Take a moment and think about a scrapbook. Filled with delicate pages of pictures, smiles flood the pages, and people you care about enchant the covers. Now think about someone throwing that scrapbook away; tearing every page, putting it through the shredder, and finally using a chainsaw to erase any possible trace of its existence. That’s exactly what Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler is like and because of that, it’s so fantastic. The novel also includes beautiful illustrations from Maria Kalman that help you visualize the characters experiences. Min, the narrator, tells her story through a letter to Ed, her ex, before dropping off a box of items to him representing the reasons for their break up. Although the writing is a little scratchy and plot somewhat of a cliché, it’s still a perfect diary of a “puppy love” romance.
The themes of this novel revolve a lot around growing up, figuring out who you’re meant to be, a real coming of age story. Min begins her journey as a normal 15 year-old with a best friend, Al, and together they dream of being Hollywood directors. Their conversations consist of a distinct lingo, complete with made-up actors and movie scenes. Brian Truitt of the USA Today Reviews writes, “It's almost unfair to slap Why We Broke Up with a "young adult" label, since the novel by writer Daniel Handler and illustrator Maira Kalman will connect with anyone who has ever had an ex.” The way Handler conveys Min’s feelings is perfect. I’m a 15 year-old girl and I’ve encountered everything this novel discusses. Feeling left out, not knowing who you want to become, wanting to rebel, all of it. In a discussion between Ed and Min, they describe their reasoning for rebelling against those who think they’re wrong for each other, “’And, OK, I see what she means, but she doesn’t, Min, know what she’s talking about. She’s so, everybody’s so stupid, you know? Christian too, Todd, whoever says stupid things…’” It’s a great part of the book that helps the reader understand why they were so keen into making their relationship work and why Ed wanted to keep the romance alive. It’s also a great theme to show that having the wrong purposes for things can lead us to catastrophic fallouts.
Besides having phenomenal themes, the character development of Ed and Min is wonderful. At the beginning of the book we see Min as the clichéd dorky girl who falls for basketball star heartthrob, Ed, and he loves her despite her social status. However, the ending turned out to be quite different, and we saw the characters for everything they were, Min especially. Towards the end of the book there are a few pages of Min describing her feelings and it’s as if she took the words straight from a high school students’ mouth. “I’m not a romantic, I’m a half-wit. Only stupid people would think I’m smart. I’m not something anyone should know,” He describes her feelings with such detail and actuality that you believe she’s real. Although some of the statements Min makes are more on the suicidal side of things, the way she relates things to her terrible relationship makes it easy to understand lessons she’s learned as well as why she thinks this way. Monica Edinger of New York Times Book Reviews writes, “Filled with long, lovely riffs of language (some paragraphs of Min’s moody reflections go on for over a page), exquisite scenes of teenage life and the sad souvenirs of one high school relationship, Why We Broke Up is a silken, bittersweet tale of adolescent heartache.” If you’re looking for a way to relate to someone going through themes discussed previously, or simply life, this is an awesome pick to help you not feel so alone.
The writing style of this book was quite unique. I’m not sure how Handler writes any of his other novels, but these had quite a distinct taste to them. He would switch up words in a sentence so that they almost had a Yoda-like quality to them. Yael Goldstein Love of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, “Told in the form of a confessional letter by the heartbroken Min, the book is so good at capturing what it feels like to be a jilted 16-year-old girl that it seems almost wasted on its young-adult audience.” Besides being written in letter-format, which made it a very quick yet fun read, the style had many new vocab words to learn due to the nature of Min’s love for black and white French films. Min and her friend Al are often talking about their favorite movies and books and the terminology makes it very interesting, “’When the Lights Go Down…’ ‘…because for forty minutes we’ve watched this French girl wandering around thinking things. Look, the cars are going by again. Are you sure this is the right movie?’ ‘Two Pairs of Shoes.’”
Overall, this novel was a great pick for romance and life in general. It really connects to its audience and takes older readers back to their first loves. It helps you understand the difference between love and lust. Afterwards I felt like I knew these two personally, as if Min had told me her story face-to-face. Although the ending was somewhat of a downer, it gave the reader good insight and helped us learn important lessons without having our heartbroken (although you became so attached to the two, it felt as if you had). Beautifully themed and structured, with creative writing and detailed characters, I adored this book and believe any romance enthusiast would as well.
