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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
When I first saw the synopsis for this book, it seemed like a proper Sophie book. I love YA contemporary books, especially the fluffy ones, during the summer time. When I bought this, I started it as soon as I got home, and though it would be a high four, maybe even five star read. Unfortunately, it's barely a 3 star for me.
In The Museum of Heartbreak, we follow Penelope, who is a romantic at heart. She keeps little momentos of all her significant relationships, friendship and otherwise, and eventually uses them in her own 'Museum of Heartbreak'. When a new guy, Keats, comes to the school, and BFF Audrey wants to spend less time together, she is drawn to Keats, who is just 'perfect'. However, her other best friend, Eph, grows moody the more she spends with Keats, and Penelope can't understand it.
This book was cute, I'll give it that. But, there just wasn't much to it. I wasn't too keen on Penelope, and though she was so oblivious, that an asteroid couldn't landed in front of her, and she would still be none the wiser. Really, if she'd just thought more about the events, she would've saved herself from so many problems. Keats was awful. I could tell from the beginning he wouldn't be go for Penelope, and when he started spouting sexist stuff, and then got angry that he wasn't a great writer, he was like a petulant child.
You could tell that Eph would be the one Penelope finally fell for, and while I preferred them together, I still wasn't invested in their romance. None of the characters had that much substance, and I kept putting the book off, even though it was short, because of this. This book probably deserves 2.5 stars, but I've rounded it up. I know others loved this, but maybe I just couldn't see what was great about it.
In The Museum of Heartbreak, we follow Penelope, who is a romantic at heart. She keeps little momentos of all her significant relationships, friendship and otherwise, and eventually uses them in her own 'Museum of Heartbreak'. When a new guy, Keats, comes to the school, and BFF Audrey wants to spend less time together, she is drawn to Keats, who is just 'perfect'. However, her other best friend, Eph, grows moody the more she spends with Keats, and Penelope can't understand it.
This book was cute, I'll give it that. But, there just wasn't much to it. I wasn't too keen on Penelope, and though she was so oblivious, that an asteroid couldn't landed in front of her, and she would still be none the wiser. Really, if she'd just thought more about the events, she would've saved herself from so many problems. Keats was awful. I could tell from the beginning he wouldn't be go for Penelope, and when he started spouting sexist stuff, and then got angry that he wasn't a great writer, he was like a petulant child.
You could tell that Eph would be the one Penelope finally fell for, and while I preferred them together, I still wasn't invested in their romance. None of the characters had that much substance, and I kept putting the book off, even though it was short, because of this. This book probably deserves 2.5 stars, but I've rounded it up. I know others loved this, but maybe I just couldn't see what was great about it.
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4.5/5 Stars
16 year old Penelope Marx has experienced heartbreak. Keats, the popular new boy in school is finally paying attention to her but in the process of this new relationship, one of her best friends, Audrey, is growing increasingly distant from her. Not to mention her other best friend Eph has been acting moody lately and Pen doesn't understand why. Things are changing in their social triangle and Pen has to navigate this new world of hers.
The book is such a quick read and very light and fluffy. The writing style was fun and I found myself laughing out loud at some parts. I also loved the little illustrations before each chapter!
I found the book to be very similar to 'Why We Broke Up' by Daniel Handler, which I also really loved! Although predictable, I still thoroughly enjoyed it! Penelope is such a relateable character, she's quirky and weird and you can't help but love her. Eph is definitely a new book boyfriend of mine, what a sweetie pie! He was always supportive and honest with Pen and always stuck up for her in any situation. Grace and Miles were also a great edition to the story as well! Keats, Audrey and Cherisse all sucked, I didn't like them as people and they just infuriated me through out the story. The themes of friendship and family were really well done in this book and I definitely recommend it to contemporary YA lovers if you want warm fuzzy feelings after you finish!
4.5/5 Stars
16 year old Penelope Marx has experienced heartbreak. Keats, the popular new boy in school is finally paying attention to her but in the process of this new relationship, one of her best friends, Audrey, is growing increasingly distant from her. Not to mention her other best friend Eph has been acting moody lately and Pen doesn't understand why. Things are changing in their social triangle and Pen has to navigate this new world of hers.
The book is such a quick read and very light and fluffy. The writing style was fun and I found myself laughing out loud at some parts. I also loved the little illustrations before each chapter!
