Why We Broke Up
by Daniel Handler
Page Count: 354 pages
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Synopsis:
I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.
Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.
Review:
First of all, I'll begin this review by saying how much I enjoyed the pictures in this book! They were wonderfully done by Maira Kalman and I think they were, absolutely necessary for the book. I found them really helpful; plus, they were, in a way, helping in the pacing of the story.
Another thing I enjoyed about Why We Broke Up was the passion with movies the main character had. Her whole thought process was so interesting and so film-like that it made me like her as a character. She was more complex than the usual YA main characters. Min had a passion and she was not afraid to show it. She knew what she liked and she wasn't scared to go for it. I think the whole time she was like "I'll go for it no matter what." Even the idea of sending this box to Ed along with the letter, was very creative and movie-like.
The idea of this story in a letter form was something I read for the first time. I've come across letters as a part of a story but not as the story itself. So, that was something that made me want to read this book.
Now apart from Min, I also liked Al and in general Min's friends. They were adorably "weird", if I may say. And that was exactly what was so great about them. They didn't have to go with the flow to make people to hang out with them because they, simply, didn't want that. They liked hanging out together and I love the fact that they're here for each other. Even when for a few pages there seems to be a tension between Min and Al, they still know that they can count on each other.
Moving on to Ed, what can I say. I admit that in the beginning I thought he was cute but I didn't like or trust the guy. I always felt like he was too superficial for Min and that she could have someone better. I get the sweet-talking and complimenting and gifts thing, it can be cute and attractive, but I believe that human relationship have to be based upon more important things like understanding and being able to make a conversation about interesting topics.
Obviously Min and Ed didn't have much in common, but still I can see why they broke up (apart from the most serious thing that whoever has read this book knows; I don't want to spoil anything for you).
I think that an alternative title for this book could be "Why We Shouldn't Have Been Together". It suits the tone and the story.
About the rating, I gave this book 4 stars and not five because at some points there were some long descriptions about movies and stuff like that and I just wanted them to end so as to get back to the actual plot. I loved Min's passion and some movie-related narrative parts were very interesting since I got to know some things myself, but I was curious about the way the story was going to unfold.
Overall:
About Min:
About Ed:
About the ending:
I would, definitely, recommend this book!
Especially if you are a fan of movies!
Thanks for reading,
~Christiana.
by Daniel Handler
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Synopsis:
I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.
Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.
Review:
First of all, I'll begin this review by saying how much I enjoyed the pictures in this book! They were wonderfully done by Maira Kalman and I think they were, absolutely necessary for the book. I found them really helpful; plus, they were, in a way, helping in the pacing of the story.
Another thing I enjoyed about Why We Broke Up was the passion with movies the main character had. Her whole thought process was so interesting and so film-like that it made me like her as a character. She was more complex than the usual YA main characters. Min had a passion and she was not afraid to show it. She knew what she liked and she wasn't scared to go for it. I think the whole time she was like "I'll go for it no matter what." Even the idea of sending this box to Ed along with the letter, was very creative and movie-like.
The idea of this story in a letter form was something I read for the first time. I've come across letters as a part of a story but not as the story itself. So, that was something that made me want to read this book.
Now apart from Min, I also liked Al and in general Min's friends. They were adorably "weird", if I may say. And that was exactly what was so great about them. They didn't have to go with the flow to make people to hang out with them because they, simply, didn't want that. They liked hanging out together and I love the fact that they're here for each other. Even when for a few pages there seems to be a tension between Min and Al, they still know that they can count on each other.
Moving on to Ed, what can I say. I admit that in the beginning I thought he was cute but I didn't like or trust the guy. I always felt like he was too superficial for Min and that she could have someone better. I get the sweet-talking and complimenting and gifts thing, it can be cute and attractive, but I believe that human relationship have to be based upon more important things like understanding and being able to make a conversation about interesting topics.
Obviously Min and Ed didn't have much in common, but still I can see why they broke up (apart from the most serious thing that whoever has read this book knows; I don't want to spoil anything for you).
I think that an alternative title for this book could be "Why We Shouldn't Have Been Together". It suits the tone and the story.
About the rating, I gave this book 4 stars and not five because at some points there were some long descriptions about movies and stuff like that and I just wanted them to end so as to get back to the actual plot. I loved Min's passion and some movie-related narrative parts were very interesting since I got to know some things myself, but I was curious about the way the story was going to unfold.
Overall:
About Min:
About Ed:
About the ending:
I would, definitely, recommend this book!
Especially if you are a fan of movies!
Thanks for reading,
~Christiana.
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