Review | 'Why We Broke Up'

Why We Broke Up
Daniel Handler
354 pg., U.S. hardcover
Little, Brown
4 stars | B+



From Goodreads:

I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.

Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.


I was really pumped to read this book, but was ultimately a bit disappointed. Not entirely disappointed to the point that I would give this book a negative review, but my expectations just fell short, especially considering this book was written by the man who created A Series of Unfortunate Events, which was my favorite book series when I was about 7, up until I was 9 or 10. The writing from Handler in this book wasn't as quirky as it was in the aforementioned series, which was kind of a let-down when I picked this book up. I was really looking forward to revisiting his satirically dark writing style, but I feel like that wasn't present that much in this novel.
If you've read my reviews before, you'd know that what I look for most in any book is exceedingly tremendous characterization, and that also fell flat in this book. I was so confused and misguided by the character Min, as well as the character the title is referring to, Ed. At the beginning, I liked Min and hated Ed, but by the end of the book, I actually liked Ed and hated Min. I don't understand why, if all these "terrible" things occurred in their relationship, why did Min let it last as long as it did? I felt like, if she was going to end up writing this big long thing to Ed, why not just stop the relationship when it was going wrong? I think Ed started off as a bad guy, but he really became more likable, and more of a well-rounded character, whereas Min just became misleading, flat, and annoying. She was always bitching and bitching about what Ed was doing wrong, but never taking action. She was a very weak character, which turned me off from her. I actually didn't think a lot of the things Ed did were that big of a deal, and I was just completely disturbed by Min's overreacting to his actions. I thought, and I suppose this was kind of a spoiler, that the torn 'sensitive' condom illustration at the end of the book was implying that Ed had knocked Min up, and I think that would have merited Min's breaking up with Ed, but it is never revealed if that ever occurred, so the whole sex thing was just completely pointless to me. Min complains about it beforehand, but it isn't even reflected on after it occurs.
So I've spent this entire review bashing on this book, and I've given a 4-star rating, haven't I? I suppose I'm giving it that high of a rating because, although Handler's writing was far removed from my expectations, it was still pretty top-notch writing, and the pacing was quick (not always a good thing in this book, though), and I did like the supporting characters and how they took away from Min's pain-in-the-ass-ness. There was nothing physically wrong with this book, but some internal things that really needed to be altered. 
If you like Daniel Handler no matter what, then read this book. If you like interesting illustrations that correlate to the plot (like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children), then read this book. If you like fast-pacing, witty writing, then read this book. But if you like fully-developed characters (like me), a striking and hard-hitting plot, and familiarity, then avoid this one.