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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
So it's a story about how Min and Ed broke up. (Calling captain obvious.) I felt Min's raging hormones, witty writing. Really. I tried to read it aloud, I just sounded like an Asian Eminem. And Min is not Asian, she's Jewish. LOL. And btw, Ed's an asshole but I still fell in love with him, I can't blame Min. And Min, I cried in your behalf.
I had read a few other reviews before digging in and they all intrigued me to give it a chance. I like to form my own opinions of books, movies, etc.
Overall, this isn't a terrible book. I was reminded much of my own high school days and friends' break ups. I immediately was drawn to Min and her friends. They are the sort of people I hang out with now and I definitely felt a kinship of sorts. Ed was the "meh" factor for me. He was boring. Also, I didn't know what he looked like other than tall and attractive. That was an issue I had with the book. I couldn't really picture the characters in my head. There were most of the high school stereotyping we all grew up as well. Some may be offended by the language and insinuation of sex. I, on the other hand, found this to be realistic of humans and found it refreshing. I mean, not everyone says "poop", "dang it", etc when speaking in real life. The story could be considered hard to follow at times. Min (as the narrator) is a film buff and often goes on tangents and relates things to old films. She also has a tendency to ramble on and that lost me at times. I found myself re-reading several passages. However, I did manage to finish in one day. For some reason, I wanted to know why they broke up. It is pretty predictable, but still a cute story.
Overall, this isn't a terrible book. I was reminded much of my own high school days and friends' break ups. I immediately was drawn to Min and her friends. They are the sort of people I hang out with now and I definitely felt a kinship of sorts. Ed was the "meh" factor for me. He was boring. Also, I didn't know what he looked like other than tall and attractive. That was an issue I had with the book. I couldn't really picture the characters in my head. There were most of the high school stereotyping we all grew up as well. Some may be offended by the language and insinuation of sex. I, on the other hand, found this to be realistic of humans and found it refreshing. I mean, not everyone says "poop", "dang it", etc when speaking in real life. The story could be considered hard to follow at times. Min (as the narrator) is a film buff and often goes on tangents and relates things to old films. She also has a tendency to ramble on and that lost me at times. I found myself re-reading several passages. However, I did manage to finish in one day. For some reason, I wanted to know why they broke up. It is pretty predictable, but still a cute story.
Picked this up at Goodwill and it was an interesting read despite being a pretty normal sounding plot! The way this is written, especially with the art, really grabbed my attention!
It pains me to rate a Daniel Handler book this poorly. It’s the first book written under the Handler name that I’ve read, but I am a great fan of the first half of the Series of Unfortunate Events (which unfortunately went on for about 7 too many books), and of the Snicket picture books.
Ed, the term you were searching for every time you called Min “arty” was hipster. Min and co. were oh-so-blasé, coffee-drinking, sport-eschewing, “Bitter Sixteenth”-birthday-ironic-celebrating, obscure-old movie-loving hipsters. I found her tribe as irritating in its own way as Ed and his Neanderthal team members and bimbette hangers-on.
Min was an idiot for hooking up with Ed (and in her heart of hearts, she knew it all along), and so my sympathies were somewhat lacking when Ed did what guys like Ed inevitably do. She was expecting a white wedding and an NBA salary to spend on birthday parties for imaginary old movie stars?
No offense.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Yep. Five stars. Said it and I meant it. I love Handler's writing, which I had (really embarrassingly) never read before, and I loved Kalman's art, and I loved how perfectly the two went together. I saw this pair in town a few weeks ago, and they had an HILARIOUS report going the entire night. Having that in mind made how sad and gorgeous this story a stark contrast. Stark, but not jarring, because the reader is swept into the world of Min Green and Ed Slaterton so quickly that everything else fades away. Your plans for the weekend, the barriers you've built protecting you from remembering YOUR worst breakup, or the ENTIRE STRETCH of your teenage years... it will all leave you, and you will read for hours about every item in the box that clever, funny, heartbroken Min dumps on the doorstep of confused, athletic, doofus Ed. The pictures are of the contents, the book is in the form of the letter explaining each one Min leaves along with the box. This is the BEST kind of book for my brain: Pictures, short-ish chapters, building a story out of vignettes. And Handler is better about funny, colloquial dialogue and fevered break-up writing from inside the mind of an incredibly creative, loving teenage girl than anyone I've read except maybe Laurie Anderson. Read this and be reminded of the best and worst about being young and in love.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'd say this was a pretty good book. I certainly found it more readable and compelling than, I admit, Watership Down, which I've had to abandon 70 pages in because both the plot and prose just bored me to tears. Handler is, in my opinion, a much better and more interesting writer, though in truth this novel didn't feel too different than other good YA realism novels; tropes used include quirky female protagonist, male best friend who is obviously in love with the protagonist, though she herself is somehow unaware until the end, a made up, in-world obscure artist who the protagonist is obsessed with and wants to meet (though this is deconstructed a bit, and at the moment I can't remember any other books that do this besides The Fault in Our Stars). I will say that I really enjoyed all the made up film titles and plots that Handler used throughout; he clearly enjoyed this a little in A Series of Unfortunate Events, but he takes it to another level here, and I actually think it made Min's interest seem more real, not less. Also, a certain Very Famous Dish that had importance in that same series makes a brief mention here, which delighted me.
Imposible. La protagonista es tonta de remate y de los primeros capítulos no he podido pasar. Fin
The last book I finished before we broke up. Seriously. That's all I can say.