A review by oliviabrcka
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, Maira Kalman

Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.

 I finally had to do it. I just had to DNF. I don't want to fully review a book I didn't actually finish but I do want to say why I didn't finish. The writing style of this book was an immediate turnoff for me. I am usually ok with unusual writing styles, but the run-on sentences and references to events or inside jokes that the audience doesn't understand just make for an inaccessible read. Even a third of the way through this book, I was unable to tell what the narrator was thinking and what in the world was going on. However, I was willing to push through the writing and try to cling to the story itself. Unfortunately, there just isn't a story to be had here. From page 1, we know that the couple was in love once, but they broke up. We know they broke up because he was a jerk to her. We know that they don't work on paper and they certainly didn't work in real life. It is painfully obvious that her best friend is in love with her. All of the plot twists that could have happened are given to us from the first page! Before we can even get attached to the characters and want to learn how they got into the situation in the first place. Which brings me to the final point: the characters suck. I feel like I was watching Flat Stanley but as an actual human: no real emotion, no personality, literally nothing. I kept thinking "Ok, I'm gonna finish this, I'm already 50% done!" Then I looked down and realized I was only at 11%. So no, I'm not finishing this book. I doubt I will regret it either. Just wasn't for me at all.