Review: The Catastrophic History of You and Me

The Catastrophic History of You and Me gives a new spin to the popular vow ''till dead do us part.''

After, Brie dies from a broken heart (heart failure) she arrives in limbo where she must go through five steps to enter the afterlife: denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, and acceptance. Or so Patrick, a boy from the 80's who is keen on helping, tells her. But once Brie learns that anger means going back and getting even with the boy who broke her heart, she gets a bit too carried away. Why move on at all? And if Patrick says that is the best thing to do, then why is he still in limbo after so many years?

At 375 pages, the book felt quite lengthy compared to other contemporary stories, but author Jess Rothenberg did an incredible job utilizing the space and providing us with a journey through the human emotion of loss. Brie was overly talkative at first; mostly filled with rage over being dumped and seeing so many people at her funeral, who never even payed her attention while she was alive. Discovering how her family and true friends coped with things brought tears to my eyes. And definitely made me appreciate life even more.

Top Ten Tuesday: Autumn Reads

 

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish


TOP TEN THAT CAUGHT MY EYE FOR FALL 2013

The Moon and More

"Dessen is as skilled as ever at turning out steady, satisfying stories about teens that are easy to fall for" -- Publishers Weekly

The Beginning of Everything

"Efficient use of language, evocative descriptions and subtle turns of phrase make reading and rereading this novel a delight." Kirkus Reviews

Review: The Unwritten Rule

Thou shalt not kiss thy friend's boyfriend

Sarah wanted Ryan first, but Brianna, who is more extroverted and aggressive went for him. As the three of them started hanging out together, it became obvious that there was a stronger chemistry between Sarah and Ryan. Something needed to be done about it. And soon. 

The Unwritten Rule is very repetitive despite it's short length. Brianna could be a charming girl and then turn into a terrible friend you wouldn't even wish on your worst enemy. This made it harder to root for the girl code. One wonders, how much deeper the book could have been, if Brianna had been the sweet girl next door.

On the plus side, the theme and situations (bowling dates, spending quality time with parents), made the story realistic. Elizabeth Scott also managed to give the ending a twist and provide the story with some great quotes on friendship and letting go.

Caught my arrow #23

Caught my Arrow is a meme similar to In my mailbox and  Stalking the Shelves featuring books that were purchased, borrowed or received that week.

Birthday Week! Received lots of unexpected goodies I will soon devour. As well as James Clyde and the Diamonds of Orchestra by author Colm McElwain.  

Received for review 

James Clyde and the Diamonds of Orchestra

Birthday Gifts I received

Vader's Little Princess

Grave Mercy

The Dark and Hollow Places

You Against Me

The Catastrophic History of You and Me

Casual Vacancy

Borrowed from Library

The Education of Hailey Kendrick

The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

H.G. Wells Steampunk Collection

What are you reading this week?

Feature and Follow Friday: Roll Camera!

Parajunkee / Alison Can Read

FEATURE & FOLLOW FRIDAY

Once you answer be sure to leave me your link so I can follow you back

Q: It is up to you to do a kickstarter campaign for your favorite book!! Who are you casting for the main characters?

Seven Star Pictures bought the rights to The Forest of Hands and Teeth in 2009. But since the casting hasn't yet started, I decided to give it a go myself. Here are my picks:

Isabel Burr as Mary:A teenage girl who wishes to learn what lies beyond the village. She is very curious about the ocean, which no one believes is real.

Colton Haynes as Travis:  The boy Mary loves. Though he returns her feelings, he won't marry her because his brother is in love with her. Instead, he asks Mary's best friend, Cass, to become his wife. He injures his leg one day, and later in the book is infected while trying to save Mary.

Beau Mirchoff as Harry: Travis's brother, who is in love with Mary though the feeling is not reciprocated. Nevertheless, Mary agrees to wed him to escape the Sisterhood. He soon develops feelings for Cass while Travis is recovering from his broken leg. 

Pixie Lott as Cass: Mary's best friend until a love-quadrilateral estranges them. Mary says she smells like sunshine.

(Characters descriptions taken from Wikipedia)