Title: Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak
Author: Adi Alsaid
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Inkyard Press, 4/30/19
Source: TLC Booktours in exchange for my review
My Rating: 3 Stars
I usually like reading Young Adult books, usually because I like to recall being a young adult as well as to find books to share with my own young adult reader. However, I think some books aren’t meant for adults, as I really didn’t find myself relating to the main character of Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak at all.
“Dumped by her boyfriend the summer after senior year, teen love and relationship columnist Lu Charles has hit a wall with her writing. The words just won’t come to her like they used to and if she doesn’t find a topic for her column, she’ll lose her gig at hip online magazine Misnomer, and the college scholarship that goes along with it. Her best friend, Pete, thinks she should write through her own pain, but when Lu overhears another couple planning a pre-college breakup just like hers, she becomes convinced that they’re the answer to cracking her writer’s block. And when she meets them—super-practical Iris and cute, sweet Cal—and discovers they’re postponing their breakup until the end of the summer, she has to know more. Have Cal and Iris prolonged their own misery by staying together, knowing the end is in sight? Or does the secret to figuring out all this love business—and getting over it—lie with them? One thing is certain—if Lu can’t make a breakthrough before summer is over, she can kiss her future goodbye.”
The things I liked about Lu included her relationship with her mom. The sections that included her mom made me laugh at times. I also enjoyed her friendship with Pete, who seemed to voice the same feelings that I had about Lu – she needed to listen to him more! Lu is experiencing writer’s block in a big way. Instead of writing, she becomes obsessed with Cal and Iris. I couldn’t figure out if she was in love with one of them or both of them, if she shipped them or wanted to be with one of them herself, or if she was really interested in being friends with them. The truth is that I too had a serious boyfriend in high school (see my post from yesterday about things I wish I could tell my high school self!) and it would have been smart for us to break up before I went to college. If that had happened, I probably would have reacted in some of the same ways that Lu did. I should have been able to relate to her more, and I’m not sure if the problem is where I am in my life now, or in the book itself.
I think this is a book that a young adult would enjoy, however I don’t plan to pass it along to my daughter because I think it is too angsty and doesn’t offer much in the way of positive insight or hopefulness that I would like to see her reading about.
What have you been reading lately?
