Book Review: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Catching up on book reviews...do you do a review for every book you read or just for the ones you really love?  I do a review for all the books that I read, I feel like if my GoodReads doesn't have a review it doesn't feel complete, maybe that's just another OCD that I have...lol.  Oh well...at least I hope I help someone out there with one of my reviews :)

Let's get to today's, right?  Let's go...

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman (Illustrations)

From GoodReads:
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.

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First of all, I'm going to confess that I bought this book because of it's cover first and for most, let's admit, it's a beautiful cover.  And then I read the back and I just had to get it because it sounded interesting too, so there you go.  Back to the review lol.

Min broke up with her boyfriend Ed and she is ready to move on, but before that happens, she needs to give back a box.  Inside the box is all the things that he gave her, but also all the things that reminds her of him.  Together with the box, she is giving him a letter, a letter that will explain what each and every thing is and what they mean to her and why they remind her of him and why they should go back to him.  

Min is still writing the letter while we are reading the book, because she is writing the letter on the way to drop the box and letter to her ex's house.  While her friend is driving her there.   Each chapter is an item and we get to know what that item is and what they represented on their relationship and most importantly, we get to know if that item contributed to their break out or not.

This book was such a quick read, why?  Because every time you finished an time/chapter you wanted to read the next one to find out more about.  But once you started to get towards the end?  You end up realizing that this is not a love story with a happy ending book, but still a story that we all need to read and learn from it.

4 out of 5 stars...great writing and loved the illustrations.  The story?  Everyone will get to learn something from somewhere in the book for sure.


XOXO,

Nelia