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Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak
The summer after senior year is not going as eighteen-year-old Lu Charles expected: after her longtime boyfriend unexpectedly breaks up with her, Lu can’t write a single word, despite the fact that her college scholarship is tied to her columnist job at hip online magazine Misnomer. Then, she meets Cal.
Cal’s ever-practical girlfriend Iris is looking ahead to her first year of college, and her plans do not include a long-distance boyfriend. When Lu learns that Cal and Iris have planned to end their relationship at the end of the summer, she becomes fascinated and decides to chronicle the last months the couple will spend together.
The closer she gets to the couple, the more she likes them, and the more she wants to write about them. The summer unfurls, and Lu discovers what it really means to be in love. On the page, or off it. The book is touching exploration of love and how it shapes us both during a relationship and after it has ended.
Cal’s ever-practical girlfriend Iris is looking ahead to her first year of college, and her plans do not include a long-distance boyfriend. When Lu learns that Cal and Iris have planned to end their relationship at the end of the summer, she becomes fascinated and decides to chronicle the last months the couple will spend together.
The closer she gets to the couple, the more she likes them, and the more she wants to write about them. The summer unfurls, and Lu discovers what it really means to be in love. On the page, or off it. The book is touching exploration of love and how it shapes us both during a relationship and after it has ended.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 30, 2019
38 people are currently reading
4115 people want to read
About the author
Adi Alsaid
29 books1,283 followersAdi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City, where he now lives, writes, and spills hot sauce on things. He's the author of several YA novels including LET'S GET LOST, NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES, and NORTH OF HAPPY.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
December 17, 2018
I came into this novel with zero expectations. I'm glad that I did... because I was a bit disappointed and not sure I really enjoyed this novel.
I was extremely frustrated with the main character and she got on my nerves. Felt like she was a tad bit self centered.
Lu's boyfriend breaks up with her and it breaks up her ability to write her romance column as well. All she can seem to do is focus on Leo and the heartbreak of losing her boyfriend. I had a lot of trouble relating to Lu... felt again that it was the typical "wooo is me character and blaming everyone else for her problems." I just keep rolling my eyes at her decisions and lack there of to change her life. This is my biggest annoyance in real life... let alone in a book!
Overall, I felt like the message the author was trying to portray here was first love, moving on, and growing up. But, I don't think Lu was able to move on and grow up based on her self-loathing and self pity character.
I have started to have a YA obsession but this unfortunately feel extremely flat for me.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
Huge thank you to Harlequin Teen/Inkyard Press for the arc in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Pub date: 4/30/19
Published to GR: 12/16/18
I was extremely frustrated with the main character and she got on my nerves. Felt like she was a tad bit self centered.
Lu's boyfriend breaks up with her and it breaks up her ability to write her romance column as well. All she can seem to do is focus on Leo and the heartbreak of losing her boyfriend. I had a lot of trouble relating to Lu... felt again that it was the typical "wooo is me character and blaming everyone else for her problems." I just keep rolling my eyes at her decisions and lack there of to change her life. This is my biggest annoyance in real life... let alone in a book!
Overall, I felt like the message the author was trying to portray here was first love, moving on, and growing up. But, I don't think Lu was able to move on and grow up based on her self-loathing and self pity character.
I have started to have a YA obsession but this unfortunately feel extremely flat for me.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
Huge thank you to Harlequin Teen/Inkyard Press for the arc in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Pub date: 4/30/19
Published to GR: 12/16/18
May 6, 2019
A sweet story about first love, moving on, and growing up. Nobody ever forgets their first love, but some people have a much harder time getting over them. Lu is dumped by her first love Leo, his reason seems to be because they are going to different colleges. Personally I think this is a mature decision, I’m not a huge advocate of going off to college with a boyfriend/girlfriend back home. Now of course I say this and I had a long distance relationship when I was in college, but that didn’t work. Also my daughter went off to college and had a boyfriend back home, and that didn’t work either. Now I’m certain this works for some people, just nobody that I know. Lu is so distraught and cannot function like she needs to. She is going to lose her scholarship to NYU if she cannot quickly write an article for the online magazine that she works for, her scholarship is contingent upon her working for this magazine.
Lu was pretty frustrating. I wanted to sit down and have a chat with the girl, and explain to her that she certainly didn’t want to throw away her future over some boy. Then Lu happens upon a couple that are planning to break up at the end of summer because they are going to different colleges. However in the meantime they are going to make the best of their summer together. Lu becomes obsessed with this couple or the idea of this couple. She decides she’s going to write an article about them, and even though the couple refuses, she keeps persisting.
Lu was definitely a self-centered teen who liked to throw herself an occasional pity party. She had this great friend Pete who quite frankly she did not deserve. He was such a good friend so supportive with Great wise words. I was hoping they would end up together, and then I thought I’m not sure if she deserves him. The end of this book really threw me for a loop, I’m still not quite sure what to think of it. This was a good book, but probably could have been great. There was just a little something missing, and I’m not even certain what that was. Simply put a sweet fluffy story about first love.
*** thanks so much to Harlequin/Inkyard Press for my copy of this book ***
Lu was pretty frustrating. I wanted to sit down and have a chat with the girl, and explain to her that she certainly didn’t want to throw away her future over some boy. Then Lu happens upon a couple that are planning to break up at the end of summer because they are going to different colleges. However in the meantime they are going to make the best of their summer together. Lu becomes obsessed with this couple or the idea of this couple. She decides she’s going to write an article about them, and even though the couple refuses, she keeps persisting.
Lu was definitely a self-centered teen who liked to throw herself an occasional pity party. She had this great friend Pete who quite frankly she did not deserve. He was such a good friend so supportive with Great wise words. I was hoping they would end up together, and then I thought I’m not sure if she deserves him. The end of this book really threw me for a loop, I’m still not quite sure what to think of it. This was a good book, but probably could have been great. There was just a little something missing, and I’m not even certain what that was. Simply put a sweet fluffy story about first love.
*** thanks so much to Harlequin/Inkyard Press for my copy of this book ***
February 24, 2019
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
A YA contemporary, Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak is all about teenage first love and about dealing with everything when that love falls apart.
I see this as a bit of a literary palate cleanser, it was filled with our main protagonist, Lucinda 's angsty magazine column mission to chronicle a love story. Not all stories have to be deep and while it's just okay for me, I know a few of my high school students who would love it.
Goodreads Review 20/02/19
Publication Date 30/04/19
A YA contemporary, Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak is all about teenage first love and about dealing with everything when that love falls apart.
I see this as a bit of a literary palate cleanser, it was filled with our main protagonist, Lucinda 's angsty magazine column mission to chronicle a love story. Not all stories have to be deep and while it's just okay for me, I know a few of my high school students who would love it.
Goodreads Review 20/02/19
Publication Date 30/04/19
April 12, 2019
I guess this is a black sheep review, because I enjoyed this book.
Graduating from high school comes with the promise of so many wonderful beginnings, but sometimes those beginnings are accompanied by endings.
Lu was excited to be attending NYU in the fall until her boyfriend, Leo, preemptively breaks up with her since he would be attending college upstate. And so, Lu began her summer with a broken heart and a crippling case of writer's block. By some serendipitous stroke of luck, Lu overheard two other teens doing the pre-college breakup thing, and thought their story would remove her block, but as the summer wore on, the pressure to produce her column or lose her scholarship was amplified.
This was a story about heartbreak and love. It was about knowing which relationships were worth fighting for and which ones had run their course. I liked the juxtaposition of Cal and Iris' story to that of Lu and Leo. Lu may have fell in love with both Iris and Cal, as well as their storybook romance, but it also helped her dissect her her emotions with respect to Leo and her relationship with him. It took Lu quite a while, but she eventually came to terms with her heartbreak and where she stood with her ex.