I found the book to be very similar to 'Why We Broke Up' by Daniel Handler, which I also really loved! Although predictable, I still thoroughly enjoyed it! Penelope is such a relateable character, she's quirky and weird and you can't help but love her. Eph is definitely a new book boyfriend of mine, what a sweetie pie! He was always supportive and honest with Pen and always stuck up for her in any situation. Grace and Miles were also a great edition to the story as well! Keats, Audrey and Cherisse all sucked, I didn't like them as people and they just infuriated me through out the story. The themes of friendship and family were really well done in this book and I definitely recommend it to contemporary YA lovers if you want warm fuzzy feelings after you finish!
full review up here!
i was provided an arc by netgalley and simon & schuster, so thank you to them!
oh man, I loved this book. I loved how raw and real penelope was, I loved that the things she went through were realistic and some of them sucked, but they made me feel like this story really happened. I connected so much with her, and with Eph especially, and I just thought that this was so gorgeous and lovely and bittersweet, it felt like growing up. I love love loved it.
i was provided an arc by netgalley and simon & schuster, so thank you to them!
oh man, I loved this book. I loved how raw and real penelope was, I loved that the things she went through were realistic and some of them sucked, but they made me feel like this story really happened. I connected so much with her, and with Eph especially, and I just thought that this was so gorgeous and lovely and bittersweet, it felt like growing up. I love love loved it.
I go into the majority of my contemporary (especially YA contemporary) with hesitation but this one was really cute. I mean, it has your classic miscommunication and blissfully unaware MCs who can't see the true love interest right before their eyes...but it was sweet. I dug the nerdy references, the quirky dinosaur loving and lifelong friend references, a lot. They're relatable. Everyone has those quirks, those inside jokes and moments, and most people then also have to cope with relationships changing when they start in childhood and exist through early adulthood.
Overall, this book was tropey and cheesy at times but it was relatable and real...that's just how kids act a lot of the time. The family dynamic was handled well, as in they existed and they were involved and explored. I get off on a family being realistic, involved, and flawed in YA. I'm excited that the time of absent and unexplored families in YA are over. And friends fight, often, but a fight doesn't always mean the end of a friendship. Loved that, too.
Was it perfect, nah, but it was really cute.
Overall, this book was tropey and cheesy at times but it was relatable and real...that's just how kids act a lot of the time. The family dynamic was handled well, as in they existed and they were involved and explored. I get off on a family being realistic, involved, and flawed in YA. I'm excited that the time of absent and unexplored families in YA are over. And friends fight, often, but a fight doesn't always mean the end of a friendship. Loved that, too.
Was it perfect, nah, but it was really cute.
My feelings regarding this book was all over the place. I didn't mind the main character Penelope, I understood her feelings. I didn't like Charisse. I didn't like how Audrey was her friend if she was mean to Penelope who was Audrey's original friend. I didn't like Keats at all. I wanted to but God he was so obnoxious. I loved Eph because he was the only sane one, besides the friends Penelope makes in the Nevermore group. There was no real development in the book to me. I didn't feel for any of the characters when it was over. Actually I was relieved. I'm glad I read it but I'm not satisfied
Aww, I am so in love with Meg Leder right now. This story was smart, funny, sweet, and heartfelt.
Our main character is Penelope. She has been part of a social "triangle" comprised of Audrey, Ephraim, and herself for many years, and she was happy with this arrangement. However, it seems that the other members of the triangle may be trying to redefine the friendship. They start talking about expanding their social circles, and this terrifies Pen. My heart ached for Pen as she tried to deal with the changes in the friendships that she believed were so solid, but I guess that is a part of growing up. The friendship had to evolve, because Eph and Audrey were changing. Pen struggled with this idea of her friends in the past and her friends in the present for most of the book, and it really tugged at my heartstrings.
Pen does attempt to expand her social circle, though. She develops a crush on a boy, Keats, and makes new friends through the literary magazine, but it is so hard for her to not want to share good news with Audrey or run to Eph to cry on his shoulder.
I keep talking about all the heartbreak (well, it is in the title), but this book is a lot of fun too. The banter and some of the narratives made me audibly giggle.
Pen's head was sometimes a very fun place to be. She had this outrageous way of describing things, and she was also a little neurotic about things, which resulted in funny rants.
Seriously, Ephraim -- "tall, handsome, hottie". I just loved him, and I loved the history he and Pen shared. They had quite a beautiful friendship. I adored when the two of them were together.
Overall: fantastic read. My heart pitter pattered, I shed a few tears, I laughed a lot, and I walked away from it all warm and fuzzy.
Our main character is Penelope. She has been part of a social "triangle" comprised of Audrey, Ephraim, and herself for many years, and she was happy with this arrangement. However, it seems that the other members of the triangle may be trying to redefine the friendship. They start talking about expanding their social circles, and this terrifies Pen. My heart ached for Pen as she tried to deal with the changes in the friendships that she believed were so solid, but I guess that is a part of growing up. The friendship had to evolve, because Eph and Audrey were changing. Pen struggled with this idea of her friends in the past and her friends in the present for most of the book, and it really tugged at my heartstrings.
that all that history didn't just disappear, even if the people we'd been then no longer existed.
Pen does attempt to expand her social circle, though. She develops a crush on a boy, Keats, and makes new friends through the literary magazine, but it is so hard for her to not want to share good news with Audrey or run to Eph to cry on his shoulder.
