Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Min Green writes a letter to Ed Slaterton in which she breaks up with him, documenting their relationship and how items in the accompanying box, from bottle caps to a cookbook, foretell the end.

I have a love hate relationship with this book. I heard it talked about all over the internet, so when it went on sale, I bought it. I didn’t know when I started it, and I still don’t know now, why this book got so much hype. Both Min and Ed are painfully generic characters that feed into their stereotypes.

I never really ended up caring about either of them, and that made it difficult to finish this book. It got to the point where I was half way through it and I figured that I might as well just finish it incase it gets better at the end.

To me, it never did. I guess there must have been something about it that kept me reading, but I wouldn’t openly recommend the book to anyone.

2.5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “I’m telling you why we broke up, Ed. I’m writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened. And the truth is that I goddamn loved you so much.”

“You could never truly see the movies in my head and that, Ed, is why we broke up.”

“It was everything, those nights on the phone, everything we said until late became later and then later and very late and finally to go to bed with my ear warm and worn red from holding the phone close close close so as not to miss a word of what it was, because who cared how tired I was in the humdrum slave drive of our days without each other. I’d ruin any day, all my days, for those long nights with you, and I did. But that’s why right there it was doomed. We couldn’t only have the magic nights buzzing through the wires. We had to have the days, too, the bright impatient days spoiling everything with their unavoidable schedules, their mandatory times that don’t overlap, their loyal friends who don’t get along, the unforgiven travesties torn from the wall no matter what promises are uttered past midnight.”

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‘G’ is For Gumshoe by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

G IS FOR GAME…

When Irene Gersh asks PI Kinsey Millhone to locate her elderly mother Agnes, whom she hasn't heard from in six months, it's not exactly the kind of case Kinsey jumps for. But a girl's gotta pay her bills, and this should be easy money—or so she thinks. Kinsey finds Agnes in a hospital. Aside from her occasional memory lapses, the octogenarian seems fine. And frightened.

G IS FOR GUN…

Kinsey doesn't know what to make of Agnes's vague fears and bizarre ramblings, but she's got her own worries. It seems Tyrone Patty, a criminal she helped put behind bars, is looking to make a hit. First, Kinsey's car is run off the road, and then days later, she's almost gunned down, setting in motion a harrowing cat and mouse game…

G IS FOR GUMSHOE

So Kinsey decides to hire a bodyguard. With PI Robert Dietz watching her 24/7, Kinsey is feeling on edge…especially with their growing sexual tension. Then, Agnes dies of an apparent homicide, Kinsey realizes the old lady wasn't so senile after all—and maybe she was trying to tell her something? Now Kinsey's determined to learn the truth…even if it kills her.

I am glad that this book followed the last one. The last book didn’t feel like a Kinsey novel, but ‘G’ had Kinsey written all over it. It was refreshing to get back into a familiar setting and pace of story.

There is a lot of action in this book, and her life is in danger once again.

Dietz is a character that gets a new and bigger role in this novel, which I was happy about. I liked him as soon as he walked into this book, and I liked him more and more as the novel went along.

I hope that he makes an appearance in later novels.

The storyline of ‘G’ grabbed my attention and held it a lot better than ‘F’ did. It kept me guessing and made me not want to put the book down. It seemed like there was danger around every corner.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: "If I were asked to rate my looks on a scale of one to ten, I wouldn't. I have to say, however, that I seldom wear makeup, so whatever I look like first thing in the morning at least remains consistent as the day wears on."

"When you're presented with bad news, there's always this lag time, the brain simply unable to assimilate the facts."

"A threat on your life is a curious thing. It seems, at the same time, both abstract and absurd."

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I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

Synopsis:

On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother, Thomas, entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut, public library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable. . . .

One of the most acclaimed novels of our time, Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True is a story of alienation and connection, devastation and renewal, at once joyous, heartbreaking, poignant, mystical, and powerfully, profoundly human.

