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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
medium-paced
fast-paced
I loved this read a lot! It was truly amazing on basically all fronts. The only that made me a little mad (didn't contribute to my final rating) was how fast Jackson forgave Jasmine after basically ruining his life .
Personally, I would NOT be letting that slide, but that's just me.
Personally, I would NOT be letting that slide, but that's just me.
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Review copy via library--
One of my favorite activities for relaxing is reading rom-coms. With school recently finishing for the summer, The Breakup Lists was the perfect book to pick up. It inspired a lot of laughter and giggles as Jackson stumbled through his roller coaster of a school year.
Jackson’s talents in the theater were fun to behold, but his humor and the growth he has in many of his relationships over time were a true delight. He has a life that he enjoys for the most part, but he has done very little to move beyond the few folks he has close relationships with already. He’s hard of hearing, but interacts with very few people in that community. He’s also queer but has very little contact with other queer young people beyond his best friend. His world is mostly confined to his family, best friend, and the school theater. Readers get to see both the difficulties and joys he experiences growing pains and his world is shaken up.
Khorram and Jackson have quite a few things in common such as theater, Iranian heritage, and being queer, but Khorram is not part of the deaf community. It seems that he did a lot of work to portray that aspect of Jackson’s identity in a realistic manner though. I am also not part of that community, so there may have been things that I missed, but I appreciated the way that readers could see ways in which it affected his daily life and how that was part of him. When Jackson would miss some of the words people said, readers also miss those words. We could see him become tired and turn off his hearing aids and learn that he was frustrated by the fact that his family still hadn’t learned sign language. We can also see how meaningful it is when some characters begin to learn sign language. This is not the focus of the book, but definitely shapes who he is and how he interacts with those in his circles.
Since we see the whole story through Jackson’s eyes, we meet Liam little by little. Liam is a sweetie and it’s cute to watch them get to know each other. This is obviously a complicated relationship as their friendship is deepening, but Jackson’s sister is also becoming more and more interested in Liam. As with most rom-coms, there are a lot of clues that lead one to believe certain outcomes are coming, but there are road-blocks and miscommunications.
My Recommendation: Get it now especially if you love a good contemporary rom-com or if you are/were a theater kid. There are so many reasons to smile and laugh in this book even though there are some rough moments to muddle through too. Be prepared to yearn for a smoothie while you read. I am dreaming of a mango smoothie as I type.
One of my favorite activities for relaxing is reading rom-coms. With school recently finishing for the summer, The Breakup Lists was the perfect book to pick up. It inspired a lot of laughter and giggles as Jackson stumbled through his roller coaster of a school year.
Jackson’s talents in the theater were fun to behold, but his humor and the growth he has in many of his relationships over time were a true delight. He has a life that he enjoys for the most part, but he has done very little to move beyond the few folks he has close relationships with already. He’s hard of hearing, but interacts with very few people in that community. He’s also queer but has very little contact with other queer young people beyond his best friend. His world is mostly confined to his family, best friend, and the school theater. Readers get to see both the difficulties and joys he experiences growing pains and his world is shaken up.
Khorram and Jackson have quite a few things in common such as theater, Iranian heritage, and being queer, but Khorram is not part of the deaf community. It seems that he did a lot of work to portray that aspect of Jackson’s identity in a realistic manner though. I am also not part of that community, so there may have been things that I missed, but I appreciated the way that readers could see ways in which it affected his daily life and how that was part of him. When Jackson would miss some of the words people said, readers also miss those words. We could see him become tired and turn off his hearing aids and learn that he was frustrated by the fact that his family still hadn’t learned sign language. We can also see how meaningful it is when some characters begin to learn sign language. This is not the focus of the book, but definitely shapes who he is and how he interacts with those in his circles.
Since we see the whole story through Jackson’s eyes, we meet Liam little by little. Liam is a sweetie and it’s cute to watch them get to know each other. This is obviously a complicated relationship as their friendship is deepening, but Jackson’s sister is also becoming more and more interested in Liam. As with most rom-coms, there are a lot of clues that lead one to believe certain outcomes are coming, but there are road-blocks and miscommunications.
My Recommendation: Get it now especially if you love a good contemporary rom-com or if you are/were a theater kid. There are so many reasons to smile and laugh in this book even though there are some rough moments to muddle through too. Be prepared to yearn for a smoothie while you read. I am dreaming of a mango smoothie as I type.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found this to be such a delightful and fun read . I was so drawn to the characters and story that it had me wanting to reach into the story to go toe to toe with some of the characters! I absolutely loved Jackson and his breakup list and his relationship with Liam. What frustrated me the most was Jackson’s family, especially his sister! I think there needs to be a deeper dive into their family dynamics and they all should go to therapy together. I feel like Jackson put a lot of blame and responsibility on himself with certain situations which isn’t fair to him. But overall it was a great read and super memorable
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a 4 star review until the last 10 percent. I was having so much fun (as a former theater kid myself), and I really enjoyed the characters. Any issues I had were minor enough that they didn’t ruin my reading experience.
But those last couple chapters.
I almost DNFed when Jackson BROKE CHARACTER MID-SHOW to apologize to Liam? Imagine being in that audience. Imagine being in the wings, watching some BACKUP ACTOR join the show 5 minutes before it starts and then use it to apologize to his crush??? I would be baffled and upset and everything that this cast, for whatever ineffable reason, is not. The theater teacher doesn’t even care! She just has an “oh you crazy kids” moment! I have never hated a choice more in my life. I’ve never had an author ruin their book for me so efficiently in the last ~30 pages.
If you decide to read this book, skip the ending and make up your own resolution.
But those last couple chapters.
If you decide to read this book, skip the ending and make up your own resolution.