The Catastrophic History of You and Me By Jess Rothenberg Review

SUMMARY

Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever. 

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally. 

But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after. 

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

REVIEW

I didn’t at all expect to love it as much as I did! The storyline is excellent. It starts out seemingly predictable, but ends up taking a lot of unexpected turns. And while it may seem like the theme of this book is heartbreak, it’s really not. It’s about life...the good, the ugly and everything in between. Sure, Brie loses her boyfriend, but she learns how to truly love not just others, but also herself and comes to understand what it really means to be a family. Brie's death is one of those freak accidents we just don't see coming. Brie is a young girl, barely having lived her rather short life, she's a person, one we become close to over a gradual, delicious period of time, which makes her death and the loss her family feels all the more insidious, unfair, and cruel. Patrick, the guy who helps Brie move through her five stages of grief, is a bit of an enigma. He can be so cute and funny at times, but there were times that he would show what emotions he was hiding and I just wanted to understand him. This is as much his story as it is Brie’s. The twist that connected him and Brie shocked me to the core, and I was not at all expecting it. People die for love every day, so it's only right that when we die we, like Brie, find love as well. The Catastrophic History of You and Me is a gorgeous debut that is sure to please. P.S. LOVED THE COVER!!! Fav Quotes - “My heart didn't fail, someone failed my heart.”

“Love is no game. People cut their ears off over this stuff. People jump off the Eiffel Tower and sell all their possessions and move to Alaska to live with the grizzly bears, and then they get eaten and nobody hears them when they scream for help. That’s right. Falling in love is pretty much the same thing as being eaten alive by a grizzly bear.” 

“The problem is, there is absolutely nothing "fun" about falling in love. Nope. Mostly it just makes you feel sick and crazy and anxious and nervous that it's going to end miserably and ruin your whole life. And guess what: Then it does.”

“News flash, Bozo. Don't ever tell a girl to relax. It only makes us madder.”