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A review by readingwithdaniella
Dear Heartbreak: YA Authors and Teens on the Dark Side of Love by Heather Demetrios
3.0
Click here to see this review and others on my blog Reading With Daniella
2.75 stars
First off, this cover is so pretty - seriously drop-dead gorgeous kind of pretty. I'm jealous of how beautiful this over is.
This was decent, but not really what I was expecting. I thought that this would be different YA authors telling stories of their own heartbreak, but although we had small stories sprinkled in, this was more like advice, inspiration, and motivation for those dealing with heartbreak in a very wide variety of ways. Not bad, just not what I was looking for right now.
I don't pick up anthologies all that often, but I typically enjoy them! It's also very rare for me to read any sort of non-fiction. but I usually do enjoy personal essays and things like that.
This book actually reminded me a lot of another non-fiction anthology by a group of YA authors that I read and enjoyed earlier this year, [b:Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles|35297409|Life Inside My Mind 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles|Jessica Burkhart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516932440l/35297409._SY75_.jpg|56664238].
As with most anthologies, there were a few sections that I really enjoyed, a few that I was slightly bored by, and many that were decent, my nothing special in my eyes.
My two favorites were definitely the passages written by Gayle Forman and Libba Bray. I haven't read any of their books before, though they both have plenty sitting on my TBR, and now I am even more excited to get to them soon!
Here are a handful of my favourite quotes from this anthology:
I am not fully forged yet - my metal is still glowing red-hot, being shaped and molded, but I know what sort of sword I want to be now.
- Amy Ewing, I Am Tired of Trying to Prove My Worth
Whenever you do step back into your own space, for whatever reason you will not be the same person. You'll have grown an inch or two, not in size, but in love. Love expands you. Honest, fearless, love stretches you to the limits you didn't even know were there. There won't be any walls. You can run freely and love freely. Your heart will not only beat, it will music.
- Iba Zoboi, Knock Down Those Walls
We let our biggest secrets and our silence run like a river through the foundation of our friendship, eventually cracking it into pieces.
- Jasmine Warga, Own Your Heart
We, as women, are often taught by societal messaging that to be a good friend is to sacrifice our own happiness. We are taught to shrink our own desires, to make ourselves smaller so that other people can be more comfortable. Fuck that. As you state, even if you break up with this boy, it will not erase your friend's heartbreak. It does not solve the problem that the object of her affection does not return her feelings. It only serves to make two people more upset. This is not a reasonable solution. It, in fact, is not a solution at all. Because - think about it - even if you acquiesce and end your relationship for the sake of your friends, will that really solve the problem? There is a chance that your hurt over ending the relationship will fester into a deep wound of resentment that will cause major problems in your friendship.
- Jasmine Warga, Own Your Heart
If you never felt hunger, Confident, you would never know the precise pleasure of satisfying your appetite with delicious food. If you never experienced rainy days, you would not relish the feel of the spring sun on your face.
Joy and pain are not unrelated. They are not opposites or mortal enemies. They are conjoined twins. If you know joy, you will invariably know pain. You will break up with someone you loved. You will be dumped by a dear friend. You will sit at the bedside of loved ones. You will attend funerals, some of them for people who died before their time.
This is the price of admission, my friend. If you want experience, you must accept it.
- Gayle Forman, The Teacher of All Things
2.75 stars
First off, this cover is so pretty - seriously drop-dead gorgeous kind of pretty. I'm jealous of how beautiful this over is.
This was decent, but not really what I was expecting. I thought that this would be different YA authors telling stories of their own heartbreak, but although we had small stories sprinkled in, this was more like advice, inspiration, and motivation for those dealing with heartbreak in a very wide variety of ways. Not bad, just not what I was looking for right now.
I don't pick up anthologies all that often, but I typically enjoy them! It's also very rare for me to read any sort of non-fiction. but I usually do enjoy personal essays and things like that.
This book actually reminded me a lot of another non-fiction anthology by a group of YA authors that I read and enjoyed earlier this year, [b:Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles|35297409|Life Inside My Mind 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles|Jessica Burkhart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516932440l/35297409._SY75_.jpg|56664238].
As with most anthologies, there were a few sections that I really enjoyed, a few that I was slightly bored by, and many that were decent, my nothing special in my eyes.
My two favorites were definitely the passages written by Gayle Forman and Libba Bray. I haven't read any of their books before, though they both have plenty sitting on my TBR, and now I am even more excited to get to them soon!
Here are a handful of my favourite quotes from this anthology:
I am not fully forged yet - my metal is still glowing red-hot, being shaped and molded, but I know what sort of sword I want to be now.
- Amy Ewing, I Am Tired of Trying to Prove My Worth
Whenever you do step back into your own space, for whatever reason you will not be the same person. You'll have grown an inch or two, not in size, but in love. Love expands you. Honest, fearless, love stretches you to the limits you didn't even know were there. There won't be any walls. You can run freely and love freely. Your heart will not only beat, it will music.
- Iba Zoboi, Knock Down Those Walls
We let our biggest secrets and our silence run like a river through the foundation of our friendship, eventually cracking it into pieces.
- Jasmine Warga, Own Your Heart
We, as women, are often taught by societal messaging that to be a good friend is to sacrifice our own happiness. We are taught to shrink our own desires, to make ourselves smaller so that other people can be more comfortable. Fuck that. As you state, even if you break up with this boy, it will not erase your friend's heartbreak. It does not solve the problem that the object of her affection does not return her feelings. It only serves to make two people more upset. This is not a reasonable solution. It, in fact, is not a solution at all. Because - think about it - even if you acquiesce and end your relationship for the sake of your friends, will that really solve the problem? There is a chance that your hurt over ending the relationship will fester into a deep wound of resentment that will cause major problems in your friendship.
- Jasmine Warga, Own Your Heart
If you never felt hunger, Confident, you would never know the precise pleasure of satisfying your appetite with delicious food. If you never experienced rainy days, you would not relish the feel of the spring sun on your face.
Joy and pain are not unrelated. They are not opposites or mortal enemies. They are conjoined twins. If you know joy, you will invariably know pain. You will break up with someone you loved. You will be dumped by a dear friend. You will sit at the bedside of loved ones. You will attend funerals, some of them for people who died before their time.
This is the price of admission, my friend. If you want experience, you must accept it.
- Gayle Forman, The Teacher of All Things