Book Report: Why We Broke Up

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Even if you don't recognize the name of the author, you've probably heard of The Series of Unfortunate Events, which he wrote under the nom de plume of Lemony Snicket, what a decade ago? Time flies, eyyy.

Whenever I see a book on the Kindle Daily Deals that remotely interests me, I tend to browse through a couple reviews on Goodreads just to get a sense of whether or not I'm willing to spend two or three dollars on the e-book. I'd heard of Why We Broke Up before--it created some stir in the industry when it first came out and eventually received a Printz Honor. Some of the complaints I read in the reviews were that the heroine was not very relatable or kind of annoying, or that the writing style was hard to adjust to. I was somewhat concerned about that first factor--it can definitely make or break how much I enjoy a book (experimental writing style is something I'm more open to)--but in the end, I decided I was curious enough about this book to give it a go.

The premise of the book is straightforward. Min (short for Minerva) is a movie aficionado; Ed is the star basketball player at their high school. The book is essentially a Dear John letter from Min to Ed in which she returns all her mementos of him, recalling key moments from their whirlwind relationship through each object. 

I'll start off by saying that there were some negative things that I ended up agreeing with. Min's narrative voice often raves on and on about some of her favorite fictional movies. I would instantly skip over those--they bored me, and I think I would have perked up more if they'd been about actual movies that I'd heard of or seen before. Min was someone that felt quite real to me (especially impressive, given that a man is writing in the voice of a teenage girl), but I could imagine that this wasn't a girl I would have befriended in high school.

Yet despite this, the end of her story gutted me. And I think it gutted a lot of other readers out there, because most people can relate to getting their heart broken, especially by first loves. You hate someone with all your heart--maybe they cheated on you, maybe they rejected you, or maybe they just never truly looked your way. Falling for this person left you defenseless and vulnerable. You hate how pathetic you have become. And yet in despite of it all, you still senselessly and maddeningly cannot let go.

Everyone knows how the story ends--it's in the title of the book, after all. But knowing what's coming doesn't make the journey less suspenseful. Yes, Ed does something very Grade A asshole-y that prompts the end of their relationship. This was a minor issue I also had with the book -- perhaps it's because I was never super close to guy friends in high school, but I was dumbfounded that Ed thought he could get away with something so inanely jerkish and stupid. Maybe I'm giving high school boys too much credit. I guess I had been expecting a different reason for "Why We Broke Up" and what Ed did to Min didn't quite cut it for me. But regardless, Min's anger and pain registers quite sharply. What I do have to applaud Daniel Handler for is that despite Ed's flaws, I could understand why Min loved him in the first place. Maybe if they had met years down the road when they were less immature, it might have worked between them.

I don't think I would recommend this book to everybody--stylistically, it's not everyone's cup of tea. But I was thoroughly impressed by a number of things Daniel Handler managed to accomplish with this book. Aside from some negative points, I ended up liking Why We Broke Up, even though it left me feeling melancholy for the rest of the day.