Love Is Love: The Journey Continues (Love Around the World (2)) by Fatinha Ramos, Fleur Pierets
on Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 1644420260
Genres: Biography/Autobiography, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads

“Love is love” is the sequel to Fleur Pieret’s “Love around the world.” Both are written by Pierets and illustrated by Fatinha Ramos. This book continues Fleur and Julian’s trip around the world to get married in many countries around the globe who allow same-sex marriage. In real life, Julian unfortunately passed away from cancer after their fourth wedding abroad, so Fleur is continuing with a fictional account of how the trip would have gone.

Ramos’ illustrations are gorgeous and manage to somehow include a lot of architectural and environmental detail without the pictures seeming too busy. The text feels a bit long at times, but often lacks details about each country other than facts about when they allowed same-sex marriage and how many couples have gotten married so far. However, Pierets does manage to convey the idea of same-sex marriage and love clearly to the children who are reading or having this book read to them. For LGBTQIA+ families and their allies, this book is uplifting and beautiful, if not perfect.

Written for kids age 4 to 8, I would not recommend it for a library’s picture book collection, but might fit well in a non-fiction section.

Reviewed by Kate Radke, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook.