After finishing this book I was able to cross another book off that tbr list! It still feels so good to be making my way though this beast of a list, even if I’m finding that some of the books (like this one) aren’t as good as I’d hoped they would be.
Summary
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.
My Thoughts
2/5 stars
My biggest complaint with this book comes from the characters, Lu in particular.
I know, I’m jumping into complaining rather quickly, but I can’t help it when I dislike Lu so much. I can empathize with her at some points throughout the novel but her lack of motivation really annoyed me.
I couldn’t continue to root for Lu when she stopped listening to and hanging out with her best friend, wallowed in her self-pity, and became weirdly obsessed with Cal and Iris. Once I stopped liking Lu the rest of the book went downhill for me. The other characters, namely Cal and Iris, definitely felt more like YA characters than real people. You know the type: full of odd quotes, seemingly no parental rules in place, very “unique”, very wise. I didn’t believe that they were real people so I didn’t believe in their arcs or their influence over Lu’s story, and this distanced me from the book.
The summary doesn’t tell you this so I will: so much of the book is filler. At least, it feels like it. I like a character who takes charge of the story and for the plot to continuously develop. This books is more of a repetitive cycle of Lu freaking out about her writer’s block and not doing anything constructive about it. A lot of the book seems to be spent in Lu’s head, so even while there are external events happening and time is progressing, the story doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere.
Long story short, I was bored and annoyed.
Now, the entire book wasn’t a disaster. I liked Pete and Starla just fine, though I will say that Pete wasn’t nearly as developed and included as he should have been. The excerpts from Lu’s column were fun and I liked their tone. They served as a nice break in between the chapters. I liked travelling through NYC with Lu and learning more about different locations in the city. And honestly, that’s about it.
Ultimately, the concept for Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak was better than the book itself. The characters were underwhelming and made me quickly lose interest in the story, though I’m sure the repetitive nature of the plot would have made me feel that way even with interesting characters. The few redeeming qualities in this book don’t make up for the negative aspects and I wouldn’t jump to recommend this book.
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