The Careful Undressing of Love
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher
£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
The Careful Undressing of Love
Narrated by:
Julia Whelan
Buy Now for £14.69
-
Narrated by:
-
Julia Whelan
-
By:
-
Corey Ann Haydu
“An examination of love and legacy and family, and the things girls do when we back them into corners and blame them for being there in the first place.”—E. K. Johnston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Thousand Nights
The girls of Devonairre Street are cursed. For decades, the old women of the block have told the young ones that any boy they love will die too soon. But today, the curse is less a terror and more an eccentric accessory—something that makes the girls from the shortest street in Brooklyn special. To fight the curse, they never cut their hair. They always wear keys around their necks. When they pass, regular people stare and whisper “Devonairre” to their friends.
These days, Devonairre Girls don’t truly believe. Their futures are limitless.
Then Jack—their Jack, the boy everyone loved—dies suddenly. And in an instant the curse seems not only real, but like the only thing that matters. All their once-bright futures look hopelessly dark as their city turns against them.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
Critic reviews
Praise for The Careful Undressing of Love
“The Careful Undressing of Love is a book you relax into. For the first few pages, you’re picky, trying to sort Haydu’s magical world from our real one, and then it just takes you over. It’s weird until it’s not, and then it’s an examination of love and legacy and family, and the things girls do when we back them into corners and blame them for being there in the first place."—#1 New York Times bestselling author E. K. Johnston
“Haydu explores such themes as differingexpressions of grief, destiny versus free will, the unexamined expectation thata girl will love a boy, and the interrelation (or lack thereof ) between sex and love.The slight magical realism and parallel-world setting add to this wrenching novel’s lyricism—and make the pain somewhat easier to bear.”—The Horn Book
“A carefully layered exploration of the age-old question, 'Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?'”—Kirkus Reviews
“Both straightforward and lyrical, this is a compelling read, a decidedly ambiguous portrayal of love that will resonate with those tired of formulaic romances.”—Booklist
Praise for Corey Ann Haydu
“Haydu explores a sweet, unconventional romance alongside her characters’ well-known (but little-understood) disorder. Heartwarming, frequently funny, and wholly honest, this debut novel is, well, compulsively readable.”—The Horn Book, starred review of OCD Love Story
“Witty, affecting, and ferociously individual.”—BCCB, starred review of OCD Love Story
“Tender, wise, and heartbreakingly lovely, this story is as brilliant as a stolen star, and every bit as magical. Prepare to be enchanted.”—Katherine Applegate, Newbery-award winning author on Rules for Stealing Stars
“Haydu masterfully portrays the stress of living with an alcoholic parent. . . . A well-crafted blend of realism and fantasy. Give to fans of Holly Goldberg Sloan’s Counting By 7s and Sarah Weeks’s So B It.”—School Library Journal, starred review of Rules for Stealing Stars
“The Careful Undressing of Love is a book you relax into. For the first few pages, you’re picky, trying to sort Haydu’s magical world from our real one, and then it just takes you over. It’s weird until it’s not, and then it’s an examination of love and legacy and family, and the things girls do when we back them into corners and blame them for being there in the first place."—#1 New York Times bestselling author E. K. Johnston
“Haydu explores such themes as differingexpressions of grief, destiny versus free will, the unexamined expectation thata girl will love a boy, and the interrelation (or lack thereof ) between sex and love.The slight magical realism and parallel-world setting add to this wrenching novel’s lyricism—and make the pain somewhat easier to bear.”—The Horn Book
“A carefully layered exploration of the age-old question, 'Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?'”—Kirkus Reviews
“Both straightforward and lyrical, this is a compelling read, a decidedly ambiguous portrayal of love that will resonate with those tired of formulaic romances.”—Booklist
Praise for Corey Ann Haydu
“Haydu explores a sweet, unconventional romance alongside her characters’ well-known (but little-understood) disorder. Heartwarming, frequently funny, and wholly honest, this debut novel is, well, compulsively readable.”—The Horn Book, starred review of OCD Love Story
“Witty, affecting, and ferociously individual.”—BCCB, starred review of OCD Love Story
“Tender, wise, and heartbreakingly lovely, this story is as brilliant as a stolen star, and every bit as magical. Prepare to be enchanted.”—Katherine Applegate, Newbery-award winning author on Rules for Stealing Stars
“Haydu masterfully portrays the stress of living with an alcoholic parent. . . . A well-crafted blend of realism and fantasy. Give to fans of Holly Goldberg Sloan’s Counting By 7s and Sarah Weeks’s So B It.”—School Library Journal, starred review of Rules for Stealing Stars
No reviews yet