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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
The Museum of Heartbreak piqued my interest as soon as I read the description. Then all the glowing reviews started popping up and I knew I had to read it. The book was cute and entertaining, but maybe not as great as I had hoped.
The premise was fun, but nothing about the book knocked my socks off. The characters were all slightly annoying and Penelope came across and a little dumb at times. I liked Eph and Audrey. Keats was an asshole from the start and it annoyed me that it took Pen so long to realize it.
This is starting to sound a bit more negative than I intended. I did like the book! There were lots of funny parts and a few laugh out loud moments. While the love story angle was predictable, it was still interesting. The Museum of Heartbreak kept was a fast read and I enjoyed it. I just wish I would’ve liked the characters more. This book has a ton of fabulous reviews, so please don’t like my review put you off. This would be a great addition to any beach bag!
The premise was fun, but nothing about the book knocked my socks off. The characters were all slightly annoying and Penelope came across and a little dumb at times. I liked Eph and Audrey. Keats was an asshole from the start and it annoyed me that it took Pen so long to realize it.
This is starting to sound a bit more negative than I intended. I did like the book! There were lots of funny parts and a few laugh out loud moments. While the love story angle was predictable, it was still interesting. The Museum of Heartbreak kept was a fast read and I enjoyed it. I just wish I would’ve liked the characters more. This book has a ton of fabulous reviews, so please don’t like my review put you off. This would be a great addition to any beach bag!
Really enjoyed this book! so cute and such a quick read. Also makes me I wish I could spend New York in the fall!
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m a very odd duck, because I’m not a huge fan of adult contemporary romance but I’m a major fan of YA contemporary stories, both realistic and romance. While I’ve come across a couple pretty good ones lately, I also haven’t been overly blown away by one in a while. The Museum of Heartbreak came close.
Chapter one started off pretty abruptly, and in a very confusing way. I couldn’t understand the relevance of a dream about dinosaurs evacuating the city, but everything comes together so perfectly and that first chapter is really the cherry on the top. In fact, those dinosaurs and their connection to the characters is my favorite part of the story. They represented childhood, and imaginations, and unending hope.
The Museum of Heartbreak has an array of your usual characters, best friends that are pretty and enviable, enemies that are mean and snooty. In that sense there was nothing groundbreaking about the story. That is until we get to know Penelope and Ephraim; especially Eph, with the constellation of freckles on his nose. Dagnabbit, that was one character that I absolutely adored.
And then there was Keats. Keats is such a confusing character. It wasn’t hard to see why Penelope was drawn to him, right off the bat. He sounded pretty darn dreamy. I love the male characters with crooked grins. And then he loved reading and said things like, “Which book chose you.” I mean, come on! One of the best pick up lines ever.
I knew where I wanted the story to go right from the very beginning, and with that said I wasn’t completely unhappy with the ending but I do wish there had been more. I’m not one for the time jump epilogues but I would like the big moment between the protags. For some reason it feels like it’s ‘in’ to cut it off just before the readers get that moment, and I’m starting to feel disappointed.
Overall, a really great book, and one that I’m willing to purchase in print for my own museum of literature, my bookshelves.
Thank you to Simon Pulse via Netgalley for providing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you enjoyed this review, come by and check out others like it - Badass Book Reviews
Chapter one started off pretty abruptly, and in a very confusing way. I couldn’t understand the relevance of a dream about dinosaurs evacuating the city, but everything comes together so perfectly and that first chapter is really the cherry on the top. In fact, those dinosaurs and their connection to the characters is my favorite part of the story. They represented childhood, and imaginations, and unending hope.
The Museum of Heartbreak has an array of your usual characters, best friends that are pretty and enviable, enemies that are mean and snooty. In that sense there was nothing groundbreaking about the story. That is until we get to know Penelope and Ephraim; especially Eph, with the constellation of freckles on his nose. Dagnabbit, that was one character that I absolutely adored.
And then there was Keats. Keats is such a confusing character. It wasn’t hard to see why Penelope was drawn to him, right off the bat. He sounded pretty darn dreamy. I love the male characters with crooked grins. And then he loved reading and said things like, “Which book chose you.” I mean, come on! One of the best pick up lines ever.
I knew where I wanted the story to go right from the very beginning, and with that said I wasn’t completely unhappy with the ending but I do wish there had been more. I’m not one for the time jump epilogues but I would like the big moment between the protags. For some reason it feels like it’s ‘in’ to cut it off just before the readers get that moment, and I’m starting to feel disappointed.
Overall, a really great book, and one that I’m willing to purchase in print for my own museum of literature, my bookshelves.
Thank you to Simon Pulse via Netgalley for providing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you enjoyed this review, come by and check out others like it - Badass Book Reviews
This was quite sad.
