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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
My second Daniel Handler in a row. His prose is so distinctive, and I see how if I didn't like it, it would get annoying and overwhelming really fast, but I do like it. I read someone else's review that started, "Why We Broke Up? More like Why Were We Together In the First Place?" and I totally agree with that sentiment but I actually like that about the story. There was something authentic about the high school experience of "we are absolutely wrong for each other yet I can't stay away from you so I'm going to completely ignore the wrongness."
I will say I get a little wary about adult men narrating through teenage girls. For the most part, Why We Broke Up avoided the most common pitfalls of men writing as young girls, especially because it was aware of the boy-and-girl-from-different-world tropes it was playing on, but the "you're not like other girls" vibe was strong, and there were a few moments were I felt a shift from "aware of and playing on these tropes" to just "exhibiting these tropes." (Also men should stop trying to write about how teenage girls feel after having sex for the first time. It just never reads right.)
Liked it, tore through it, probably would reread. Maira Kalman's illustrations are great as always.
I will say I get a little wary about adult men narrating through teenage girls. For the most part, Why We Broke Up avoided the most common pitfalls of men writing as young girls, especially because it was aware of the boy-and-girl-from-different-world tropes it was playing on, but the "you're not like other girls" vibe was strong, and there were a few moments were I felt a shift from "aware of and playing on these tropes" to just "exhibiting these tropes." (Also men should stop trying to write about how teenage girls feel after having sex for the first time. It just never reads right.)
Liked it, tore through it, probably would reread. Maira Kalman's illustrations are great as always.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There were parts of this book that I loved and parts that I didn't care for. First things first, Why We Broke Up is a fun little book. The illustrations are cute and interesting and I honestly thought that they tied the story together quite well. Unfortunately, the illustrations didn't make up for the parts that I didn't really care for.
Let's start with Ed Slaterton as a character. Ed is a slimy, dull, and unlikeable character. And I think that that's the point of his character, because Min is vibrant and intelligent while he's just blah. I don't really think that readers are supposed to like him. I didn't. I tolerated him, but every time that I had to read his dialogue, I got frustrated with all the "OK"s and the "Um"s.
I will say that I think Min's character is written well and I think that her quirks are what made the story more interesting, for me. Her words at the end of the book, especially, got to me. I truly felt that they were the feelings of a teenage girl, and that made me both happy and sad. To me, she felt more real than any other character in the story, which is refreshing.
I won't lie, there were lots of parts to this story that had me turning pages as fast as I could, waiting to see what was next. However, there were equal amounts of parts that I thought were drawn out and boring. The first half really didn't grab me and I debated leaving it on DNF. I'm glad that I didn't, but if you can't trek through the boring parts, I don't recommend this one to you.
Overall, I liked Why We Broke Up. Is it one of my favorites? No. Will I reread in the future? Probably not. But the book is unique with its art and all of the movie references, which I thought were a nice touch. During the first half of the book, I feared that this one would be a dud, but it turned out okay and I'm generally happy that I gave it a chance.
Let's start with Ed Slaterton as a character. Ed is a slimy, dull, and unlikeable character. And I think that that's the point of his character, because Min is vibrant and intelligent while he's just blah. I don't really think that readers are supposed to like him. I didn't. I tolerated him, but every time that I had to read his dialogue, I got frustrated with all the "OK"s and the "Um"s.
I will say that I think Min's character is written well and I think that her quirks are what made the story more interesting, for me. Her words at the end of the book, especially, got to me. I truly felt that they were the feelings of a teenage girl, and that made me both happy and sad. To me, she felt more real than any other character in the story, which is refreshing.
I won't lie, there were lots of parts to this story that had me turning pages as fast as I could, waiting to see what was next. However, there were equal amounts of parts that I thought were drawn out and boring. The first half really didn't grab me and I debated leaving it on DNF. I'm glad that I didn't, but if you can't trek through the boring parts, I don't recommend this one to you.
Overall, I liked Why We Broke Up. Is it one of my favorites? No. Will I reread in the future? Probably not. But the book is unique with its art and all of the movie references, which I thought were a nice touch. During the first half of the book, I feared that this one would be a dud, but it turned out okay and I'm generally happy that I gave it a chance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Toxic relationship
Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Grief
I never usually pick up romance novels, but this isn't really a romance novel. It's more like an antithesis to a romance novel where the lovers don't "conquer all odds" to be together and all that bullshit. It's simple really, Ed and Min are breaking up. They don't love each other anymore, and they won't get back together due to some far fetched reason and second chances. Nope, Ed and Min are breaking up.
Anyway I loved this books. There are a few tropes in here that are typical to YA novels, but all in all it didn't make the book negative for me. This book is by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), and I believe it's his first YA novel? Correct me if I'm wrong, because this is the first time reading anything by him since The Series of Unfortunate Events. The writing is effortless and beautiful, similar to my feelings toward the SOUE writing. The story isn't trying to hard to be unique and meaningful like other YA novels, it just simply is. I was so immersed in the story, that at some points I felt like I was going through a break up!
