Love Stories by Trent Dalton

Rating: 4.5 stars

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We are all just amalgams of the people we love. And we take good parts from people and try to build ourselves from them.

Trent Dalton spent time on the streets of Brisbane's CBD asking passerby's a simple question: "Can you please tell me a love story?". He then collated a selection of the stories he heard into this wonderful book. Trent does a fantastic job of retelling these stories with such sensitivity, creativity and depth. I learnt a great deal about love by simply reading this book.

Love can be given and love can be received, but it can’t be owned.

I couldn't give this a 5 star rating because at times I felt that it bordered on overly saccharine. And while I leaned into it as much as I could, at some points it was a bit much. The other issue I had with it is that because he has so many stories in the one book, it can get a little bit disorienting when he mentions somebody's name from many chapters prior. Perhaps if some of the stories were a tad bit longer (at the expense of having fewer stories) it might have been more hard-hitting.

I think the idea is that you work your way back from being lovers and you reach the point of being best friends and then you’re this strange mix of being best friends who are lovers.

Nonetheless, I still enjoyed reading this book and while there were many stories, I was entranced by all of them. I would highly recommend if you're looking for a book that will make you laugh and cry all at once. It made me believe in the beauty of humanity and life again.

Everywhere we go, we will never know how many minor miracles occur each day that help us avoid calamity.