PRO CONNECT
Emilia Ares is an Armenian-American actress best known for American Horror Story and Bosch, producer and author of Love and Other Sins. Emilia graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with her Bachelor’s in Economics and a Minor in Russian. Literature and storytelling have always been her true passion.
“A well-written and emotionally involving teen tale with fine characterization.”
– Kirkus Reviews
In this debut YA novel, two misfit teenagers navigate a romantic relationship and face down painful legacies.
Mina Nikolaevna Arkova, the 17-year-old daughter of Soviet immigrants, has never quite fit in; other kids “never seemed to recognize me as one of their own species.” For her senior year of high school, she’s transferring from a tony private school to a grittier, less expensive one in Hollywood. Saving money is important ever since her mother lost one of her jobs and her father took off. Mina plans on earning stellar grades, going to a top-flight university, and becoming a lawyer, although her real love is dancing. Oliver Mondell, 17, has chosen this new name as part of his new life. As a foster child and survivor of sexual abuse, he has excellent reasons for putting his miserable past behind him. Now, he’s moving to Los Angeles, finishing high school, and developing his lucrative business buying and selling smartphones. When Mina and Oliver meet, they share a strong attraction, but their personal issues create a push-pull dynamic that complicates coming to each other’s emotional rescue. Just as they reach an understanding, violence erupts in Mina’s life, the story to continue in a second installment. In her novel, Ares displays a gift for capturing the complex inner lives of teenagers through Mina’s and Oliver’s alternating first-person chapters. They’re authentically slang-y and teenage-lusty; they struggle with believable, significant internal and external conflicts; and they’re thoughtful about fate, the future, and each other. Other characters, too, are well drawn, such as Mina’s overreacting but endearing mother: “All I wishing is for you to be safe and not to killing my nerves anymore.” Structurally, the book is slow to develop and then ends on a cliffhanger—an unsatisfying combination.
A well-written and emotionally involving teen tale with fine characterization but an unresolved ending.
Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73681-400-0
Page count: 326pp
Publisher: Sera Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2021
@recider You are my greatest adventure… Inspired by @Emilia Ares new book, Love and Other Sins, available everywhere books are sold ;) ##cinematography ##foryou ##loveyou ##loveandothersins ##fyp ##booktok ##bookclub ##bookish
? Everybody Love Somebody x So this is love - ????
Love and Other Sins clip
Day job
Actress, Producer, Author
Favorite author
Jeff Zentner
Favorite book
In the Wild Light
Favorite line from a book
"Fear tells you to make your life small. Fear tells you to think small. Fear tells you to be small-hearted. Fear seeks to preserve itself, and the bigger you let your life and perspective and heart get, the less air you give feat to survive.”
Favorite word
juxtaposition
Hometown
Los Angeles, California
Passion in life
storytelling
Unexpected skill or talent
deescalation
BOOKSTR Date With A Debut Author: Emilia Ares , 2021
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