There were times I felt like I wanted Lu to reach some conclusions a bit sooner, but I enjoyed the journey. I got to frolic in NYC with a bunch of kids, who engaged in some great and amusing banter. I loved Lu's mom, her penchant for Italian food, and her affection for her daughter. Pete was also a standout character. He was a straight shooter, who made astute observations, and he also cared deeply for Lu.
Obviously, I would have been more over the moon if there had been an epic romance, but this was a realistic situation, and I think Alsaid tempered my heartbreak by including Cal and Iris' story. I enjoyed spending the summer with Lu, and appreciated the ending (new beginning?) Alsaid gave her.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
Graduating from high school comes with the promise of so many wonderful beginnings, but sometimes those beginnings are accompanied by endings.
Lu was excited to be attending NYU in the fall until her boyfriend, Leo, preemptively breaks up with her since he would be attending college upstate. And so, Lu began her summer with a broken heart and a crippling case of writer's block. By some serendipitous stroke of luck, Lu overheard two other teens doing the pre-college breakup thing, and thought their story would remove her block, but as the summer wore on, the pressure to produce her column or lose her scholarship was amplified.
This was a story about heartbreak and love. It was about knowing which relationships were worth fighting for and which ones had run their course. I liked the juxtaposition of Cal and Iris' story to that of Lu and Leo. Lu may have fell in love with both Iris and Cal, as well as their storybook romance, but it also helped her dissect her her emotions with respect to Leo and her relationship with him. It took Lu quite a while, but she eventually came to terms with her heartbreak and where she stood with her ex.
There were times I felt like I wanted Lu to reach some conclusions a bit sooner, but I enjoyed the journey. I got to frolic in NYC with a bunch of kids, who engaged in some great and amusing banter. I loved Lu's mom, her penchant for Italian food, and her affection for her daughter. Pete was also a standout character. He was a straight shooter, who made astute observations, and he also cared deeply for Lu.
Obviously, I would have been more over the moon if there had been an epic romance, but this was a realistic situation, and I think Alsaid tempered my heartbreak by including Cal and Iris' story. I enjoyed spending the summer with Lu, and appreciated the ending (new beginning?) Alsaid gave her.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
May 22, 2019
I used to read a ton of YA and then I just sort of naturally moved away from it over the past few years. I think as I got older I found myself struggling to relate to the characters but when I saw the title of this one I just had to try it, I mean how catchy is it?! I’m really glad I did because even though I still can’t totally relate to a teenager anymore (maybe because I’m old enough to be a parent to a teenager now? 👵🏻) I found myself able to remember how it felt to be a teenager and that worked out well for me.
Lu is the main character and everything is told solely from her POV and man did she frustrate me! This wasn’t a bad thing though, I actually found myself more invested in her story because I was hoping she would wake up and quit being so damn whiny and although she didn’t have this huge, life changing moment where she suddenly matured, she did undergo enough personal growth that I was happy. Also, that’s way more realistic anyway, who all of the sudden grows out of the teenager angsty melodrama overnight? I sure didn’t, maturity (especially emotional maturity) is a gradual process that can’t be rushed.
Besides Lu there were some other really great secondary characters that I really liked and I’m sure that helped with my frustrations with her. My favorite was her best friend, Pete he was a wise and stable presence in her otherwise chaotic and dramatic life and brought some much needed levity to the story. As I mentioned earlier, this one brought me right back to the time when I was a teenager dealing with my first heartbreak and I have to credit the author for that. It’s not always easy to bring me back to older emotional memories while I’m reading and I had no problem remembering how I felt and what that time period in my life truly felt like.
Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak in three words: Bittersweet, Cute and Relatable.
Lu is the main character and everything is told solely from her POV and man did she frustrate me! This wasn’t a bad thing though, I actually found myself more invested in her story because I was hoping she would wake up and quit being so damn whiny and although she didn’t have this huge, life changing moment where she suddenly matured, she did undergo enough personal growth that I was happy. Also, that’s way more realistic anyway, who all of the sudden grows out of the teenager angsty melodrama overnight? I sure didn’t, maturity (especially emotional maturity) is a gradual process that can’t be rushed.
Besides Lu there were some other really great secondary characters that I really liked and I’m sure that helped with my frustrations with her. My favorite was her best friend, Pete he was a wise and stable presence in her otherwise chaotic and dramatic life and brought some much needed levity to the story. As I mentioned earlier, this one brought me right back to the time when I was a teenager dealing with my first heartbreak and I have to credit the author for that. It’s not always easy to bring me back to older emotional memories while I’m reading and I had no problem remembering how I felt and what that time period in my life truly felt like.
Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak in three words: Bittersweet, Cute and Relatable.
April 21, 2019
I finished (skimmed the last quarter because I was a smidge invested in Pete) because... well, because Inkyard Press gave me access to an ARC and I want to be good, better about that - when it comes to ARCs I get from NetGalley, which I am bad at. But... this book was not for me. I didn't like it. Pete was the best thing about it and there was not enough Pete. It was just... no.
October 14, 2018
This is only getting three stars because I’m on vacation.
Lu was an annoying, slightly bratty, yet funny character that I didn’t root for and wanted to shake. Cal was too John-Green-esque and his girlfriend Iris was portrayed as a hipster version of the manic pixie dream girl. The three of them together made little sense. The saving graces were Lu’s friend Pete (who may have been the only character with rational thinking) and the ending, which thankfully did make sense.
Lu was an annoying, slightly bratty, yet funny character that I didn’t root for and wanted to shake. Cal was too John-Green-esque and his girlfriend Iris was portrayed as a hipster version of the manic pixie dream girl. The three of them together made little sense. The saving graces were Lu’s friend Pete (who may have been the only character with rational thinking) and the ending, which thankfully did make sense.
April 12, 2019
Started well, continued well for a while, but I wasn't so sure by the ending.
3+ stars.
Lu is about to lose her scholarship and thus her chances of going to college because her heart is broken and she can't write a word for her internship at the Misnomer. That's when she sees a couple almost break up for the same reasons her boyfriend left her and then stay together. She needs to write about them and maybe find how she can make things right again.
Even my summary may be slightly spoiler-ish but the official one is definitely more. I'm not sure if I should blame the person who wrote it or just how long the story takes to get to the more-than-predictable love triangle. No, don't call that a spoiler if you know if from the first scene.
You know, I did enjoy reading it. Lu made me feel anxious like hell for erratic ways—that would definitely not happen to me, even though I'm queen of self-sabotage. But if you count it all, I think I really liked more than half of the story and didn't hate the rest. That's why I say 3+. My frustration is that it could have been a 4, even a 4+ with very little, but the writer may have lost herself somewhere there.
And yet, it's very well written, the characters are diverse without it being on your face. Kudos for that! I do think Leo's reasons needed to be more explained, that Pete deserved to be more round and not be just the friend giving the right advice and never heard. But the writing was great! Taking about characters, I enjoyed a lot Lu's boss, a pity there wasn't even room for developing her more.
There were some weird stuff going on. Lu's girl-crush on Iris was funny but her obsession with the couple was freaky. I think this may upset a few readers, since I kept frowning as the story progressed. And I wish that romance simply didn't exist. Me, who loves romances, who picked the book for the prospect of that very romance. But again, it was weird.
Now, my biggest issue. I think this missed the chance of discussing more the psychological that's causing all of Lu's problems. She definitely needed more help if she got to the point she couldn't be functional. I kept thinking the book would finally go there, but it never did. We just watch Lu crash and burn, and that was mean.
I'll be reading more from Adi Alsaid, that's one writer to follow, but this wasn't -the- book from her.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
3+ stars.
Lu is about to lose her scholarship and thus her chances of going to college because her heart is broken and she can't write a word for her internship at the Misnomer. That's when she sees a couple almost break up for the same reasons her boyfriend left her and then stay together. She needs to write about them and maybe find how she can make things right again.
