{"id":32,"date":"2026-04-05T23:34:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/?p=32"},"modified":"2026-04-05T23:34:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:34:56","slug":"love-me-tender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/2026\/04\/05\/love-me-tender\/","title":{"rendered":"Love me Tender"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just finished Love Me Tender<\/em> by Constance Debr\u00e9, and I feel a bit conflicted about it in a way that actually made the experience more interesting. Going into it, I wasn\u2019t expecting something this emotionally heavy. The story follows Constance after she loses custody of her son, and that situation kind of hangs over everything in the book. Even in the quieter moments, you can feel that loss in the background. One thing that really stood out to me is how much she simplifies her life. She lives in such a minimal, almost detached way, and it feels like she\u2019s doing that on purpose, like it\u2019s her way of coping or holding onto some sense of control. I found that really intriguing, even though it was also a bit uncomfortable to read.<\/p>\n

That being said, this wasn\u2019t my favourite book. It\u2019s not something I would normally choose. There isn\u2019t a strong, clear plot, and the writing style is very direct and repetitive. At times, it felt more like a stream of thoughts than a structured story. I also found myself wanting more emotional depth, especially when it came to her relationship with her son. There\u2019s a distance there that makes sense, but it also made it harder for me to fully connect with her as a character. Even with that, I still liked reading it, just in a different way than I usually do. The honesty in the book is really striking. Constance questions everything, especially love, and that can feel a bit unsettling. It made me stop and think about how much of what we believe about love and family is shaped by expectations rather than choice. I think that\u2019s what stayed with me the most. The book doesn\u2019t try to comfort you or give clear answers, it just puts those questions out there.<\/p>\n

I also thought the way it explores motherhood was really interesting. It challenges the idea that there\u2019s one \u201cright\u201d way to be a mother, which is something you don\u2019t see very often. It\u2019s uncomfortable at times, but it also feels very real and honest. Overall, it wasn\u2019t a book I loved, but I\u2019m still glad I read it. It\u2019s very different from most things I\u2019ve read, and it kind of sticks with you because of that. Even now, I keep thinking back to certain ideas and moments.<\/p>\n

Discussion question
Do you think Constance is actually finding freedom in her choices, or is she just trying to cope with what she has lost?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just finished Love Me Tender by Constance Debr\u00e9, and I feel a bit conflicted about it in a way that actually made the experience more interesting. Going into it, I wasn\u2019t expecting something this emotionally heavy. The story follows Constance after she loses custody of her son, and that situation kind of hangs over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107038,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[24,25,26],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-constance-debre","tag-love-me-tender","tag-motherhood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107038"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asmasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}