Book Review: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Title: Why We Broke Up
Author: Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket
Illustrator: Maria Kalman
Series: None
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Released: December 27, 2011

Book Summary:

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.

I just did not love this one. I struggled to get through it and debated not finishing it multiple times. There was just too much language and content for me. There were certain aspects of the storytelling and the way the book was written that I enjoyed but I didn't love the characters. Ed "no offense" but I just didn't like you at all. Min was blind and stupid to ever see anything in you.

On a positive note I loved all the artwork & illustrations in this book. That's probably what kept me going. The way this book was written was unique and entertaining. I love Min's love of old movies although I wish he'd used real movies instead of making them up.

Rating: 1.5 Stars - Not My Kind of Book

Content: Lots of language including dozens of F words and sexual content. If you are not a fan of explicit language and teenage sexual content then skip this one.

Source: Review copy from Publisher