Even my summary may be slightly spoiler-ish but the official one is definitely more. I'm not sure if I should blame the person who wrote it or just how long the story takes to get to the more-than-predictable love triangle. No, don't call that a spoiler if you know if from the first scene.
You know, I did enjoy reading it. Lu made me feel anxious like hell for erratic ways—that would definitely not happen to me, even though I'm queen of self-sabotage. But if you count it all, I think I really liked more than half of the story and didn't hate the rest. That's why I say 3+. My frustration is that it could have been a 4, even a 4+ with very little, but the writer may have lost herself somewhere there.
And yet, it's very well written, the characters are diverse without it being on your face. Kudos for that! I do think Leo's reasons needed to be more explained, that Pete deserved to be more round and not be just the friend giving the right advice and never heard. But the writing was great! Taking about characters, I enjoyed a lot Lu's boss, a pity there wasn't even room for developing her more.
There were some weird stuff going on. Lu's girl-crush on Iris was funny but her obsession with the couple was freaky. I think this may upset a few readers, since I kept frowning as the story progressed. And I wish that romance simply didn't exist. Me, who loves romances, who picked the book for the prospect of that very romance. But again, it was weird.
Now, my biggest issue. I think this missed the chance of discussing more the psychological that's causing all of Lu's problems. She definitely needed more help if she got to the point she couldn't be functional. I kept thinking the book would finally go there, but it never did. We just watch Lu crash and burn, and that was mean.
I'll be reading more from Adi Alsaid, that's one writer to follow, but this wasn't -the- book from her.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
June 24, 2019
Idk I’m charmed.
January 16, 2023
Nudna, przegadana, z irytującą bohaterką. Mam wrażenie, że jest tu przerost nad formą. Autor za bardzo chciał być ponad schematami w tej książce i mogło się to udać, gdyby większą część tekstu nie zajmowało filozofowanie bohaterki i opisywanie jakiś randomowych ludzi w tle. Wymęczyłam się. Nie polecam.
February 15, 2019
What might a teenaged Carrie Bradshaw be like if she were based on the television series incarnation and not a glossy version with a backdropped snapshot of the 80s? Maybe this.
Lu Charles, recently dumped teenager and fresh off her first love, writes a column for online magazine Misnomer entitled Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heart. Through this publication and editorial effusions of her witty and acerbic teenage self, Lu has secured a scholarship for college and allowed her creative self to blossom. She knows this is what she wants to do with her life. It feels natural and deeply rooted within her. So when she stumbles smack into writer's block following her heartbreak, Lu is not only in unfamiliar waters, but in waters that remain nearly unnavigable to her.
Brief Chronicle felt familiar and established. Lu's boss at Misnomer even presented the column to Lu as a Sex and the City type—focused on Lu's musings and current experiences as a young voice in NYC. Lu also has a part time job at the movie theater, alongside her best friend, Pete, and they are both friends with this slightly older woman who owns a nearby bookstore. Starla, the bookseller, reminds me heavily of the character Iona, played by Annie Potts in Pretty in Pink. While Iona is a good deal more eccentric (it was 1986, after all), Starla's relationship with the two teens is very reflective of the connection shared in Pretty in Pink, without feeling carbon copied.
The real crux of the novel takes off when Lu overhears a breakup between another couple. Cal and Iris have decided to end their relationship for the exact reason Lu's ended with her now ex-boyfriend, Leo: preemptively severing the love now that high school has ended and college will soon begin. Only, upon meeting up with Iris later, Lu learns that Cal and Iris have actually changed their minds and will continue with their relationship up until the day Iris leaves for college on the West Coast.
Lu, trying to both garner some deeper insight into this seemingly perfect couple and to write about them for her column and its looming deadline (which keeps getting pushed out for her), follows them around the City, spending more and more time in this bubble created by her rose-colored vision of Cal and Iris, and less and less time with her family and best friend...not to mention less and less time actively getting her writing done.
The story is also interspersed with flashbacks cleverly delivered via her previous published articles. Through those we learn a little more about her relationship with Leo, and can more accurately track its course. Also, through the use of these old copies of her column, the reader can get a better understanding of who Lu is when she's not cloaked herself in failure, heartbreak, and obsession.
I found Lu to be incredibly relatable. She's quirky and cynical, and all her flaws are amplified because of her stupid heartbreak. But that happens...I know I have been somewhere in the vicinity of this before, and I can remember having this ridiculous inner dialogue carry on in order to support the screwy reasoning.
Although Cal and Iris seemed to be this golden, unreal couple, I understood this to be through Lu's eyes and the awed, skewed interpretation of their relationship...especially in mistakenly comparing it to her own through the red, puffy eyes of heartbreak. Pete, decidedly very much an updated Millennial Duckie, is a little distant and removed from the story—inaccurately demonstrating his role in Lu's life—but this is due to Lu's spiraling behavior and inability to properly process her breakup just yet.
One thing I did wish had happened in this novel, that I kept hoping would come about—Lu realizing the different experiences in the lives of the people she knows. She gets Starla's story at one point later in the book, but I really wish it had occurred to her to ask her mom and dad about their story. Not necessarily with each other, they have been divorced for much of Lu's life, but something that would give Lu a little more perspective on the scope of life and love.
A tender and relatable young adult novel with hints of Sex and the City and a tiny dash of Pretty in Pink, all while still remaining fresh and all its own, Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak was really enjoyable and very recommendable.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book, nor the content of my review.
Lu Charles, recently dumped teenager and fresh off her first love, writes a column for online magazine Misnomer entitled Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heart. Through this publication and editorial effusions of her witty and acerbic teenage self, Lu has secured a scholarship for college and allowed her creative self to blossom. She knows this is what she wants to do with her life. It feels natural and deeply rooted within her. So when she stumbles smack into writer's block following her heartbreak, Lu is not only in unfamiliar waters, but in waters that remain nearly unnavigable to her.
Brief Chronicle felt familiar and established. Lu's boss at Misnomer even presented the column to Lu as a Sex and the City type—focused on Lu's musings and current experiences as a young voice in NYC. Lu also has a part time job at the movie theater, alongside her best friend, Pete, and they are both friends with this slightly older woman who owns a nearby bookstore. Starla, the bookseller, reminds me heavily of the character Iona, played by Annie Potts in Pretty in Pink. While Iona is a good deal more eccentric (it was 1986, after all), Starla's relationship with the two teens is very reflective of the connection shared in Pretty in Pink, without feeling carbon copied.
The real crux of the novel takes off when Lu overhears a breakup between another couple. Cal and Iris have decided to end their relationship for the exact reason Lu's ended with her now ex-boyfriend, Leo: preemptively severing the love now that high school has ended and college will soon begin. Only, upon meeting up with Iris later, Lu learns that Cal and Iris have actually changed their minds and will continue with their relationship up until the day Iris leaves for college on the West Coast.
Lu, trying to both garner some deeper insight into this seemingly perfect couple and to write about them for her column and its looming deadline (which keeps getting pushed out for her), follows them around the City, spending more and more time in this bubble created by her rose-colored vision of Cal and Iris, and less and less time with her family and best friend...not to mention less and less time actively getting her writing done.
The story is also interspersed with flashbacks cleverly delivered via her previous published articles. Through those we learn a little more about her relationship with Leo, and can more accurately track its course. Also, through the use of these old copies of her column, the reader can get a better understanding of who Lu is when she's not cloaked herself in failure, heartbreak, and obsession.
I found Lu to be incredibly relatable. She's quirky and cynical, and all her flaws are amplified because of her stupid heartbreak. But that happens...I know I have been somewhere in the vicinity of this before, and I can remember having this ridiculous inner dialogue carry on in order to support the screwy reasoning.
