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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
I feel a little more like this is a book that adults read thinking this is what teen fiction is like. I think there's a very small pool of actual teens that I will feel are the right reader for this book. I did end up liking it, but I ended up only liking Ed and Min in flashes. I never was heavily invested in either one of them. Al was the real star of this book (w00t Italians!).
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Daniel Handler, i.e. Lemony Snicket. What a random book for him to write. It's been a while since I read this, but I remember loving the combination of text and illustrations. I should give this a reread, see if I still enjoy it as I did 10 years ago.
This book is the definition of "all window dressing" as my mother would say.
The moment I saw the book: Oooh...pictures and glossy pages...looks fancy.
15% into it: *I'm ready to thunk it into the trash.*
20% into it: *Bored* Should she compare everything in movies? And what the hell, she just sound like a bitch. Why can't she move on, heads held high, show her ex what he's missing. Oh wait -- I don't even have any idea how they broke up.
Almost 30% into it: I eat my words.
I hated this book. Min, from the very start sounded like that ex-girlfriend who blames everything to her ex-boyfriend because "he ripped, clawed, torn, ate, slash, cut, mince and boiled my heart out and now I am depressed because I am the earth and he is my sun" kind of girl. And there's also her way of saying and comparing everything into movies. At first it's OK but she repeatedly do it throughout the 354 pages and I nearly lost it. Really.
Min: We were doing this and that like from that movie, This and That, which I totally love. It's directed by Random Fictional Director and tells of a story of This and That who loves to do this and that but This died and That was left alone and everything is so sad like my life.
And the many run-on sentences, sentence who's a paragraph long without even any periods or commas, the helter-skelter thoughts and those sentences you can't even read in one breath.....Oh my, I don't wanna die yet. This book is a hodgepodge of sentences and thoughts which mostly doesn't make sense and just achieved to confuse and annoy the reader. I've read some of Lemony Snicket's works (a.k.a Daniel Handler) or atleast a few pages of it, and his writing style obviously showed here. Another thing I hate? The fact that almost anything is described which in turn makes me dull and the story somewhat boring.
But, of course, damn.
Because, really, the further I read, the further do I somewhat understand and relate with this Min character. And the further I read too, the further do I develop an empathy to her and a somewhat amiable feeling towards Ed. Okay, so the thing about Ed is that he's what every girl can dream of. Hot, sexy, athletic, sweet, gorgeous, popular, confident, smart and nice. And he's adorable too especially when he apologized to Min in that Halloween Bash and took her for coffee. But the thing is, I think, is that it is very easy to be deceived by beauty. And of course, it is true in Ed's case.
I loved this book. Min and Ed's relationship is short, adorable but realistic. And although I am not directly exposed in the most dramatic teenage dramas, I know enough about teenagers and how -- especially girls -- can be somewhat serious and stupid as to declare that the beating of their hearts and the "I can't stop thinking about you" feeling are all the results of true love. It is not. Most of the time. But most of the time too, temptation is just too great and emotions too powerful to even think straight. Love, I suppose, is a comedian. Funny, I know.
I'm actually expecting, while reading this book, is that the real reason they broke up is something more different and unexpected. But I guess, the reason suited the book well enough especially because it is directed to the teens. And the writing, despite my pet peeves over it, is actually pretty nice. There's actually a few worthy quotes in here to look back to.
I still don't like Min that much though even if I think Ed is a cad. I think I prefer to have the opinion of both sides. Also there were some parts that I just don't get Min. She's like Taylor Swift, writing all those songs about her ex-boyfriends and winning hundreds of awards in the process. I mean, this letter to Ed seemed like a way to show off when in fact, it only made her seem desperate. But I liked the characters enough to feel what point this book is trying to make.
Me + Why We Broke Up? = love-hate relationship.
I hate it in a way because throughout its pages, it did managed to bother and annoy me a great deal with its pretentious style, dull moments, movie comparisons and characters. I loved it because I related to it and gave me a wonderful insight without being too complicated. All in all? I enjoyed it. It made me feel.
15% into it: *I'm ready to thunk it into the trash.*
20% into it: *Bored* Should she compare everything in movies? And what the hell, she just sound like a bitch. Why can't she move on, heads held high, show her ex what he's missing. Oh wait -- I don't even have any idea how they broke up.
Almost 30% into it: I eat my words.
I hated this book. Min, from the very start sounded like that ex-girlfriend who blames everything to her ex-boyfriend because "he ripped, clawed, torn, ate, slash, cut, mince and boiled my heart out and now I am depressed because I am the earth and he is my sun" kind of girl. And there's also her way of saying and comparing everything into movies. At first it's OK but she repeatedly do it throughout the 354 pages and I nearly lost it. Really.
Min: We were doing this and that like from that movie, This and That, which I totally love. It's directed by Random Fictional Director and tells of a story of This and That who loves to do this and that but This died and That was left alone and everything is so sad like my life.
