Book Review: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler.

Hey everyone!
Happy New Year!
Hope you all enjoyed bringing in the new year whatever your plans were for the night. My first post for 2015 is going to be a book review and I'll be talking about Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler.

This book is written by Daniel Handler with beautiful art by Maira Kalman. It is about a girl in high school called Min Green and a senior basketball jock, Ed Slaterton and their relationship that lasted from 5th of October to November 12th. The entire novel is in the form of a letter in the narrative of Min who is writing to Ed about why they broke up. The letter is accompanied with a box full of objects that tracks the progress of their relationship which are all returned to Ed at the end of the letter. The box contains two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a lobby ticket, matches, a pinhole camera, a folded note, a rubber band, a high school pennant, a toy truck, a book full of recipes, an egg cuber, a polaroid, a comb, a pair of earrings which are described as ugly and several other items; all of which are beautifully designed on each beginning page of every chapter by Kalman.

I really liked this book, in fact it even made my favourite books list for 2014. The illustrations are lovely and look really vintage. They accompany the story brilliantly as Min describes how each item came to be hers and how much they meant to her. Min doesn't have any real social standing but Daniel Handler really gives her a voice that makes her stand out. I do think how she speaks will put some people off but I didn't find her irritating at all.

I thought Min and Ed's relationship was pretty sweet and adorable. You can't think of any reasons why they would break up until right at the very end and you understand Min's heartbreak completely. But although they were both cute together, I did also secretly root for Min and one of her best friends, Al who is the completely opposite to Ed. Handler really did capture what a teenage girl would be thinking and feeling in this situation perfectly.

Although I do like Min and her unique personality, the only criticism I have of the book is how she neglected her original friends who were well crafted, funny and different. It rings true to my own personal experiences when friends have up and left to spend more time with her boyfriends rather than with those who have been there from the start. I'm sure it'll do the same for others who have been through the same.

But other than that, I loved the book and I don't want to spoil it too much for those who want to read it because whatever I say won't do it justice. My heart completely broke for Min as I really thought their relationship was pretty good even if it was only very short. But the ending put the pieces of my heart back together again and I felt proud of Min.

You can buy it off Amazon, used, starting from £4.00

Do you have any recommendations for me? I'd love to know!

Thankyou for reading.
Laura.