Although Cal and Iris seemed to be this golden, unreal couple, I understood this to be through Lu's eyes and the awed, skewed interpretation of their relationship...especially in mistakenly comparing it to her own through the red, puffy eyes of heartbreak. Pete, decidedly very much an updated Millennial Duckie, is a little distant and removed from the story—inaccurately demonstrating his role in Lu's life—but this is due to Lu's spiraling behavior and inability to properly process her breakup just yet.
One thing I did wish had happened in this novel, that I kept hoping would come about—Lu realizing the different experiences in the lives of the people she knows. She gets Starla's story at one point later in the book, but I really wish it had occurred to her to ask her mom and dad about their story. Not necessarily with each other, they have been divorced for much of Lu's life, but something that would give Lu a little more perspective on the scope of life and love.
A tender and relatable young adult novel with hints of Sex and the City and a tiny dash of Pretty in Pink, all while still remaining fresh and all its own, Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak was really enjoyable and very recommendable.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book, nor the content of my review.
September 4, 2019
I desperately wanted to love this one. In fact, I tried to force myself for about half of it to believe I did until I finally gave in and faced the truth. This book is just ok. The plot itself isn't bad, but the characters are all tropes and the main character unlikeable. Three stars only for the plot.
This unbiased review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.
This unbiased review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.
September 13, 2019
Meet Lu. A whiny, eighteen year old who thinks life is horrible because her boyfriend broke up with her. Ever since her boyfriend broke up with her, she can't write. This is a huge problem because she writes for a popular online blog that is connected to a scholarship for college. Without it, she can't go.
Her column is about love. Think Sex & The City vibe column. She has written about her love and about what she hears around her. She meets a cute young man on a park bench and ends up eavesdropping on his conversation with his girlfriend where they break up. This gives Lu the fantastic idea to write about couples that break up before they go off to college.
Honestly, this whole book is Lu going on and on and on AND ON about how she can't write and how if she could just write about Cal and his girlfriend she will be set! Does she start to fall for Cal? Come on now...what do you think? Seriously though, I could barely handle Lu and all of her pity me attitude. Even her best friend gets tired of her crap.
This is truly a young adult novel. I think if 18 year old me read this, I'd be like YAAAAASSSS GIRL YAAAAASSSSSS. But the 30-something me is like, get over it. Haha. Keeping in mind that she truly drove me bonkers with her whiny self, I am going to rate this book twice...because again, 18 year old me would have fawned over this and been like, ugh, why can't anyone feel for Lu.
4 stars for the 21 and under crowd. 3 stars for the over 21 crowd. Why? This book truly will resonate with the younger crowd who is going off to college. They will have all the feels for this read. I just...don't. Not that it wasn't a well written book, it was, it's just I wanted to duct tape Lu's mouth shut, hahaha. The overall message of the book was good and in the end, I am happy how everything turned out.
Her column is about love. Think Sex & The City vibe column. She has written about her love and about what she hears around her. She meets a cute young man on a park bench and ends up eavesdropping on his conversation with his girlfriend where they break up. This gives Lu the fantastic idea to write about couples that break up before they go off to college.
Honestly, this whole book is Lu going on and on and on AND ON about how she can't write and how if she could just write about Cal and his girlfriend she will be set! Does she start to fall for Cal? Come on now...what do you think? Seriously though, I could barely handle Lu and all of her pity me attitude. Even her best friend gets tired of her crap.
This is truly a young adult novel. I think if 18 year old me read this, I'd be like YAAAAASSSS GIRL YAAAAASSSSSS. But the 30-something me is like, get over it. Haha. Keeping in mind that she truly drove me bonkers with her whiny self, I am going to rate this book twice...because again, 18 year old me would have fawned over this and been like, ugh, why can't anyone feel for Lu.
4 stars for the 21 and under crowd. 3 stars for the over 21 crowd. Why? This book truly will resonate with the younger crowd who is going off to college. They will have all the feels for this read. I just...don't. Not that it wasn't a well written book, it was, it's just I wanted to duct tape Lu's mouth shut, hahaha. The overall message of the book was good and in the end, I am happy how everything turned out.
September 6, 2018
Lu is a columnist for the online magazine Misnomer. Lu is currently dealing with a breakup and writers block as a result. When Lu witnesses a couple trying to decide if they should break up before college or try long distance. Lu is inspired to write an article about relationships pre-college, now all she has to do in convince the couple to let her interview them.
Lu is dealing with her own heartbreak after her boyfriend Leo breaks up with her and seeing this couple, Iris and Cal, in the same situation inspires her to write an article about the couple. Lu has trouble getting Iris agree to the article and as time passes the more obsessed she gets. Lu can't see how much her own experience can add to the story. Lu becomes so stubborn that she fails to meet deadlines, lies to her editor, and makes excuses and blames everyone and everything for why she can't write the article. I liked that Lu has a passion for writing, but I didn't like that she couldn't accept responsibility for her mistakes. Lu would lose sight of those around her to get the article she wanted.
Lu has a great friend in Pete and he was there to help her and offer support and advice. Pete would try to make Lu see that her own experience would make a better article. Lu would continually disregard his advice and blow him off all summer. He didn't deserve to be treated that way and I was glad to see Pete put Lu in her place.
I didn't hate Lu, but there were many times she annoyed me. Lu had a tendency to not see beyond her needs and would not listen to reason.. Lu does grow as a character and owns up to her mistakes which I was glad to see.
This was a quick read that I mostly enjoyed. A book about first loves, heartbreak, and moving on.
I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Lu is dealing with her own heartbreak after her boyfriend Leo breaks up with her and seeing this couple, Iris and Cal, in the same situation inspires her to write an article about the couple. Lu has trouble getting Iris agree to the article and as time passes the more obsessed she gets. Lu can't see how much her own experience can add to the story. Lu becomes so stubborn that she fails to meet deadlines, lies to her editor, and makes excuses and blames everyone and everything for why she can't write the article. I liked that Lu has a passion for writing, but I didn't like that she couldn't accept responsibility for her mistakes. Lu would lose sight of those around her to get the article she wanted.
Lu has a great friend in Pete and he was there to help her and offer support and advice. Pete would try to make Lu see that her own experience would make a better article. Lu would continually disregard his advice and blow him off all summer. He didn't deserve to be treated that way and I was glad to see Pete put Lu in her place.
I didn't hate Lu, but there were many times she annoyed me. Lu had a tendency to not see beyond her needs and would not listen to reason.. Lu does grow as a character and owns up to her mistakes which I was glad to see.
This was a quick read that I mostly enjoyed. A book about first loves, heartbreak, and moving on.
I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
January 22, 2019
Huge thanks to Netgalley for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I feel like I was being set up to not enjoy this book since the beginning when I thought this books was going in a different direction than it was. I was really into the book for the first chapter, our main character Lu is at the park and she meets this boy Cal, and I loved the chemistry between them. Then it turned out he was half of the relationship that Lu was going to document over the summer while they were spending their last days together before breaking up because of college. I was setting myself up for Cal to be the love interest for Lu and than had to change gears, because Cal and his girlfriend Iris were VERY much in love, and I am not here to rout for Lu to steal Cal away from her. I don't think that that was a bad way for the book to go, because there is a lot that I liked about the ending that wouldn't have happened had the story not been set up like this, but when I am prepared for something that I think I am going to like and then turn out not to get it but something completely different I tend to not enjoy it.
The other thing that made me not enjoy this book as much was just how frustrated I was getting at Lu throughout this entire book. Apparently I have mom instincts somewhere deep in me, because they for sure were coming out in me and I wanted to just jump into this book and YELL at Lu so. many. times. Again, we would not have gotten a good arc at the end if it were not for that, but sometimes there is only so much I can take before I want to put a book down.