Anyway I loved this books. There are a few tropes in here that are typical to YA novels, but all in all it didn't make the book negative for me. This book is by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), and I believe it's his first YA novel? Correct me if I'm wrong, because this is the first time reading anything by him since The Series of Unfortunate Events. The writing is effortless and beautiful, similar to my feelings toward the SOUE writing. The story isn't trying to hard to be unique and meaningful like other YA novels, it just simply is. I was so immersed in the story, that at some points I felt like I was going through a break up!
"After the sugar caper I never want to see it again.
Here it is, Ed. Nor I, you."
This review is also on HedgeHogBookReviews!
Min Green has left a box of random objects on her ex-boyfriend, Ed Slaterton's, doorstep. Each item signifies some event in their relationship that explains why they eventually broke up. It was love at first beer, chasing down an elderly movie star, and coffee with three creams and one sugar. But somehow, Ed blew it, and this is Min telling him exactly how he blew it.
I really wanted to like this book. I have a soft spot in my heart for Daniel Handler after reading "The Series of Unfortunate Events" in elementary school. In 5th grade, we had to write a report on our favorite author and I, of course, chose Daniel Handler. That series taught me to love reading. That being said, this book felt like a waste of my time.
We've all heard it before-- a quiet girl gets asked out by a jock who says "that's so gay" and is embarrassed to do well in math class. I can't count the amount of times Ed tells Min she's "not like other girls". What is that even supposed to mean? What is so incredibly wrong with the general population of girls that one must try to dissociate from the entire gender?
I guess I was just annoyed while I read this book. The story wasn't necessarily boring, just full of stereotypes that made me roll my eyes every few pages. Maybe I just expected too much out of this book.
I promise you that you've read or seen this story before--an early 2000's movie or any other YA romance. This just happens to be told after the happily ever after.
Here it is, Ed. Nor I, you."
This review is also on HedgeHogBookReviews!
Min Green has left a box of random objects on her ex-boyfriend, Ed Slaterton's, doorstep. Each item signifies some event in their relationship that explains why they eventually broke up. It was love at first beer, chasing down an elderly movie star, and coffee with three creams and one sugar. But somehow, Ed blew it, and this is Min telling him exactly how he blew it.
I really wanted to like this book. I have a soft spot in my heart for Daniel Handler after reading "The Series of Unfortunate Events" in elementary school. In 5th grade, we had to write a report on our favorite author and I, of course, chose Daniel Handler. That series taught me to love reading. That being said, this book felt like a waste of my time.
We've all heard it before-- a quiet girl gets asked out by a jock who says "that's so gay" and is embarrassed to do well in math class. I can't count the amount of times Ed tells Min she's "not like other girls". What is that even supposed to mean? What is so incredibly wrong with the general population of girls that one must try to dissociate from the entire gender?
I guess I was just annoyed while I read this book. The story wasn't necessarily boring, just full of stereotypes that made me roll my eyes every few pages. Maybe I just expected too much out of this book.
I promise you that you've read or seen this story before--an early 2000's movie or any other YA romance. This just happens to be told after the happily ever after.
I really wanted to like this book.
I should of liked this book.
I didn’t like this book.
The story is a letter written by Min, who is writing to her Ex Ed after they broke up. She is delivering a box of trinkets she collected that summed up their time together. Through these trinkets were hear about their relationship.
Why I wanted to like this book -
There was a lot of things this book had going for it. Contemporary Young Adult, check. Interesting format, check. To be honest, I started off enjoying it. I got into the format and I loved the illustrations – when I was a good chunk of the way through I was ready to give it four maybe five stars. It all hinged on the end, I suppose.
Why I should of liked this book -
People seem to like this book. It was written by Lemony Snicket and I loved A Series of Unfortunate Events. And I was quite like Min in terms of romance when I was younger. I remember being sixteen and a relationship seeming like everything there was. I remember the devastation of being heart broken for the first time. I was really rooting for Min.
Why I didn’t like this book -
The ending just wasn’t enough. The relationship was so brief that I couldn’t help but slap my head over and over again. If it had been a longer time, I could understand Min’s behaviour and her reaction. But everything happened so fast. That was not my experience of young love. There was no awkward early months and trials – it was all too full on and a little bit crazy. Min was nuts. I was expecting for a really awful embarrassment ala Carrie from the way she was talking about him through the letter. I know cheating is bad and hurtful but it was just a very odd reaction and a very intense and crazy lust for him.
I don’t think it’s a good depiction of young love/lust. Too much was squeezed in to too short a time frame. If he’d made it longer, extended the story over a year or so, then I would understand it. It would have worked. I mean I was a crazy loved up teenager, but I never did anything as desperate as that. Why did Al let her write that letter and send that box?
I should of liked this book.
I didn’t like this book.
The story is a letter written by Min, who is writing to her Ex Ed after they broke up. She is delivering a box of trinkets she collected that summed up their time together. Through these trinkets were hear about their relationship.
