Bookseller Reviews
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Stunning and beautifully well-written
I don't believe how much I enjoyed this book, from the first page I got interested and the more I read, the more the story gripped me.
The characters are... READ MORE
Do you remember your first love?
Looking for a beautifully written, Taylor Jenkins Reid coded love story? Ordinary Love might well be the book for you.
It is such an immersive read, cen... READ MORE
Synopsis
When Emily catches sight of Gennifer Hall at a party, she is transported back to the moment they fell in love as teenagers. Their connection was electric, and they thought it was forever.
Twenty years later, Gen is an Olympic runner, the career she strived for, while Emily is living a picture-perfect life: Manhattan townhouse, two young children and a wealthy husband, Jack. But Jack's controlling behaviour is spiralling, and Emily has lost sight of who she once was.
Now, despite Emily's fracturing marriage and the pressures of Gen's career, they are drawn back together by a magnetic attraction. After years of heartbreak, missed chances and misunderstandings, will they finally get a second chance at first love?
Publisher information
- Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
- ISBN: 9780349146881
- Number of pages: 368
- Dimensions: 238 x 152 x 36 mm
- Weight: 580g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
View allA book about desire, betrayal and sexuality
Ordinary Love is a profoundly moving experience. The raw and tender depiction of love is beautifully written. Reading this evoked so much emotion within me... READ MORE
For the reminiscers
Ordinary Love intertwines the past with the present, exploring Emily’s relationship with Gen as they had their first love as teenagers, and then their reco... READ MORE
Nothing "ordinary" about this Ordinary Love
Stunning. Really. In fact there is nothing ordinary about Marie Rutkoski’s Ordinary Love, neither in terms of its impact not in terms of the love story bet... READ MORE
Quietly compelling, profoundly evocative
I'm in love with Emily St. John Mandel's work, so her endorsement was a dealmaker for me - the book more than lived up to its promise and I fell so hard fo... READ MORE
Captivatingly beautiful, insightful and authentic
I was swept away on a beautiful journey of love and resilience reading Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski.
Small town girl Emily falls in love with Gen in ... READ MORE
Ordinary Love is a profoundly moving experience.
The raw and tender depiction of love is beautifully written. Reading this evoked so much emotion within me. I felt rage and sadness for Emily the main char... READ MORE
Anything but ordinary
Marie Rutkoski’s Ordinary Love is anything but ordinary. It’s tender, brutally honest, and gorgeously written.
This isn’t a book that shouts. It doesn’t ... READ MORE
A gorgeous unconventional love story
What a gorgeous unconventional love story!! Emily had spent her childhood trying to people please - in particular her father who seemed to love a particula... READ MORE
Quietly written, loudly resonating
Ordinary Love is not an ordinary book. I believe this is the first foray [author:Marie Rutkoski|1238111] has made into contemporary fiction and I loved it!... READ MORE
A beautiful book
Such a beautiful book. I loved how real the characters were and the way the story flowed with the second chance romance trope was perfect. Thoroughly enjoy... READ MORE
A stunning love story
There’s something rather beautiful about Rutkoski's prose, and I can understand why this novel is being pushed as Vigaro's lead literary fiction. Told pure... READ MORE
.
I didn't expect this book to break me but I spent the last few pages unable to stop crying.
It was a beautiful and at the same time an incredibly hard b... READ MORE
immersive, emotive, deeply moving
'Ordinary Love' is an immersive, emotive, deeply moving account of one woman's life told through the lens of her two main relationships. Married young, to ... READ MORE
First love and second chances in a lovely nostalgic read
This is an honest, tender and nostalgic account of a love affair that spans decades between Emily, a high achiever who lands a very rich but controlling hu... READ MORE
A beautiful tale of love conquers all
I loved this book, there ate two stories being told about Emily, one with her husband and two children, where her life seems perfect,but is it? She doesn’t... READ MORE
When the past fractures the future
Emily and Gen were best friends at school, all the way to college when they became lovers. Twenty years after, Emily is married to Jack with two children, ... READ MORE
Beautifully written, haunting and unforgettable
I was swept away on a beautiful journey of love and resilience reading Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski.
Small town girl Emily falls in love with Gen in... READ MORE
Written with real heart
A beautiful queer love story. Very well written with great characterisation and real heart. I couldn’t put it down.
