Book Club: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Written by: Daniel Handler
Illustrated by: Maira Kalman

"This is the box, Ed.
Inside is everything.
Two bottle caps,
a movie ticket from Greta in the Wild,
a note from you,
a box of matches, 
your protractor,
Joan's book,
the stolen sugar,
a toy truck,
those ugly earrings,
a comb from the motel,
and the rest of it.
This is it, Ed.
The whole story of why we broke up."

The entire book is a fictionalized story of what could be a very real break up. The main character, Min, writes a letter to her high school boyfriend, Ed, about why she broke up with him. Accompanied with the letter is a box. The box contains memorabilia that Min collected throughout their entire relationship.

This was probably one of the most captivating novels that I have read this year, so far. It truly felt like I was breaking up with my boyfriend. I loved the film culture references that this novel contained, as well as my two favourite quotes from the book: "I'm a fool is what." and "You either have the feeling or you don't" by Hawk Davies.

This novel brought me to tears and the illustrations brought life and a sense of beauty to the story.