How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
She seemed older than me, which I decided was because she spent a lot of time dealing with boys who fell in love with her in two seconds flat. (2.53)
It was love at first sight—for Sam. Alicia? Not so much. When they first meet, Alicia thinks Sam is trying to act really cool to get with her. In fairness, she's right. We'd also like to point out how typical this type of meet cute is in teenage relationships. These two are firmly in teen romance territory, no matter what happens between them.
Quote #2
I got the impression that she hadn't got on to the subject of me yet, if you know what I mean. I know she loves me, but every now and again, in exactly this sort of situation, she conveniently forgets to mention that she's got a fifteen-year-old son. (2.86)
There are different types of love that we get to see in the novel. There's the gooey type between Sam and Alicia, and then there's the love that Sam's mom has for him. She'd do anything for her son, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want him to disappear sometimes. Like, sat, when she's picking up a date, for instance.
Quote #3
But I didn't think of anything else apart from being with Alicia, and the only time I felt like I was where I wanted to be was when I was with her. I mean, that might as well be love, mightn't it? (3.11)
We hate to be the ones to burst your bubble, Sam, but "might as well be love" isn't the same thing as the real deal. After all, there are no "I might as well love you" candy hearts. He's not sure if he really loves Alicia, and that should be a big sign that they aren't meant to be together forever.
Quote #4
The kind of love my mum talks about is full of worry and work and forgiving people and putting up with things and stuff like that. It's not a lot of fun, that's for sure. If that really is love, the kind my mum talks about, then nobody can ever know if they love somebody, can they? (3.11)
We're not so sure that is love. It's true that there are tough times in any long-term relationship, but that doesn't mean love itself is all tears. In fact, it should be fun on some level. It's clear that Sam's view of love is the tortured type Russian novels are made of, not the kind found in rom-coms staring Kathryn Heigl.
Quote #5
Where did it go? It was like there had been a lot of food on a plate in front of us, and we ate it all really quickly, and then there was nothing left. Maybe that's how couples stay together: they're not greedy. (4.2)
Almost as quickly as Sam falls in love with Alicia, he falls out of love with her, too. He can't help but look for something else after a couple weeks. Hey, we don't blame him—it's all part of being a teenager.
Quote #6
Before you have sex for the first time, you can't imagine where it's ever going to come from, and you certainly can't imagine dumping the person who's providing it. Why would you do that? A beautiful girl wants to sleep with you and you're bored? How does that work? (4.63)
Sam can't explain it exactly. He used to be head-over-heels in love with Alicia, hanging on her every word, but now he's sick of her, even if the sex was thrilling. We think he's going through what a lot of us experience with a first love: Everything is exciting at first, but sooner or later, you come back to reality.
Quote #7
And if it had been a film, I would have told her how much I loved Alicia, and loved our baby, and loved her, and we would have cried and hugged and Alicia would have woken up and the baby would have popped out, just like that. But we weren't in a film, and I didn't love hardly any of those people. (14.66)
It turns out Sam's life isn't a movie. He wants to be in love with Alicia—he certainly thinks things would be much easier if he were—but he's not. He can't help the fact that he just doesn't feel that way about her, and he can't fake it with her either. We give him props for not stringing her along at least.
Quote #8
I still didn't know whether that was true. But I did know it was more likely to come true if I said it, because she'd like me more, and I'd like her more, and eventually we might love each other properly, and life would be easier if that happened. (16.23)
The second time around, when Alicia asks Sam if he loves her, though he thinks he would have figured it out, he's still not sure. Love is messy. Sam can't just turn it on and off like a light switch. He learns that love is complicated and hard to understand, even when you're not jumping around to the future.
Quote #9
However much Alicia and I loved Roof, it was stupid to pretend that he'd been a good idea, and it was stupid to pretend we were going to be together when we were thirty or even when we were nineteen. (19.22)
For Sam and Alicia, love doesn't mean staying together. Sure, they adore their kid, but that doesn't require them to stick it out with each other just to prove a point. The main thing is that they are good parents. As for their relationship? It was pretty much over before they have Roof anyway.
Quote #10
I didn't love Alicia, not really. Not like I loved her when I first met her. I liked her, and she was a good mum, but I didn't really want to be with her. I could easily imagine sleeping with someone else, one day. I didn't know whether that meant we shouldn't be together now, but I did know that we had enough to worry about without all that. (19.87)
Oh, snap. This might seem coldhearted for Sam to say, but it's the truth: He doesn't feel the same way about Alicia as he once did. Sometimes love sticks around forever; other times it disappears. It's too bad this one didn't work out between Sam and Alicia, but at least Sam is finally honest with himself about his feelings.