The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

Published: Feb 2012

Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group

Pages: 400

Copy Provided by: Borrowed

Summary: Goodreads

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:

LOVED. THIS. BOOK.  I was absolutely blown away with this book.  You have to understand that I do not have much time to read.  Seriously, maybe 1/2 an hour once a day.  I read this title in 2 days.  That's almost unheard of for someone like me.  I even rated this title as a 5/5 for me on Goodreads and I don't do that often.  So let me tell you why I loved this title so much.

Everyone's had a first love and a broken heart.  It was heart-breaking to watch all over again and then see Brie suffer through even more misery.  There were misunderstandings and revelations about how Brie`s life really was.  The more I read, the more I wanted to continue reading.  I was gaining momentum and several times when I thought the book was over, something new would happen and I would be sucked back into the story.  Each time, I kept wondering...are all of these detours going to ruin the ending? But they didn't.  They just made the ending that much more enjoyable.  It was so worth it to see Brie's sorrow morph into something much more positive.

Interestingly, Patrick tells Brie that she will experience several stages of emotions before she accepts what has happened to her.  I think any life (or death) altering event will trigger these emotions.  I know I've been through it myself - Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Sadness, Acceptance.  It's like a life lesson that we all should pay attention to. 

Lastly, one of my favourite things about this book were the chapter titles based on old songs and movies.  My favorites were

Don't you, (forget about me)

Its in his kiss

Ooh heaven is a place on earth

There's always something there to remind me

Quotes

Page 162

"Turns out, hell's not so much a burning, scalding pit of fire and misery.  It's actually much, much worse than that.  Hell is when the people you love the most reach right into your soul and rip it out of you.  And they do it because they can.

Page 375

"May you always have love"

So since I'm a fan of 80s/90s songs and films, I'm going to leave you with one.  Let's see if you can guess which movie it's from (I'm going by memory so it might not be exact)


"One of these days (Andie), your heart is going to be broken all over hell and maybe, for once, I won't be there."


Loved this.  Read it and let me know if you loved it too.