Speaking of the ending, I both loved things about it but hated things about it too. Not going to go into crazy amount of details because it would spoil the book, but there were diffidently things said about love and heartbreak in general that I really liked. That being said, the thing that made me most excited during the ENTIRE BOOK was the last two paragraphs and what they could have led to BUT THE BOOK ENDS AND WE DON'T SEE ANY OF IT. Like, ok, I get it, the point of this story is not for what happens after that, but it had me all excited and I wanted to read that more than I wanted to read about Lu following Cal and Iris around like a weird third wheel and me feeling awkward uncomfortable during all of that even though I was just a reader.
I feel like I was being set up to not enjoy this book since the beginning when I thought this books was going in a different direction than it was. I was really into the book for the first chapter, our main character Lu is at the park and she meets this boy Cal, and I loved the chemistry between them. Then it turned out he was half of the relationship that Lu was going to document over the summer while they were spending their last days together before breaking up because of college. I was setting myself up for Cal to be the love interest for Lu and than had to change gears, because Cal and his girlfriend Iris were VERY much in love, and I am not here to rout for Lu to steal Cal away from her. I don't think that that was a bad way for the book to go, because there is a lot that I liked about the ending that wouldn't have happened had the story not been set up like this, but when I am prepared for something that I think I am going to like and then turn out not to get it but something completely different I tend to not enjoy it.
The other thing that made me not enjoy this book as much was just how frustrated I was getting at Lu throughout this entire book. Apparently I have mom instincts somewhere deep in me, because they for sure were coming out in me and I wanted to just jump into this book and YELL at Lu so. many. times. Again, we would not have gotten a good arc at the end if it were not for that, but sometimes there is only so much I can take before I want to put a book down.
Speaking of the ending, I both loved things about it but hated things about it too. Not going to go into crazy amount of details because it would spoil the book, but there were diffidently things said about love and heartbreak in general that I really liked. That being said, the thing that made me most excited during the ENTIRE BOOK was the last two paragraphs and what they could have led to BUT THE BOOK ENDS AND WE DON'T SEE ANY OF IT. Like, ok, I get it, the point of this story is not for what happens after that, but it had me all excited and I wanted to read that more than I wanted to read about Lu following Cal and Iris around like a weird third wheel and me feeling awkward uncomfortable during all of that even though I was just a reader.
October 5, 2018
**I recvd this book in exchange for my honest review from netgalley**
I would have liked this book a lot more if I liked the main character. She ruined it for me. We've all had to write something that we weren't prepared to, being a report for school, or a review for a book, or a column in her case. JUST freaking write something! She was throwing away her future and scholarships for what?? nothing is worth that, though I'm sure it happens in real life, and maybe it makes her more relatable for not being perfect, but I'm not here for that. I don't feel the magic of Cal and his g/f who's name I already forgot either, I didn't see what was so special, and to throw away the opportunity that she had. The snippets of writing she did write didn't seem amazing to have all the 2nd and 3rd chances she had.
I hated how she treated Pete, she didn't deserve him at all. I don't have much to say about it other than that, and I'm still cross with her for her treatment of him, and I never fully felt the genuineness of her apology. And her treatment of Pete is what made me really dislike her.
I had a hard time with this book only because of the main character. If she were more likeable I would have really liked and enjoyed the book. If the author was going for emotion, any emotion at all, the author succeeded with the anger emotion they brought up in me. I liked the one liners, I liked the style of writing. I liked the message of teenage love being fleeting in some cases, lasting in other rare situations. I liked that the heartbreak message of right around the corner there is someone that is there for you to like/love/lust after, and all will be okay. Heartbreak isn't forever.
I would have liked this book a lot more if I liked the main character. She ruined it for me. We've all had to write something that we weren't prepared to, being a report for school, or a review for a book, or a column in her case. JUST freaking write something! She was throwing away her future and scholarships for what?? nothing is worth that, though I'm sure it happens in real life, and maybe it makes her more relatable for not being perfect, but I'm not here for that. I don't feel the magic of Cal and his g/f who's name I already forgot either, I didn't see what was so special, and to throw away the opportunity that she had. The snippets of writing she did write didn't seem amazing to have all the 2nd and 3rd chances she had.
I hated how she treated Pete, she didn't deserve him at all. I don't have much to say about it other than that, and I'm still cross with her for her treatment of him, and I never fully felt the genuineness of her apology. And her treatment of Pete is what made me really dislike her.
I had a hard time with this book only because of the main character. If she were more likeable I would have really liked and enjoyed the book. If the author was going for emotion, any emotion at all, the author succeeded with the anger emotion they brought up in me. I liked the one liners, I liked the style of writing. I liked the message of teenage love being fleeting in some cases, lasting in other rare situations. I liked that the heartbreak message of right around the corner there is someone that is there for you to like/love/lust after, and all will be okay. Heartbreak isn't forever.
December 4, 2018
*3.5 stars*
Lu writes a column for a hot online teen magazine. The column is kind of a big deal - Lu just graduated from high school, and her scholarship to NYU is contingent on her being a staff member of the magazine. But Lu has been recently dumped, and she can't stop thinking about a couple she met by happenstance at the park ... a couple she wants to write a column about, but they keep saying no.
While I read this, I kept thinking about Donna Tartt's The Secret History. They are NOTHING alike (for one thing, Tartt's book is not a YA), other than the premise of someone falling in love with a group of people, rather than one person. While the topic is skirted here, I think that Lu does fall in love with both Cal and Iris, and the "perfect" romance they share.
Lu was kind of a hard character to love. I write, and I know all about writer's block (believe me!), but sometimes I wanted to yell at her, or at least get her mom more in the know so she could yell at Lu. We make dumb decisions, all of us do, but Lu doesn't seem to come to the realization of all the dumb decisions she's making, even at the end of the book. So yes, that was frustrating.
I also wanted more for Pete. Pete is pretty much Lu's rug - she stomps all over him, ignores him, and he lets her. Poor Pete!! And who wants to be called a wise old uncle when they're 18 years old?
Okay, so maybe this novel wasn't for me. It was well-written, and I certainly wanted everything to end up well for Lu at the end. But YA contemporary romance isn't my cup of tea.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.
Lu writes a column for a hot online teen magazine. The column is kind of a big deal - Lu just graduated from high school, and her scholarship to NYU is contingent on her being a staff member of the magazine. But Lu has been recently dumped, and she can't stop thinking about a couple she met by happenstance at the park ... a couple she wants to write a column about, but they keep saying no.
While I read this, I kept thinking about Donna Tartt's The Secret History. They are NOTHING alike (for one thing, Tartt's book is not a YA), other than the premise of someone falling in love with a group of people, rather than one person. While the topic is skirted here, I think that Lu does fall in love with both Cal and Iris, and the "perfect" romance they share.
Lu was kind of a hard character to love. I write, and I know all about writer's block (believe me!), but sometimes I wanted to yell at her, or at least get her mom more in the know so she could yell at Lu. We make dumb decisions, all of us do, but Lu doesn't seem to come to the realization of all the dumb decisions she's making, even at the end of the book. So yes, that was frustrating.
I also wanted more for Pete. Pete is pretty much Lu's rug - she stomps all over him, ignores him, and he lets her. Poor Pete!! And who wants to be called a wise old uncle when they're 18 years old?
Okay, so maybe this novel wasn't for me. It was well-written, and I certainly wanted everything to end up well for Lu at the end. But YA contemporary romance isn't my cup of tea.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.
October 17, 2018
This is a really enjoyable book, and quite unexpected, given the publisher is Harlequin Teen. I can't say much more without spoilers, but suffice it to say that while it hits a lot of YA buttons it has some unique aspects going for it. I did feel that one of the central conflicts (is Lu going to meet her writing deadline, or not) was rather too unrealistically drawn out, But Lu herself and her friends and family are all sympathetic characters, and nothing is resolved in quite the way that you would expect, which ultimately is a good thing.