And the many run-on sentences, sentence who's a paragraph long without even any periods or commas, the helter-skelter thoughts and those sentences you can't even read in one breath.....Oh my, I don't wanna die yet. This book is a hodgepodge of sentences and thoughts which mostly doesn't make sense and just achieved to confuse and annoy the reader. I've read some of Lemony Snicket's works (a.k.a Daniel Handler) or atleast a few pages of it, and his writing style obviously showed here. Another thing I hate? The fact that almost anything is described which in turn makes me dull and the story somewhat boring.
But, of course, damn.
Because, really, the further I read, the further do I somewhat understand and relate with this Min character. And the further I read too, the further do I develop an empathy to her and a somewhat amiable feeling towards Ed. Okay, so the thing about Ed is that he's what every girl can dream of. Hot, sexy, athletic, sweet, gorgeous, popular, confident, smart and nice. And he's adorable too especially when he apologized to Min in that Halloween Bash and took her for coffee. But the thing is, I think, is that it is very easy to be deceived by beauty. And of course, it is true in Ed's case.
I loved this book. Min and Ed's relationship is short, adorable but realistic. And although I am not directly exposed in the most dramatic teenage dramas, I know enough about teenagers and how -- especially girls -- can be somewhat serious and stupid as to declare that the beating of their hearts and the "I can't stop thinking about you" feeling are all the results of true love. It is not. Most of the time. But most of the time too, temptation is just too great and emotions too powerful to even think straight. Love, I suppose, is a comedian. Funny, I know.
I'm actually expecting, while reading this book, is that the real reason they broke up is something more different and unexpected. But I guess, the reason suited the book well enough especially because it is directed to the teens. And the writing, despite my pet peeves over it, is actually pretty nice. There's actually a few worthy quotes in here to look back to.
“I’d ruin any day, all my days, for those long nights with you, and I did. But that’s why right there it was doomed. We couldn’t only have the magic nights buzzing through the wires. We had to have the days, too, the bright impatient days spoiling everything with their unavoidable schedules, their mandatory times that don’t overlap, their loyal friends who don’t get along, the unforgiven travesties torn from the wall no matter what promises are uttered past midnight, and that's why we broke up.”
I still don't like Min that much though even if I think Ed is a cad
Spoiler
assholeMe + Why We Broke Up? = love-hate relationship.
I hate it in a way because throughout its pages, it did managed to bother and annoy me a great deal with its pretentious style, dull moments, movie comparisons and characters. I loved it because I related to it and gave me a wonderful insight without being too complicated. All in all? I enjoyed it. It made me feel.
2.5 stars, really
I enjoyed the world that was created with its hidden places, fake pop culture, and unexplained inside jokes. I even enjoyed the main character, Min, who I'm sure many readers might harp on because she's basically a manic pixie dream girl. However, I would not recommend this book unless you: a) like vignettes, b) don't mind that you can figure out immediately why they are going to break up, and thus are just waiting to see how the while incident is narrated, c) enjoy 2nd person narration, and d) don't mind a narrator who writes stream-of-consciousness in long winded phrases, run-ons, and like Yoda.
If you can get past all of those things, "Why We Broke Up" might be a book you'll really enjoy.
I enjoyed the world that was created with its hidden places, fake pop culture, and unexplained inside jokes. I even enjoyed the main character, Min, who I'm sure many readers might harp on because she's basically a manic pixie dream girl. However, I would not recommend this book unless you: a) like vignettes, b) don't mind that you can figure out immediately why they are going to break up, and thus are just waiting to see how the while incident is narrated, c) enjoy 2nd person narration, and d) don't mind a narrator who writes stream-of-consciousness in long winded phrases, run-ons, and like Yoda.
If you can get past all of those things, "Why We Broke Up" might be a book you'll really enjoy.
Really did like this. But all the time I was reading it, I couldn't help thinking about whose wish the book was fulfilling, and the answer—it was fulfilling Al's (and perhaps the author's?) unconscious wish to see the girl who overlooked him punished—made me feel a more than a wee bit uncomfortable...
wow I don't know why but I just really really did not like this book. it was so boring and I didn't like how it was structured
This book takes you on a gruelling, anxiety-ridden trip back to that moment in your life when you're in love with someone who is totally wrong and all your friends hate them and their taste in music is horrible and you don't really trust them and all the while the voice of reason is yelling in your ear 'ABORT ABORT ABORT' but you can't hear the voice of reason over the throbbing of your massive ladyboner.
Plus, it has pictures.
Plus, it has pictures.
I appreciated the illustrations and quirky way that this story was told from the present, looking back and remembering the good times, but also seeing why even those good times would lead to where the characters ended up. I flew through The first half, with it being just a nice contemporary with interesting elements f cinema and high school clique issues, but it was a struggle to continue to the end, simply because it was dragging on with some long-winded descriptions-even though that fits perfectly with the characters trains of thought-but it just didn't end succinctly.
I've read mixed reviews on this one but I really did enjoy it. I felt the run on sentences and grammar were hard to follow at times but were also a very accurate representation of the way a teenage girl would write a letter to her ex. I found the whole thing to be a very realistic portrayal of a high school relationship. The illustrations were great and went hand in hand with the story. Because of the artwork, I would not recommend reading on a black and white e-reader; I would stick to color e-readers (I read mine on the Kindle Fire) or the physical book.