Why I wanted to like this book -
There was a lot of things this book had going for it. Contemporary Young Adult, check. Interesting format, check. To be honest, I started off enjoying it. I got into the format and I loved the illustrations – when I was a good chunk of the way through I was ready to give it four maybe five stars. It all hinged on the end, I suppose.
Why I should of liked this book -
People seem to like this book. It was written by Lemony Snicket and I loved A Series of Unfortunate Events. And I was quite like Min in terms of romance when I was younger. I remember being sixteen and a relationship seeming like everything there was. I remember the devastation of being heart broken for the first time. I was really rooting for Min.
Why I didn’t like this book -
The ending just wasn’t enough. The relationship was so brief that I couldn’t help but slap my head over and over again. If it had been a longer time, I could understand Min’s behaviour and her reaction. But everything happened so fast. That was not my experience of young love. There was no awkward early months and trials – it was all too full on and a little bit crazy. Min was nuts. I was expecting for a really awful embarrassment ala Carrie from the way she was talking about him through the letter. I know cheating is bad and hurtful but it was just a very odd reaction and a very intense and crazy lust for him.
I don’t think it’s a good depiction of young love/lust. Too much was squeezed in to too short a time frame. If he’d made it longer, extended the story over a year or so, then I would understand it. It would have worked. I mean I was a crazy loved up teenager, but I never did anything as desperate as that. Why did Al let her write that letter and send that box?
Ame este libro completamente. Quede encantada con min, su ingenuidad y la manera que tiene de asociar todo con películas o cortometrajes, su adicción al café, su manera tan sutil de decir y tomar las cosas es simplemente fascinante. Me sentí identificada con min y esto pudo influir en mi criterio pero la manera tan real que Daniel Handler escribió esta historia es encantadora; no niego que el libro tenga cosas raras pero a la larga eran dulces y tiernas. Un 4.5/5
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
As the title implies, the book is written in the perspective of Minerva "Min" Green as she does into great deal over the items collected from her relationship with Ed Slateron (that she's stored in a box) that leads up to why they broke up.
The story does get a little wordy and descriptive at time. But over all a good story about a girl falling in love and becoming heartbroken in the end. The author's humor does come out at time in Min's story over her relationship with Ed that makes your laugh out loud.
As the title implies, the book is written in the perspective of Minerva "Min" Green as she does into great deal over the items collected from her relationship with Ed Slateron (that she's stored in a box) that leads up to why they broke up.
The story does get a little wordy and descriptive at time. But over all a good story about a girl falling in love and becoming heartbroken in the end. The author's humor does come out at time in Min's story over her relationship with Ed that makes your laugh out loud.
4.5.
This could have been a five-star book, and I nearly rated it as such, but I had some irreconcilable issues with it. Probably a good 80% of the book was solid angst, especially concentrated towards the end. And I mean angsty dialogue, situations, and longwinded, overly commified (yeah, I made up a word) paragraphs. I kept waiting for the part when Min would come to some sort of realization that it was better to simply put the whole thing behind her or something, that never came. But I loved the idea of the book and, to a certain extent, the characters (Al, mostly). I'd still definitely recommend it.
Oh, and the illustrations-- they were a wonderful touch, and probably why I feel inclined towards rating the book a complete five stars.
This could have been a five-star book, and I nearly rated it as such, but I had some irreconcilable issues with it. Probably a good 80% of the book was solid angst, especially concentrated towards the end. And I mean angsty dialogue, situations, and longwinded, overly commified (yeah, I made up a word) paragraphs. I kept waiting for the part when Min would come to some sort of realization that it was better to simply put the whole thing behind her or something, that never came. But I loved the idea of the book and, to a certain extent, the characters (Al, mostly). I'd still definitely recommend it.
Oh, and the illustrations-- they were a wonderful touch, and probably why I feel inclined towards rating the book a complete five stars.
World's longest break-up letter? Possibly. For sure this is one of the best written--Daniel Handler, a.k.a., Lemony Snicket, knows his way around a sentence. Handler's narrator/letter writer, Min Green, is terrific company, observant, witty, with hopes of directing movies one day, and part of the fun here comes from watching Handler make up titles for classic films--Greta in the Wild, Catch That Gun, and many, many others--for Min to reference as she details, for her ex-, exactly why she broke up with him.
Here's a sample of Handler's writing. Min and soon-to-be ex-, Ed Slaterton, are in a novelty shop, there's a sparkly mobile just above his head, and so we get this:
"The mobile was silver stars and comets glittering in circles around your head like I'd knocked you silly in a cartoon."
That's what's known as a completely fresh, utterly original, and totally delightful piece of writing. There are more where that came from in these pages.
Here's a sample of Handler's writing. Min and soon-to-be ex-, Ed Slaterton, are in a novelty shop, there's a sparkly mobile just above his head, and so we get this:
"The mobile was silver stars and comets glittering in circles around your head like I'd knocked you silly in a cartoon."
That's what's known as a completely fresh, utterly original, and totally delightful piece of writing. There are more where that came from in these pages.