I had woken up that morning with a hangover of sadness
I keep talking about all the heartbreak (well, it is in the title), but this book is a lot of fun too. The banter and some of the narratives made me audibly giggle.
Right then a super-tall, thin, strawberry-blonde-haired, willowy girl, who probably had traveled on a unicorn straight from some mystical elven city to this particular moment, kneeled down next to Eph, handing him his skateboard like she was paying tribute to some king, and I barfed a little in my mouth.
Pen's head was sometimes a very fun place to be. She had this outrageous way of describing things, and she was also a little neurotic about things, which resulted in funny rants.
Divine intervention from Zeus or Thor or Buddha or the patron saint of single, unkissed sixteen-year-old girls seemed more likely.
Seriously, Ephraim -- "tall, handsome, hottie". I just loved him, and I loved the history he and Pen shared. They had quite a beautiful friendship. I adored when the two of them were together.
When we met, a tiny Superman putting his hand in mine, how you folded my fingers so gently around yours.
Overall: fantastic read. My heart pitter pattered, I shed a few tears, I laughed a lot, and I walked away from it all warm and fuzzy.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a reread for me. I first read The Museum of Heartbreak at age 17 - only a few months before the meteor hit for me, too.
At 20, I return to find I enjoy it for all the same reasons I did then. It's a super light read; yes, the prose occasionally tilts towards cheesy, cliché, or familiar YA-dorkiness, but I'm willing to forgive that for the extended dinosaurs metaphor I adore, for building museums of our lives (and heartbreaks), for coming to terms with the inevitability of impermanence, for the never-ending push and pull of holding on and letting go, and, not insignificantly, for a story that has stayed with me over several years filled to the last day with all of the above. I have so much fondness for it and no doubt I'll come back to this one in another 3.
At 20, I return to find I enjoy it for all the same reasons I did then. It's a super light read; yes, the prose occasionally tilts towards cheesy, cliché, or familiar YA-dorkiness, but I'm willing to forgive that for the extended dinosaurs metaphor I adore, for building museums of our lives (and heartbreaks), for coming to terms with the inevitability of impermanence, for the never-ending push and pull of holding on and letting go, and, not insignificantly, for a story that has stayed with me over several years filled to the last day with all of the above. I have so much fondness for it and no doubt I'll come back to this one in another 3.
After a slight break from reading YA contemporaries (I just wasn't in a mood!) I decided to pick up Meg Leder's upcoming novel The Museum of Heartbreak. My interest for this novel was mostly ignited by its awesome cover, and now that I have read it I am happy to say that the cover actually fits perfectly with the novel because all of the items pictured in it play a role in the story of Penelope (or just Pen), Eph, Audrey and Keats.
Pen is 17 (she is 16 at the beginning of the novel but turns 17 during it) and a junior in high school. She lives in New York (THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD.... 10 points if you get the reference), loves Jane Austen and drinking hot chocolate. She has two best friends, Audrey and Eph, and sees no reason for extending her social circle. Then Keats, a handsome new guy shows up and Pen starts majorly crushing on him. Once both Audrey and Eph start to seem busy to hang out, Pen tries to control her anxiety about changes - why do Audrey and Eph feel like something needs to change when she feels like things are just as they should be?
All and all Pen is a very likable character and one I was able to identify with. At points she feels very young (she is 16/17 so she is allowed to feel young!), but she also matures a lot during the novel, so 10 points for character development and growth! I was able to relate with her dislike of change because I am totally the same - I have had the same few friends ever since I was young and I always feel strange in situations when new people are inserted to our hangouts etc. I know I should be more open, but it just fights against my nature in so many ways.
Let me just begin by saying that Keats is a total A-hole! He does not read "lady novels", obsessed over Kerouc and generally acts like an idiot for most of the time. But I do think that he is necessary for the novel because through relations with him Pen learns more about herself and about the people that she has surrounded herself with. Eph, on the other hand, is pretty perfect and totally made my heart flutter. Aubrey is a character I did not get much out from, and there are some decisions that she made I couldn't really agree with! Cherisse is the standard "mean girl", which is a trope I am getting kind of tired of, but I guess she is necessary for the story as well. I just wish there were more novels where girls didn't fight with each other for a boy, because in very rare cases it is worth it.
I wished there would have been more glimpses into the family life of Pen because I think her parents, especially her father, seem really interesting! It seems like the older I get the more interested I get about learning something about the parents of YA characters. I also loved the scenes with Pen and her new friends and the process Pen goes through in finding something that she might want to do in the future.
Meg Leder writes well and the novel was a quick one to read. The Museum of Heartbreak made me both laugh and cry, and I think that is always a positive sign when it comes to young adult contemporary novels. There were a few things here that bothered me (the mean girl storyline, etc) but all and all I really enjoyed it.