I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
August 21, 2024
Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read early for an honest review.
Like other reviewers, I couldn't really connect with this story and its characters.
I'm not the target audience (I'm in my 30s) so I couldn't identify with the angst of 'should we stay together or break up before college?' And the main character's previous breakup. I found her rather annoying and pushy. I understand writer's block, but she shouldn't be badgering people into telling her about their lives in order to write her column, especially when she had other interviewees she could draw from.
Other, younger readers might find a cathartic experience in this book, but I need to move on.
Like other reviewers, I couldn't really connect with this story and its characters.
I'm not the target audience (I'm in my 30s) so I couldn't identify with the angst of 'should we stay together or break up before college?' And the main character's previous breakup. I found her rather annoying and pushy. I understand writer's block, but she shouldn't be badgering people into telling her about their lives in order to write her column, especially when she had other interviewees she could draw from.
Other, younger readers might find a cathartic experience in this book, but I need to move on.
April 30, 2019
Rep: Filipino main character, POC secondary characters, aroace secondary character
An exploration of romantic love and the longevity of relationships from the point of view of a young adult, this book would have been much more enjoyable if not for the length. Lu, freshly dumped, is suffering from writer's block and is unable to write anything for her love and relationships column, which is also her ticket to getting a scholarship to college. She is understandably stressed and when she happens upon Cal's and Iris' breakup, she suddenly finds inspiration for what her next article should be, and hopes analyzing their decision to have a timed breakup will help her understand her own heartbreak.
Lu's main problem is, she can't bring herself to write anything and her procrastination lasts for like 300+ pages, which can be very frustrating for a reader, even if it is relatable from the point of view of a master procrastinator. I think a part of me gritting my teeth through some parts was because I was suddenly having flashbacks to all the times I had backed myself into a corner because I just couldn't finish a task. Anyway, surprisingly for me, the romance was the highlight of the book; I should also make clear which romance I am talking about. It is Lu falling in love with the ideal that Cal and Iris represent to her.
She is pretty much in love with their love, and she vacillates between figuring out her own relationship with Leo and basking in the comfort she finds with them.
The chemistry between the three of them is amazing, and she fits in with them both individually and as a trio. But as the days go along and she gets in deeper, she is ignoring everything else in life for that sole obsession. Her friendship with Pete gets sidelined, her mother worries about her, her editor is giving her second and third chances she isn't taking, but it finally takes her talking to a third-party someone about it that she realizes she wasn't approaching the situation with the right mindset. The message is optimistic in tone, but I just wish it didn't take that long to arrive at it. The start and the middle were nice to read, with how Lu was enjoying her time getting to know them, but by the last quarter, it gets tiresome waiting for a resolution. It doesn't help that it does go the love triangle route, too. Ultimately, these were the things that had me dropping the rating from an initial strong 4.
Overall: a sweet and optimistic book about love, but it could have done with a shorter length.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Inkyard Press, via Edelweiss.
An exploration of romantic love and the longevity of relationships from the point of view of a young adult, this book would have been much more enjoyable if not for the length. Lu, freshly dumped, is suffering from writer's block and is unable to write anything for her love and relationships column, which is also her ticket to getting a scholarship to college. She is understandably stressed and when she happens upon Cal's and Iris' breakup, she suddenly finds inspiration for what her next article should be, and hopes analyzing their decision to have a timed breakup will help her understand her own heartbreak.
Lu's main problem is, she can't bring herself to write anything and her procrastination lasts for like 300+ pages, which can be very frustrating for a reader, even if it is relatable from the point of view of a master procrastinator. I think a part of me gritting my teeth through some parts was because I was suddenly having flashbacks to all the times I had backed myself into a corner because I just couldn't finish a task. Anyway, surprisingly for me, the romance was the highlight of the book; I should also make clear which romance I am talking about. It is Lu falling in love with the ideal that Cal and Iris represent to her.
She is pretty much in love with their love, and she vacillates between figuring out her own relationship with Leo and basking in the comfort she finds with them.
The chemistry between the three of them is amazing, and she fits in with them both individually and as a trio. But as the days go along and she gets in deeper, she is ignoring everything else in life for that sole obsession. Her friendship with Pete gets sidelined, her mother worries about her, her editor is giving her second and third chances she isn't taking, but it finally takes her talking to a third-party someone about it that she realizes she wasn't approaching the situation with the right mindset. The message is optimistic in tone, but I just wish it didn't take that long to arrive at it. The start and the middle were nice to read, with how Lu was enjoying her time getting to know them, but by the last quarter, it gets tiresome waiting for a resolution. It doesn't help that it does go the love triangle route, too. Ultimately, these were the things that had me dropping the rating from an initial strong 4.
Overall: a sweet and optimistic book about love, but it could have done with a shorter length.
"What a realization, to know that you are in love with someone. Even if it was just a crush, even if it was ill-advised, even if it was confusing. It was still some degree of being in love."
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Inkyard Press, via Edelweiss.
April 30, 2019
3.5 rounded up!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak in exchange for an honest review! All quotes are taken from the review copy & may not match with the finished edition.
According to my spreadsheet ~stats~, I read mostly YA Contemporary. Who knew? & apparently, after reading so many YA Contemporaries, ya girl caught onto the formula of these novels. While reading Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak — I found myself quickly guessing where the conflict would arise, who’s gonna be upset with who & who will fall in love. However, even with the predictability, there was something special about Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak.
In Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak, we get an outsider’s perspective of a couple in love. Lu, a love columnist for Misnomer, is on a mission — to interview couples during the summer before they go their separate ways for college; will they try long-distance or call it quits before the going gets rough? Lu finds herself obsessed with storybook-esque couple Iris & Cal, and is determined to interview them & hopefully break out of her writer’s block.
While hanging out with this couple, Lu finds herself dealing with her own heartbreak. You see, Lu & her boyfriend broke up due to their own after high-school plans; this break-up leading her to pick up this project in the first place. Adi Alsaid writes a heartbreak that’s so relatable to anyone who’s no longer with their first love (or any love, for that matter).
& one of my favorite concepts in Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak is this development of Lu’s character as she battles & grows from her own heartbreak. Love can end. It’s a matter of life & it’s something we all most likely will suffer from at some point — unless somehow you sold your soul to the devil & he offered to give you that one love that lasts a lifetime.
Another portion of this read that I enjoyed was her blossoming friendship with this couple, Iris & Cal. Lu learns a lot from her new friends when it comes to love & heartbreak. Throughout the book, Lu spends quality time with Iris & Cal, both together & separately. I truly enjoyed this friendship, however, her obsession with hanging out with them does cause issues in other aspects of her life. I don’t think Lu is the best person when it comes to it; but, again, ~character development~.
I also loved the setting of Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak. Being a writer in New York City used to be the dream for me. Unfortunately, as I got older I started to fear muggings & violence & much prefer the calmness outside of a big city. I loved living vicariously through Lu!
Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak is a fast & fun read. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA Contemporary!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak in exchange for an honest review! All quotes are taken from the review copy & may not match with the finished edition.
Love that ends was still love.
According to my spreadsheet ~stats~, I read mostly YA Contemporary. Who knew? & apparently, after reading so many YA Contemporaries, ya girl caught onto the formula of these novels. While reading Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak — I found myself quickly guessing where the conflict would arise, who’s gonna be upset with who & who will fall in love. However, even with the predictability, there was something special about Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak.
In Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak, we get an outsider’s perspective of a couple in love. Lu, a love columnist for Misnomer, is on a mission — to interview couples during the summer before they go their separate ways for college; will they try long-distance or call it quits before the going gets rough? Lu finds herself obsessed with storybook-esque couple Iris & Cal, and is determined to interview them & hopefully break out of her writer’s block.