Woah. This book is heavy. It touches on so many rough topics. Let’s take a quick look at some of those:

Mental Disorders

Mental and Physical Abuse

Incest

Homophobia

Suicide

Rape

Death

And that isn’t even all of them. This is one of the most complete novels that I have read in a long time, and it better be since it was almost 900 pages long. I won’t lie -- the length was intimidating. It made me put off reading this book for a few months, but once I actually opened it up to give it a shot, I was hooked.

We can start with Dominick, the main protagonist. The POV character of the book. Straight up, Dominick is an asshole. So many times throughout the duration of the book, I just wanted to smack him for how he talked to people and how he treated them or thought about them. But the more you read, the more his personality starts to make sense. It doesn’t excuse his behavior, but he makes sense and you can begin to feel bad for him and relate to him at times. Dom didn’t have an easy life by any means. By the end you just want things to be okay for him.

Thomas was just a tragic character in this story. From the very first page until the very last. The whole time, I wanted to just grab Thomas and hug him and never let go. I wanted to protect him like Dominick tried to.  Getting the short end of the stick in every situation. Being Dom’s twin, he was always the black sheep brother. The one that everyone liked less, and then he had to have life deal him another blow with schizophrenia. Thomas’s life just wasn’t fair. From the way he was treated as a kid by his own family and the other kids to the way he was handled by the folks at Hatch, the end of Thomas’s story came as no surprise.

Ray could be considered one of the antagonists in the novel, aside from life itself. Ray was a piece of work, and chapters that included him in the early years were so painful to read at times, but the book wouldn’t have been complete without him. Seeing bits and pieces of his softer side really humanized him, but just like Dom, I couldn’t let go of all of the bad things he had done.

Dom and Thomas’s Mother was an interesting character because the only time we meet her is in flashbacks. Her role in the story contributed so much to how both Dominick and Thomas grew up. If you are into ‘Nature vs. Nurture’ there is an interesting argument to be had about this family. A set of twins that are completely different, yet they are raised by the same parents. The parents treat the boys different, but does turn them into who they became? I would like to hear other opinions on this topic.

Domenico, the grandfather. The mysterious man. We only hear about him until Dominick gets his memoir back in a weird twist of fate. I will admit, most of the chapters that included his memoir dragged on for me. I skipped half of one entirely because I was bored. Some of them were really intense and attention grabbing though. Reading through his writing, you can see where Dominick gets his temperament and part of his personality. Domenico was 1000x worse though. He also came from a different time and from a different situation. Just like Ray, some of his story was so hard to read. He was a terrible man, but he thought so highly of himself.

Shaeffer was. . . and interesting part of the story. I really liked her character but I also couldn’t exactly figure her out. I feel like there was a deeper side to her that we never really got to explore. I would have liked to know more about her, but this book was already super long.

Dr. Patel is a fantastic character in this story. Dominick needed her more than anything because she wouldn’t put up with his nonsense. She wouldn’t let him lie to himself anymore or hide from things he needed to face. I enjoyed her personality and almost wish there was a book series with her as the protagonist.

Dessa – This book wouldn’t have been anything without Dessa’s character. She isn’t actually present for most of the novel, but a lot of the book revolves around the relationship that Dominick and Dessa had. Her character forced his character to be deeper and more developed in a lot of ways.

Leo the classic jokester best friend with a soft side. He is an interesting guy and helped Dominick get through a lot of things in life whether it was from being a supportive friend or by being a jerk and it just happened to work out.

Ralph is like that background character that you see in movies that turns out to play a major role in the story. It seemed that Ralph was around for almost every major event that Dominick had to face. Towards the end you can figure out why that seems to be.

I think everyone needs to read this book to discover a little more about themselves. It will challenge you, it will make you cringe, laugh, cry, scream, and want to tear the book in half. But it will also keep you reading until the very end, and that is what is so beautiful about it. It is an extremely well written novel, and I feel like I am better for having read it.

5/5 Stars despite the length and a few slow parts.

Memorable Quotes: “I couldn’t do it. Poured that little cascade of capsules down the sink instead of down my throat. Turned the water on and washed away my big suicide.”

“Our being human made us tragic and comic both, she had said: the gods both laughed and wept.”

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