Beautifully written
I thought this was a really well written and beautiful book. I loved how the past and the present were weaved together. Some parts are absolutely frustrati... READ MORE
Essentially a stunningly beautiful love-story
Wow! At last, a book about queer women that is relatable, realistic, and very well written. Marie Rutkoski portrays a relationship that spans decades of la... READ MORE
Beautiful story and so well told
Beautiful story and so well told. Enriched by many themes - endeavour, loss, the hurt we can cause - but, above all, deep and enduring love.
Made me cry, made me feel a turmoil of emotions
"Thankyou NetGalley & little brown book group for this arc copy this is my first ever queer/sapphic representative book and i absolutely loved it, this boo... READ MORE
A beautifully read about first love, second chances, and the people who shape us.
Ordinary Love follows Emily, who meets her old love, Gen, years after their first romance.
The story is easy to read and full of emotions. It talks about ... READ MORE
Beautifully Intimate
I was fortunate to receive an ARC copy of Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski, thank you NetGalley and Virago for the opportunity
I adored this and found i... READ MORE
No ordinary story!
Ordinary Love is the story of Gen and Emily. From a fledgling relationship in their teens, circumstances – and their own personalities – force them apart a... READ MORE
Stunning. There is nothing ordinary about Marie Rutkoski’s Ordinary Love.
Stunning. Really. In fact there is nothing ordinary about Marie Rutkoski’s Ordinary Love, neither in terms of its impact not in terms of the love story bet... READ MORE
Not so ordinary
A beautiful queer love story. Very well written with great characterisation and real heart. I couldn’t put it down.
Beautiful story and so well told
Beautiful story and so well told. Enriched by many themes - endeavour, loss, the hurt we can cause - but, above all, deep and enduring love.
A beautiful sapphic story
I picked this up because I loved the author's YA fantasy books years ago. This book is very different, but her writing remains beautiful. Not many people c... READ MORE
Engaging Read
I found this book much more engaging than I anticipated from the first chapter. The story of Emily whose life from the outside looks picture perfect but in... READ MORE
Truly phenomenal
Thank you NetGalley & little brown book group for an arc copy of this book!
This book was phenomenal. It felt so raw and so real. The writing was beauti... READ MORE
The best book of 2025
I would like to start an official petition to increase the maximum star rating, in honour of Ordinary Love. To say something as trivial and cliché as ‘five... READ MORE
Great character-driven book!
In Ordinary Love, you follow the life of Emily : her first love, their break-up, her marriage and subsequent abuse, her two children, and her rekindling of... READ MORE
No ordinary Love
Marie Rutkoski’s Ordinary Love is a poignant exploration of identity, desire, and the complexities of human relationships. The narrative follows Emily, a w... READ MORE
Beautiful, powerful book
From the outside, Emily seems to have the perfect life - a rich husband who adores her and two beautiful children. But everything is not as it seems partic... READ MORE
Well written
Emotive and thoughtful but essentially a template romance of which I’ve read too many recently. Woman in controlled relationship with wealthy man escapes i... READ MORE
But it didn't quite live up to the hype
This is another book I've been really excited about, and because I was in a bit of a reading slump, there was a lot of hope riding on this one. But it didn... READ MORE
Five stars!
Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski is anything but ordinary. This poignant, evocative story delves into the complexities of love, identity, and personal growt... READ MORE
Beautiful
Emily comes from a broken home. Her mother doesn’t do emotion, her father has a new family and whilst they do spend time with Emily, she always feels like ... READ MORE
Emotional romance
This is the first book that I have read by Marie Rutkoski, it is a very well written story about Emily's life and loves.
Emily met Gen at school, Gen was ... READ MORE
Mixed feelings
I stuck with this book till the end but didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped and almost gave up. I found the flitting from past to present confusing and th... READ MORE
Romantic and Tender
Ordinary Love is a quiet, emotionally precise novel about the fault lines that run through families and the difficulty of moving forward while carrying the... READ MORE
More than a love story...
I really enjoyed Ordinary Love.
It’s not just another romance - it’s a thoughtful, well-written story that feels authentic. The characters are complex a... READ MORE
Blockbuster which will leave you thinking
I enjoyed this book so much but was disappointed by the end. I’m hopeful there’s a sequel so we find out a bit more about what happened to the insufferable... READ MORE