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The Careful Undressing of Love
by
Corey Ann Haydu (Goodreads Author)
Everyone who really knows Brooklyn knows Devonairre Street girls are different. They’re the ones you shouldn’t fall in love with. The ones with the curse. The ones who can get you killed.
Lorna Ryder is a Devonairre Street girl, and for years, paying lip service to the curse has been the small price of living in a neighborhood full of memories of her father, one of the thou ...more
Lorna Ryder is a Devonairre Street girl, and for years, paying lip service to the curse has been the small price of living in a neighborhood full of memories of her father, one of the thou ...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
January 31st 2017
by Dutton Books for Young Readers
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Maddy Russell
Yes. It is magical realism
Community Reviews
(showing 1-30)
I thought living in a small space meant we shared everything. But so much can be hidden even in the most cramped apartment on one of the shortest streets in Brooklyn.
Even love.
This is why magical realism is one of my favourite genres. As with books like The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, this too captures a unique modern-day fairy tale feeling, set in a recognizable Brooklyn neighbourhood, yet full of magical mystery, curses, and whimsy.
The Careful Undressing of Love paints a p ...more
“Love happens at night,” Angelika says, whispering like it’s a secret some of us might not know. “So we’ll take away the night.”
This was such a quick read, almost impossible to put down. I wasn't sure at first if I would read this, but then without noticing I was twenty pages in and feeling invested, so then I had to keep going. And now here we are.
The Careful Undressing of Love follows the Devonairre Street Girls and their eccentric little community in Brooklyn that has experienced an unusual n ...more
This was such a quick read, almost impossible to put down. I wasn't sure at first if I would read this, but then without noticing I was twenty pages in and feeling invested, so then I had to keep going. And now here we are.
The Careful Undressing of Love follows the Devonairre Street Girls and their eccentric little community in Brooklyn that has experienced an unusual n ...more
I think 2 stars might be too many. I struggled with this book.
I fell in love with the cover and the sort of odd synopsis and I was certain it was going to be my sort of book.
Right off the bat, I was confused. It felt like I had been dropped in the middle of a story. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be magical realism or a mild dystopia or just old world superstition. And I think that's what lost me...
I didn't really care for any of the characters, so I couldn't connect to them. I thought abo ...more
I fell in love with the cover and the sort of odd synopsis and I was certain it was going to be my sort of book.
Right off the bat, I was confused. It felt like I had been dropped in the middle of a story. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be magical realism or a mild dystopia or just old world superstition. And I think that's what lost me...
I didn't really care for any of the characters, so I couldn't connect to them. I thought abo ...more
I was lucky enough to read this book early, and it is spectacular. It's such a gorgeous, incisive look at how beautiful and terrifying and dangerous it is to love another person and the ways in which we contort ourselves to make sense of tragedy, both on a national and personal level. This book cut straight to the heart of a lot of questions I've been pondering about how to move forward in a world that seems completely random and cruel and refuses to play by the rules, no matter how hard you try
...more
Dreamy and eloquent, Corey Ann Haydu's latest novel is as gorgeously written as all her other work. Tackling themes of love and grief, of community and change, it was lovely and it was odd and it was all too compelling to stop turning pages once I had started. While I'm still not certain how I feel about the way it ends, I still very much think this is another book from Haydu that is worth the read (as all of her books are).
Review to come

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★★UPCOMING BOOK RELEASES★★
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★★UPCOMING BOOK RELEASES★★
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ARC Review Originally Posted on Lacy Literacy:
My low rating of The Careful Undressing of Love isn't just because I did not like it. Mainly, it is because it left me feeling completely unsatisfied. Everything from the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, and the resolution just left me feeling empty (and not in the good 'I'm so ...more
“If you love someone and they vanish, you are left nodding like a zombie and throwing teacups at a wall. I never want to be a person who throws teacups at the wall"*
My low rating of The Careful Undressing of Love isn't just because I did not like it. Mainly, it is because it left me feeling completely unsatisfied. Everything from the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, and the resolution just left me feeling empty (and not in the good 'I'm so ...more
Review coming soon on www.thebooksbuzz.com but wow... JUST WOW.
Huge thank you to Miss Print's ARC adoption for this review copy
This book was fucking gorgeous. I fell in love with this book at first sight because the cover it just so stunning. I have bookstagrammed it a few times because it is just so beautiful. I actually probably wouldn't have asked for this book if not for the cover and the fact that it's magical realism. I wasn't a huge fan of this author's other books, but I wanted to give it a shot.
The writing in this book is fantastic. It sucks you in ...more
This book was fucking gorgeous. I fell in love with this book at first sight because the cover it just so stunning. I have bookstagrammed it a few times because it is just so beautiful. I actually probably wouldn't have asked for this book if not for the cover and the fact that it's magical realism. I wasn't a huge fan of this author's other books, but I wanted to give it a shot.
The writing in this book is fantastic. It sucks you in ...more
Jul 11, 2016
Sana
marked it as to-read-so-bad-it-hurts
"Any boy they love is certain to die too soon."
HERE FOR THIS AND THAT COVER!
HERE FOR THIS AND THAT COVER!
Feb 26, 2016
Brittany (The Book Addict's Guide)
marked it as to-read
This description kiiiiinda reminds me of The Raven Cycle. NEED IT.
"I've been waiting for one thing, but love can be anything."
---
"When there's nothing left to salvage, we have to save ourselves."
Everyone knows that Devonairre Street in Brooklyn is cursed. Being loved by a Devonairre Street girl ends in tragedy. Just look at the number of war widows on the street or the concentration of Affected families left without husbands and fathers after the Times Square Bombing in 2001.
