Take a photo of a barcode or cover
roseleaf24 's review for:
Why We Broke Up
by Daniel Handler
Honor book, 2012
I listened to this as an audio book, so I missed some of the uniqueness from the illustrations. The construct of the book, a box full of items being returned to a recently-exed boyfriend, each with its own story a part of the break-up letter, is engaging and original. The story and characters are not as original. Min is a film-loving high school junior who hangs out with the smart, sarcastic crowd. Ed is a jock who is embarrassed about being good at math. And yet, they find themselves going out, much to the surprise and dismay of all of their friends. Ed is unsurprisingly one-sided, as we know him only through Min's tearful, somewhat bitter, memories. I would have really liked to hear more of his side of the story, however. He ends up deserving the scummy scum label Min's friend Lauren gives him, but we get only hints of some real hardships in his life. I wanted to be able to be more sympathetic. Handler does a nice job of capturing the voice of a high school girl.
I listened to this as an audio book, so I missed some of the uniqueness from the illustrations. The construct of the book, a box full of items being returned to a recently-exed boyfriend, each with its own story a part of the break-up letter, is engaging and original. The story and characters are not as original. Min is a film-loving high school junior who hangs out with the smart, sarcastic crowd. Ed is a jock who is embarrassed about being good at math. And yet, they find themselves going out, much to the surprise and dismay of all of their friends. Ed is unsurprisingly one-sided, as we know him only through Min's tearful, somewhat bitter, memories. I would have really liked to hear more of his side of the story, however. He ends up deserving the scummy scum label Min's friend Lauren gives him, but we get only hints of some real hardships in his life. I wanted to be able to be more sympathetic. Handler does a nice job of capturing the voice of a high school girl.