While hanging out with this couple, Lu finds herself dealing with her own heartbreak. You see, Lu & her boyfriend broke up due to their own after high-school plans; this break-up leading her to pick up this project in the first place. Adi Alsaid writes a heartbreak that’s so relatable to anyone who’s no longer with their first love (or any love, for that matter).
& one of my favorite concepts in Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak is this development of Lu’s character as she battles & grows from her own heartbreak. Love can end. It’s a matter of life & it’s something we all most likely will suffer from at some point — unless somehow you sold your soul to the devil & he offered to give you that one love that lasts a lifetime.
We’re not one of those couples that assumes first love is last love.
Another portion of this read that I enjoyed was her blossoming friendship with this couple, Iris & Cal. Lu learns a lot from her new friends when it comes to love & heartbreak. Throughout the book, Lu spends quality time with Iris & Cal, both together & separately. I truly enjoyed this friendship, however, her obsession with hanging out with them does cause issues in other aspects of her life. I don’t think Lu is the best person when it comes to it; but, again, ~character development~.
I also loved the setting of Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak. Being a writer in New York City used to be the dream for me. Unfortunately, as I got older I started to fear muggings & violence & much prefer the calmness outside of a big city. I loved living vicariously through Lu!
Brief Chronicles of Another Stupid Heartbreak is a fast & fun read. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA Contemporary!
April 22, 2019
Oh to be young again. Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak was the kind of book that made me remember what it was like to be young and also glad that I am not suffering in those young adolescent situations.
Author Adi Alsaid brings to life a young girl, Lu, on the verge of starting college. When we meet Lu, she's trying to win back her boyfriend Leo, who has broken up with her because he will be leaving for college. Still feeling like they belong together she calls him out to meet and talk. Unfortunately Leo stands her up. Fortunately though she meets Cal, though it's a brief yet refreshing interaction.
Lu is also a writer. She has a column for an online teen magazine, which is helping provide her scholarship to NYU. But right now she's got writer's block. With a deadline looming Lu overhears a breakup similar to hers and finds out it's Cal and his girlfriend (ex?), Iris. Lu finagles her way into their lives as she makes them her muse and ticket to making sure she keeps her scholarship.
Over the course of the book we meet a few great characters, including Pete, her best friend and her family. I love seeing an atypical Filipino family. And because I'm also Filipino it's great to see some representation in books. I love her mom's love for Italian food and that her ethnicity doesn't really come into play here. Besides when she talks about her family you don't feel like it's even part of the book, which I enjoyed.
Alsaid did a great job of joining together the angst of young love and heartbreak and the precipice that many young people on the verge of adulthood are learning to balance. I enjoyed the way Alsaid painted New York City. I love that this wasn't some crazy love story but a realistic and sometimes not, look at what happens when young couples reach that point in their relationship where you need to make the decision about whether to hold on or let go. There was definitely places and times when I wanted a bit more but overall I think that these characters were all likeable and somewhat relatable.
It's not some sweeping romance or some deep thinking novel but a great summer read.
Author Adi Alsaid brings to life a young girl, Lu, on the verge of starting college. When we meet Lu, she's trying to win back her boyfriend Leo, who has broken up with her because he will be leaving for college. Still feeling like they belong together she calls him out to meet and talk. Unfortunately Leo stands her up. Fortunately though she meets Cal, though it's a brief yet refreshing interaction.
Lu is also a writer. She has a column for an online teen magazine, which is helping provide her scholarship to NYU. But right now she's got writer's block. With a deadline looming Lu overhears a breakup similar to hers and finds out it's Cal and his girlfriend (ex?), Iris. Lu finagles her way into their lives as she makes them her muse and ticket to making sure she keeps her scholarship.
Over the course of the book we meet a few great characters, including Pete, her best friend and her family. I love seeing an atypical Filipino family. And because I'm also Filipino it's great to see some representation in books. I love her mom's love for Italian food and that her ethnicity doesn't really come into play here. Besides when she talks about her family you don't feel like it's even part of the book, which I enjoyed.
Alsaid did a great job of joining together the angst of young love and heartbreak and the precipice that many young people on the verge of adulthood are learning to balance. I enjoyed the way Alsaid painted New York City. I love that this wasn't some crazy love story but a realistic and sometimes not, look at what happens when young couples reach that point in their relationship where you need to make the decision about whether to hold on or let go. There was definitely places and times when I wanted a bit more but overall I think that these characters were all likeable and somewhat relatable.
It's not some sweeping romance or some deep thinking novel but a great summer read.
March 16, 2020
Ok, y’all, I must confess my sins: I watched Love is Blind on Netflix. If you know me, you know this isn’t my typical show. Nevertheless, I watched it, and perhaps that is the reason I did not read the books I was planning to read over spring break and instead decided to read Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak by Adi Alsaid since I had love on the brain. This story follows a journalist, Lu, whose boyfriend recently dumped her in anticipation of them moving away for college. Facing writer’s block and an impending deadline, she attaches herself to a couple who seem to be in her same situation, albeit a little differently. The story was occasionally interrupted by articles Lu had written in the past which I really enjoyed. It always fit into the plot and gave some more insight into how she viewed love and relationships.
This was a good, cute semi-romance novel. It focused on love and relationships from a different perspective and didn’t have the same cliches that seem to plague most romantic stories.
One thing I would have liked to see is an elaboration on some parts of Lu’s relationship. I like to know everything, so this perhaps stems from this but for example (Minor Spoiler Warning Ahead!) it was briefly mentioned that Lu’a ex loved her articles and always complimented them, but one day just stopped. I wanted to know why he stopped, and I read the articles for something that may have made him uncomfortable but found nothing. I just want closure on little details like that. (Spoiler Warning Over!)
Book warnings: Nothing major but prepare for second-hand embarrassment! Lu is a relatable character but does some things that made me physically cringe.
Themes: Love (duh), friendship, growing up, letting go and moving on
Recommended for: Fans of romance, the summer before college, post breakups
Rating: 7/10 I can definitely see myself giving this a reread (rare for romance). Great no cliche love story that focuses on more than a teenager falling in love.
This was a good, cute semi-romance novel. It focused on love and relationships from a different perspective and didn’t have the same cliches that seem to plague most romantic stories.
One thing I would have liked to see is an elaboration on some parts of Lu’s relationship. I like to know everything, so this perhaps stems from this but for example (Minor Spoiler Warning Ahead!) it was briefly mentioned that Lu’a ex loved her articles and always complimented them, but one day just stopped. I wanted to know why he stopped, and I read the articles for something that may have made him uncomfortable but found nothing. I just want closure on little details like that. (Spoiler Warning Over!)
Book warnings: Nothing major but prepare for second-hand embarrassment! Lu is a relatable character but does some things that made me physically cringe.
Themes: Love (duh), friendship, growing up, letting go and moving on
Recommended for: Fans of romance, the summer before college, post breakups
Rating: 7/10 I can definitely see myself giving this a reread (rare for romance). Great no cliche love story that focuses on more than a teenager falling in love.
March 30, 2021
Last night, as I was scrolling through the endless downward hole that is social media, I somehow found myself at the profile of my old tumblr. It was one that I had made when I was in second year of high school - a mere five years ago. Like any teenager with a tumblr fueled by adolescent angst, it was full of quirky quotes, poetry excerpts that complained about how "complicated" love is, movie stills with fake subtitles that make your favorite pop punk band a run for their money. How I miss those glory days.
But mostly though, I remembered my best friend, I stalked her profile and came across a post, it was her giving me this book exactly one year and two months ago. Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak. It's ironic, for reasons I'd rather not dwell on. I was feeling pretty adventurous and wanted to actually read something after so many half-assed failed attempts.
My God, I missed reading so much.