Pen is 17 (she is 16 at the beginning of the novel but turns 17 during it) and a junior in high school. She lives in New York (THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD.... 10 points if you get the reference), loves Jane Austen and drinking hot chocolate. She has two best friends, Audrey and Eph, and sees no reason for extending her social circle. Then Keats, a handsome new guy shows up and Pen starts majorly crushing on him. Once both Audrey and Eph start to seem busy to hang out, Pen tries to control her anxiety about changes - why do Audrey and Eph feel like something needs to change when she feels like things are just as they should be?
All and all Pen is a very likable character and one I was able to identify with. At points she feels very young (she is 16/17 so she is allowed to feel young!), but she also matures a lot during the novel, so 10 points for character development and growth! I was able to relate with her dislike of change because I am totally the same - I have had the same few friends ever since I was young and I always feel strange in situations when new people are inserted to our hangouts etc. I know I should be more open, but it just fights against my nature in so many ways.
Let me just begin by saying that Keats is a total A-hole! He does not read "lady novels", obsessed over Kerouc and generally acts like an idiot for most of the time. But I do think that he is necessary for the novel because through relations with him Pen learns more about herself and about the people that she has surrounded herself with. Eph, on the other hand, is pretty perfect and totally made my heart flutter. Aubrey is a character I did not get much out from, and there are some decisions that she made I couldn't really agree with! Cherisse is the standard "mean girl", which is a trope I am getting kind of tired of, but I guess she is necessary for the story as well. I just wish there were more novels where girls didn't fight with each other for a boy, because in very rare cases it is worth it.
I wished there would have been more glimpses into the family life of Pen because I think her parents, especially her father, seem really interesting! It seems like the older I get the more interested I get about learning something about the parents of YA characters. I also loved the scenes with Pen and her new friends and the process Pen goes through in finding something that she might want to do in the future.
Meg Leder writes well and the novel was a quick one to read. The Museum of Heartbreak made me both laugh and cry, and I think that is always a positive sign when it comes to young adult contemporary novels. There were a few things here that bothered me (the mean girl storyline, etc) but all and all I really enjoyed it.
Remember that time when your dreams of the future collided with the present day, and you have to reconcile both of them? That moment is captured in The Museum of Heartbreak.
Seventeen-year-old Penelope Marx is at the point in her life where friendships are beginning to change, new relationships are forming, and old friendships may be left behind. Penelope experiences heartbreak for the first time in multiple fashions, and in coming to terms with it develops the Museum of Heartbreak.
The story is told with each chapter showing how a piece of the museum came to be a part of Penelope's heartbreak, one item at a time. It weaves together Penelope's tale and all the players involved.
I first heard of this book in a Buzzfeed article of YA books to read and thought that the idea of it sounded great. After all, who hasn't experienced heartbreak? When I began to read the book, I really liked that an item from the museum was displayed, and it's story shared. I haven't seen that in any other book I have read, and always love finding new ideas. This book really brought me back to that time in my life where reality met my dreams and fantasies. I'm so glad those days are in the past!
What I didn't like though, was that the story was too predictable. Every storyline was told before and feels almost cliche at this point (I won't specify so as to not spoil the story for others). At the end of the book, the story changes tense and goes from Penelope narrating, to Penelope speaking directly to someone. This was confusing, and I expected more to be done with this. It wasn't. So when I read the last line of the book, I found myself saying "that's it?"
If I was a teenager, I could see myself being inspired to create my own museum of heartbreak, although I probably wouldn't share it with anyone!
I received this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Seventeen-year-old Penelope Marx is at the point in her life where friendships are beginning to change, new relationships are forming, and old friendships may be left behind. Penelope experiences heartbreak for the first time in multiple fashions, and in coming to terms with it develops the Museum of Heartbreak.
The story is told with each chapter showing how a piece of the museum came to be a part of Penelope's heartbreak, one item at a time. It weaves together Penelope's tale and all the players involved.
I first heard of this book in a Buzzfeed article of YA books to read and thought that the idea of it sounded great. After all, who hasn't experienced heartbreak? When I began to read the book, I really liked that an item from the museum was displayed, and it's story shared. I haven't seen that in any other book I have read, and always love finding new ideas. This book really brought me back to that time in my life where reality met my dreams and fantasies. I'm so glad those days are in the past!
What I didn't like though, was that the story was too predictable. Every storyline was told before and feels almost cliche at this point (I won't specify so as to not spoil the story for others). At the end of the book, the story changes tense and goes from Penelope narrating, to Penelope speaking directly to someone. This was confusing, and I expected more to be done with this. It wasn't. So when I read the last line of the book, I found myself saying "that's it?"
If I was a teenager, I could see myself being inspired to create my own museum of heartbreak, although I probably wouldn't share it with anyone!
I received this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.