Book Review: The Catastrophic History Of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

The Catastrophic History of You and Me

Editon : Kindle (400 pages)
Publisher : Penguin (2012)
Genre : Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal
Source : Amazon Kindle
Check this book on Goodreads

“You can obsess and obsess over how things ended—what you did wrong or could have done differently—but there’s not much of a point. It’s not like it’ll change anything. So really, why worry?” – Brie (chapter 9)

My Thoughts

This is about a girl named Brie who died after her heart got literally broken by her boyfriend, Jacob. To be more precise, she had a heart failure (acute congestive cardiomyopathy in medical world) and died. She ends up in a pizza parlor called “Little Slice of Heaven” where she met a guy in his leather jacket and 80’s style named Patrick. The book will take you to Brie’s afterlife experiences while going through the five stages of grief before she can finally rest in peace.

The author created a realistic and likeable characters in this book. Brie for example, is adorable, strong, sarcastic and selfish (at times). Her love to her family and friends is also undeniable. She made some unfavorable decisions during her journey through the five stages of grief which I think is understandable since well, she’s a teenager and a (dead) human. The good thing is she grew as a person (or spirit) during and after the stages. I like her love for the 80’s music which is very rare for teenagers nowadays. (80’s kid here by the way). Then there’s Patrick, an appealing, sweet and mysterious guy who became Brie’s guide in the afterlife and partner in crime during her “revenge” plan. And mind you, “love at first sight” didn’t happen between the two of them, not even “love triangle”. The revelation of his past is unexpected but it made sense through out the story. My favorite character in this book is actually not a person but an adorable basset hound named Hamloaf. He’s so cute and smart.

The chapter titles are clever and also the way how the story was divided into five parts made me fall in love with this book. The author knows exactly what her reader wants not to mention the unpredictable plot twists. A combination of paranormal, contemporary and fantasy, this book will make you think of what is waiting for us after death. What does it look like and how does it feel like. How painful and heartbreaking it would be seeing your family and friends continuing their lives without you. But thankfully, this book is not only about death, afterlife and goodbyes. It’s also about acceptance and moving on, living and loving the life you have while you still have the chance. Life can be full of lies, betrayals and revelations but how you handle and accept these things can make your life easier and more happier. Life is far too short to be sad and miserable.

This is a great book and I’ll recommend this not only to young readers who’s heart got broken but also to those people who’s having a hard time moving on. This one is a good book for you.

My Rating
5stars