Lu has Filipino heritage, she works at a movie house, and spends her day at parks watching couples wondering how deeply complex their lives are. I've heard other people say about how art has made them feel vulnerable, or how poetry seems to perfectly describe who they are as a person, and I surprisingly have never understood that sentiment, until I revisited this book, and I felt truly naked.
Reading Lu go through great lengths, even to the point of being borderline narcissistic, just to make sense of what she's going through - wink, wink, teenage heartbreak - it feels like Alsaid has written a biography of me. I often talk to my friends about how fast we're growing up, but reading this book and relating to how harsh teenage romance can be, it tugs a special string in my heart. It's liberating and equally embarrassing to read a story and have so much you can relate to but still have so much to long for. People give YA novels a lot of flak, but man, some of them hold a soft spot in my heart.
But mostly though, I remembered my best friend, I stalked her profile and came across a post, it was her giving me this book exactly one year and two months ago. Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak. It's ironic, for reasons I'd rather not dwell on. I was feeling pretty adventurous and wanted to actually read something after so many half-assed failed attempts.
My God, I missed reading so much.
Lu has Filipino heritage, she works at a movie house, and spends her day at parks watching couples wondering how deeply complex their lives are. I've heard other people say about how art has made them feel vulnerable, or how poetry seems to perfectly describe who they are as a person, and I surprisingly have never understood that sentiment, until I revisited this book, and I felt truly naked.
Reading Lu go through great lengths, even to the point of being borderline narcissistic, just to make sense of what she's going through - wink, wink, teenage heartbreak - it feels like Alsaid has written a biography of me. I often talk to my friends about how fast we're growing up, but reading this book and relating to how harsh teenage romance can be, it tugs a special string in my heart. It's liberating and equally embarrassing to read a story and have so much you can relate to but still have so much to long for. People give YA novels a lot of flak, but man, some of them hold a soft spot in my heart.
did-not-like-or-finish
March 20, 2019I won this in a Goodreads giveaway, and I really appreciate the publisher sending it out as an ARC. Unfortunately, after 100 pages, I wasn't able to keep going and I decided to DNF the book. I did not provide a rating because I don't think it's fair to rate books that I DNF.
I kept looking for any angle of this story that would hook me in, but it just never arrived. The main character's obsession with her ex-boyfriend did not feel genuine in the least. The small snippets in which she shared the good things about him just didn't feel like a valid basis for why she was so overly obsessed with getting him back. Listen, I can get down with a good obsession/fixation/stalking book, but this was skirting some fine line that just didn't seem to take a stand either way. THEN she seemed to get equally obsessed with interviewing a particular couple about their relationship, and I was just SO very bored with the story line.
Overall, I just didn't feel like there were any characters I could connect with, and I didn't feel like any of them really "came alive". They just felt very flat and one-dimensional. Therefore, this one just wasn't for me.
I kept looking for any angle of this story that would hook me in, but it just never arrived. The main character's obsession with her ex-boyfriend did not feel genuine in the least. The small snippets in which she shared the good things about him just didn't feel like a valid basis for why she was so overly obsessed with getting him back. Listen, I can get down with a good obsession/fixation/stalking book, but this was skirting some fine line that just didn't seem to take a stand either way. THEN she seemed to get equally obsessed with interviewing a particular couple about their relationship, and I was just SO very bored with the story line.
Overall, I just didn't feel like there were any characters I could connect with, and I didn't feel like any of them really "came alive". They just felt very flat and one-dimensional. Therefore, this one just wasn't for me.
December 17, 2020
The first 200 pages of this book:
The last 120 pages of this book: I'll take plots that could be completely resolved by polyamory for $400, Alex.
After really enjoying North of Happy, I really wanted to love this, but I very much didn't. It was just so obvious that everything was going to go badly in entirely preventable ways. It was engaging enough that I didn't DNF it, but that's about all I can say for it. There are multiple books that I've enjoyed much more that explore the idea of "just because love ended doesn't mean it wasn't love."
CW: injury, underage alcohol use
I recieved an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lu: I'm going to do this thing.
Pete: That's a bad idea, here's why, and you're going to regret it later.
Lu: I'm still going to do this thing.
The last 120 pages of this book: I'll take plots that could be completely resolved by polyamory for $400, Alex.
After really enjoying North of Happy, I really wanted to love this, but I very much didn't. It was just so obvious that everything was going to go badly in entirely preventable ways. It was engaging enough that I didn't DNF it, but that's about all I can say for it. There are multiple books that I've enjoyed much more that explore the idea of "just because love ended doesn't mean it wasn't love."
CW: injury, underage alcohol use
I recieved an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 21, 2020
I tried. I gave this book 110 pages, and I just really don't like anything about it. I am EXTREMELY uncomfortable with the way Lu obsesses over Iris and Cal before she even really knows them, and the way Lu kept asking Iris if she could write about their relationship after Iris told her no (multiple times) ratcheted up my discomfort even more. I also think Lu's voice was... off somehow. I don't know. This book didn't feel very well-formed to me, and listening to Lu's inner monologue obsessing about this couple she barely knew and drawing comparisons to her own breakup was nearly torturous. It is very possible there are readers who this book is for, but I am not one of them.
I'm not a big fan of DNF-ing, but I'm under a time crunch here, and I'm REALLY not enjoying myself so I'm calling it. Read 110 pages and the final chapter.
I'm not a big fan of DNF-ing, but I'm under a time crunch here, and I'm REALLY not enjoying myself so I'm calling it. Read 110 pages and the final chapter.
August 13, 2025
1,25/5 ⭐️
Główna bohaterka przez całą książkę podejmowała tak dziwne wybory, że nie do końca wiem, jaki był cel tej fabuły do tej pory. Brak większej fabuły i przesłania – sięgnęłam po to głównie przez motyw dziennikarski, który okazał się opisem kryzysu twórczego przeplatanego wątkami opartymi głównie na kłamstwie i egoizmie. Kreacja postaci baaardzo kiepska, u większości głównych bohaterów trudno wskazać chociaż jedną cechę charakteru.
Zmęczyłam to do końca chyba tylko przez fakt, że czytałam to na wakacjach. Nie polecam, jedna z gorszych młodzieżówek, z jakimi miałam okazję się zetknąć [książki z nadmorskich namiotów, wybierane głównie po opisie, błagam zacznijcie okazywać się dla mnie łaskawsze!!].
Główna bohaterka przez całą książkę podejmowała tak dziwne wybory, że nie do końca wiem, jaki był cel tej fabuły do tej pory. Brak większej fabuły i przesłania – sięgnęłam po to głównie przez motyw dziennikarski, który okazał się opisem kryzysu twórczego przeplatanego wątkami opartymi głównie na kłamstwie i egoizmie. Kreacja postaci baaardzo kiepska, u większości głównych bohaterów trudno wskazać chociaż jedną cechę charakteru.
Zmęczyłam to do końca chyba tylko przez fakt, że czytałam to na wakacjach. Nie polecam, jedna z gorszych młodzieżówek, z jakimi miałam okazję się zetknąć [książki z nadmorskich namiotów, wybierane głównie po opisie, błagam zacznijcie okazywać się dla mnie łaskawsze!!].
March 31, 2019
I wasn't able to get into this book within the first couple pages. I didn't really like the characters and didn't feel the need to read on further to find out what happens. The cover is very pretty but I didn't like how long the title of the book was nor the name. I suggest this book for a younger audience than older teens. The book might get better but I rather spend my time reading books in enjoying. This one however I was not.
September 13, 2021
this was incredibly boring all she did was mope about how jealous she was of others relationships and then mope and sulk some more for about 3/4ths of the book because of her ex…. who she then rejected …. this was painfully slow as well i had to skim read the book in order to reach a pace with it so definitely kinda disappointing considering i usually love this author’s books
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