Lorna Ryder and her mother have never put much stock in the curse even though they ...more
---
"When there's nothing left to salvage, we have to save ourselves."
Everyone knows that Devonairre Street in Brooklyn is cursed. Being loved by a Devonairre Street girl ends in tragedy. Just look at the number of war widows on the street or the concentration of Affected families left without husbands and fathers after the Times Square Bombing in 2001.
Lorna Ryder and her mother have never put much stock in the curse even though they ...more
So many mixed feelings about this book. The prose is gorgeous and full of longing and pain. I felt Lorna's aching heart and grief and resentment because it came through in the language. And the book was extremely compelling - I read it through in one sitting.
But.
This is supposed to take place in some alternate USA where after a horrific bombing at Times Square, the country decides to take "never forget" literally to the point of fetishizing grief. The "Affected" - those who have lost a loved on ...more
But.
This is supposed to take place in some alternate USA where after a horrific bombing at Times Square, the country decides to take "never forget" literally to the point of fetishizing grief. The "Affected" - those who have lost a loved on ...more
I had to think and sleep on this review because I wasn't sure exactly how to describe The Careful Undressing of Love without giving parts of the plot away. But I can say that this was one of my most hyped books of 2017 mainly because the premise sounded really intriguing and for the lovely cover. But considering that I've also read the rest of Haydu's books, and knowing that she's a good writer who's able to keep me interested in reading her novels, I would have picked it up by name alone.
Thankf ...more
Thankf ...more
I was lucky enough to snag an ARC of this at Yallfest this year. I have never read anything by this author before and pretty much went into this going blind. It's kind of an odd book. I guess it's magical realism, I'm not super familiar with that genre so I don't have anything to compare it to in that sense. But I will say this book is written in a very lyrical and beautiful way. Reading it was like reading poetry in a way. I wanted to put in a quote as an example but it's hard to choose and it
...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
From my tweets about how much I loved THE CAREFUL UNDRESSING OF LOVE:
This book would've meant so much to teen me. Everything resonated deeply with me--the characters, the world, the magic, the writing. This is a story about what love is, and what it isn't. What sex means, and what it doesn't. The damage grief inflicts and how to survive it. It's about how the world can be an ugly, scary place for us girls--but how with our sisters we carve out secret safe spaces for beauty and magic. It's about ...more
This book would've meant so much to teen me. Everything resonated deeply with me--the characters, the world, the magic, the writing. This is a story about what love is, and what it isn't. What sex means, and what it doesn't. The damage grief inflicts and how to survive it. It's about how the world can be an ugly, scary place for us girls--but how with our sisters we carve out secret safe spaces for beauty and magic. It's about ...more
Full review: https://bookevin.wordpress.com/2017/0...
3.5 stars
Initial thoughts:
I don't know what to make of the ending. The book is so mysterious and the writing is engaging as it is poetic, almost lyrical at some parts.
I loved the exploration of the theme of love and the characterisations were solid.
However, I found the story to be quite trippy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It did take me some time to get used to the setting of the book.
3.5 stars
Initial thoughts:
I don't know what to make of the ending. The book is so mysterious and the writing is engaging as it is poetic, almost lyrical at some parts.
I loved the exploration of the theme of love and the characterisations were solid.
However, I found the story to be quite trippy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It did take me some time to get used to the setting of the book.
There's a curse hanging over the girls of Devonairre Street. Any man they love will die young. So they protect themselves from love. Some follow the superstitions of Angelika an old woman who has lived in the street for 50 years, she stipulates that the girls should not cut their hair, or celebrate their own birthdays. Some of the girls use more modern methods to keep love at arms length, like casual sex and alcoholism. But this younger generation don't really believe in the curse, until Jack di
...more
Jul 13, 2016
Jess
marked it as to-read
14/07/2016
First 46 pages: https://issuu.com/penguinteen/docs/fi...
This cover is amazing, and the writing is haunting and gorgeous and one time my eyes prickled because a sentence was so perfect. That being said, it seems like a huge case of Manic Pixie Dream Girls, which are always "blegh", plus it's emphasized that it's the boy they fall in love with will die, meaning that the Curse will only affect hetero relationships and assuming that all the characters are attracted to men only, which is to ...more
First 46 pages: https://issuu.com/penguinteen/docs/fi...
This cover is amazing, and the writing is haunting and gorgeous and one time my eyes prickled because a sentence was so perfect. That being said, it seems like a huge case of Manic Pixie Dream Girls, which are always "blegh", plus it's emphasized that it's the boy they fall in love with will die, meaning that the Curse will only affect hetero relationships and assuming that all the characters are attracted to men only, which is to ...more
Corey Ann Haydu's newest novel, The Careful Undressing of Love, offers an interesting premise: the girls of Devonairre Street are cursed. Any boy they love is destined to die. We are introduced to Lorna, one of the
Devonairre Street girls for whom this curse is part of every day life. And to make matters in this book even more complicated and intriguing, these girls live in an alternate version of the Brooklyn we know.
Haydu gives us a world in which Times Square was bombed in 2001, the Twin Towe ...more
Devonairre Street girls for whom this curse is part of every day life. And to make matters in this book even more complicated and intriguing, these girls live in an alternate version of the Brooklyn we know.
Haydu gives us a world in which Times Square was bombed in 2001, the Twin Towe ...more
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“You never know what’s going to be in the garden in June when you’re looking at it in January.”
—
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“Everyone else’s Minute of remembering is over, but ours stretches on and on. It doesn’t
end.”
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