropriate match for the character of Rosa, a bookish, awkward girl who appears to be missing out on life due to her own inadequacies. But the reader knows better than to fall into this easy assumption – to do so is to miss out on an extremely rich character, with a vast interior self, someone who hungers for something more and bigger and other. Running like a nearly tangible thread throughout the book is Rosa’s struggle to choose between living her life the way her head tells her to vs. the way her heart would choose. It is satisfying to witness because you feel connected to Rosa and want to stand on the sidelines, and cheer her on to success.
  
  From the very first glimpse of her, I knew Aylish would be trouble…I liked quite a few bits of her character, but want better for Rosa, who has my sympathy vote all the way…
  
  There were elements that reminded me of Lolita in Rosa’s relationship with her former teacher, so I have mixed feelings about him. I feel Leduc nicely handled what could have been an otherwise cliched and somewhat contrived plot line, though my eyes still narrow at some of his dialogue and actions throughout (can you tell that I’m on Team Rosa yet? lol)
  Leduc once again proves herself as a very talented writer…