Why we broke up.

Author Daniel Handler.
Art By Maira Kalman

I had a crush on this book before I ever set my eyes on it, so when I had the plan to buy my friend it for her birthday along with buying myself a copy. I cried a little when the store assistant only said they had one left in stock. Although less than a week later I was back to claim my copy of this beautiful book. And oh my... what a beautiful book it is.

A book that revolves around waiting for the characters to break up rather than get together is my kind of story. But the way Why we broke up is written and the concept of the story itself, was wonderful.

The synopsis follows the character Min, who has a box of items that are linked to her relationship with Ed. She is now giving him that box due to their relationship being over, along with the box she writes a letter for each item in that box. This is where the illustrations come In, we get a beautifully done drawing for each item in the box along with the reason it is important or in any way linked to their relationship. I loved this because in a way they were chapters, chapters of their relationship, and chapters so I knew when would be a good place to stop reading when it got close to my stop on the bus. Because of this I felt like I was being told the story myself rather than reading a book. At times I felt like I was Ed reading the letters, feeling guilty for how id treated Min. Other times I was sat there feeling like im Min, falling in love with Ed slowly.

Despite my love for this book, there was sadly one character I didnt share the love for. Ed has an older sister called Joan that we get told about often as I got the impression that Min idolised her, she never faulted her and commented multiple times that she would miss her. I however did not like or her intentions. I felt like she was rather mean to Min and pushed her away, it was almost as if she was waiting for Min and Ed to break up, and yes a part of me blames her for it a little bit. I have my reasons okay, I kind of liked Ed and Min together... Sadly I just shared my frustration with my dog instead.

This book has become high on my favourite reads list as I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite never having fallen in love, I fell in love with Ed, and Min and their story.