A review by jennicareads
Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak by Adi Alsaid

2.0

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. The main premise of this story (interviewing couples heading off to college about whether they would remain together or not, and why) was interesting enough. There’s a lot of promise in delving in to relationships to see how they tick and what might have gone wrong. However, the book dragged and repeated itself a LOT. Very little happened to progress the plot or help me get invested. The main character, Lu, is struggling to understand why her boyfriend dumped her, and is simultaneously attempting to right an article about a couple, Cal and Iris, who have decided to stay together for the summer, but break up at the end. Lu was insufferable and boring. Her inner dialog was very repetitive and whiny. I found her problems to be self-created and avoidable, so almost impossible to care about. Cal was the most compelling character in the story, and there was not enough of him. I found it very difficult to buy in to his relationship with Iris. It was described, repeatedly, as this special thing but it didn’t land that way. The interactions with Lu and Iris didn’t feel natural or especially believable either. So much of this story feels forced. I wasn’t sure who or what I was supposed to be rooting for, and It was very hard to root for Lu with her over abundance of self-sabotage. On the positive side, this story gives a great feel for what it might be like as a NYC teen, born and raised.