I’m really glad I’m not a teenager anymore... all that angst and those extreme emotions...
I’m really glad I’m not a teenager anymore... all that angst and those extreme emotions...
Reminded me of a kinder gentler version of Why We Broke Up. There was this part about how Eph is so so tall and it goes on and on about I throughout the book. And then our MC wears boots that make her just as tall. But then the next sentence is like "Eph reached down..." What?! No he didn't! You just said you were taller in the boots! That is all.
As soon as I started this book, I knew how hard my heart would break.
Original review posted at The Paper Trail Diary.
This book is going to be high up on my Best of 2016 list. I absolutely adored reading it – it was so fun and adorable, I felt giddy bringing it around to places with me.
Penelope Marx has a lot of problems – pining after a seemingly unattainable boy, having a falling-out with a best friend, and being completely oblivious when someone else likes you. I liked Penelope a lot even though she could be a bit of a baby sometimes; I think maybe I saw a lot of myself in her when I read it or I felt like her big sister, wanting to guide her. And I realized while reading this book that maybe one reason why I like YA so much is because I get to be immersed in versions of high school that are cooler than my own was.
Penelope doesn’t like change. Like, really doesn’t. She wants things to always be the same in her comfort bubble. But to Penelope, right now, everything is changing, so she’s not very happy. She collects little things that were given to her as nostalgic items, which are adorably chronicled ahead of each chapter in an illustration. They all eventually amount to The Museum of Heartbreak. (I really want to know – what came first, the items in the book or the items used for the cover art?) This book also contends for one of my favourite covers of the year.
I happily dog-eared so many pages in the book for quotes and important moments. Penelope’s voice is just so softly cheeky. Like “…his grin was sly and handsome, like a fox, or a character from a Wes Anderson movie, or that fox character from that Wes Anderson movie…” when describing her crush, Keats (who is an idiot!!). Or when debating how to answer what she wants to do in college: “I shovelled some spaghetti around on my plate. ‘I’m thinking more English or journalism. Words, I like them?’ I ended uncertainly.” (That just made me laugh because I identified with it so well. Even with the spaghetti.) I loved reading the interactions between her and her male best friend Eph, who so obviously likes Penelope but she has no clue. And it was tough to see her go through the fight with her other best friend Audrey because of miscommunication, jealousy and a boy.
I’ve recommended this book to friends as a great refresher after reading dark things for a while, though you can read it whenever – it’s lighthearted, sweet and seriously fun. We all know it’s fun to read books and all, but I really felt that extra happiness while reading this. The Museum of Heartbreak is out next week and I think it’s going to do really well!
(Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Chapters Indigo for the review copy.)
Original review posted at The Paper Trail Diary.
This book is going to be high up on my Best of 2016 list. I absolutely adored reading it – it was so fun and adorable, I felt giddy bringing it around to places with me.
Penelope Marx has a lot of problems – pining after a seemingly unattainable boy, having a falling-out with a best friend, and being completely oblivious when someone else likes you. I liked Penelope a lot even though she could be a bit of a baby sometimes; I think maybe I saw a lot of myself in her when I read it or I felt like her big sister, wanting to guide her. And I realized while reading this book that maybe one reason why I like YA so much is because I get to be immersed in versions of high school that are cooler than my own was.
Penelope doesn’t like change. Like, really doesn’t. She wants things to always be the same in her comfort bubble. But to Penelope, right now, everything is changing, so she’s not very happy. She collects little things that were given to her as nostalgic items, which are adorably chronicled ahead of each chapter in an illustration. They all eventually amount to The Museum of Heartbreak. (I really want to know – what came first, the items in the book or the items used for the cover art?) This book also contends for one of my favourite covers of the year.
I happily dog-eared so many pages in the book for quotes and important moments. Penelope’s voice is just so softly cheeky. Like “…his grin was sly and handsome, like a fox, or a character from a Wes Anderson movie, or that fox character from that Wes Anderson movie…” when describing her crush, Keats (who is an idiot!!). Or when debating how to answer what she wants to do in college: “I shovelled some spaghetti around on my plate. ‘I’m thinking more English or journalism. Words, I like them?’ I ended uncertainly.” (That just made me laugh because I identified with it so well. Even with the spaghetti.) I loved reading the interactions between her and her male best friend Eph, who so obviously likes Penelope but she has no clue. And it was tough to see her go through the fight with her other best friend Audrey because of miscommunication, jealousy and a boy.
I’ve recommended this book to friends as a great refresher after reading dark things for a while, though you can read it whenever – it’s lighthearted, sweet and seriously fun. We all know it’s fun to read books and all, but I really felt that extra happiness while reading this. The Museum of Heartbreak is out next week and I think it’s going to do really well!
(Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Chapters Indigo for the review copy.)
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A