Review: Why We Broke Up

Title: Why We Broke Up
Author: Daniel Handler & Maira Kalman
Released Date: December 27th, 2011
Pages: 368
Rating: 4 out of 5

Description:
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.

Review:
Why We Broke Up was a very fun and interesting read.  It's sort of written as a really long letter, from Min to Ed, with pictures of the items that explain why they broke up, kind of separating the letter into chapters. 

This novel was written in an "artistic" way.  I don't really know how to phrase it because "artistic" might not be the best way to describe it, but it was definitely different.  An example is that sometimes there would be a run on sentence, usually describing a sequence of events and how Min felt at the time of each event.  They actually became a little confusing after a while because I kind of started to get a little lost as to what was happening.  Although, the writing does embody Min in a way because of her personality and her artsy side.

I really liked Min and Ed as a couple, because they seemed like a REALLY unlikely couple.  Ed is the popular jock, while Min has her little group of friends and enjoys watching old films.  Min was a sort of cool character who liked to do the oddest things with Ed, whether it be stealing sugar or planning a party for an actress who Min thinks lives in their city.

Overall, Why We Broke Up was a really cool book with awesome illustrations to illustrate the items in the box.  It's like a picture book for young adults :D  Sometimes, the writing could be a bit confusing, but the overall premise was pretty cool.  It's pretty obvious after a while as to why they broke up, but reading why each item was significant was really fun.

Oh!  There's this really awesome website for Why We Broke Up.  It's called The Why We Broke Up Project and it's where you can post about your breakups and why you broke up with him/her.  It's really interesting and you should check it out here :)

Cover Review:
I like this cover.  I don't love it, but I like how the words sort of spill out of the coffee cup.  The red background also really pops out to the viewer.

Cleo :)

*Description and cover from goodreads.com
**Review copy borrowed from the library.