ARC, 269 pages
Release Date: June 7, 2016Published by: Simon PulseStand-aloneSource: TLAFor fans of: Realistic Fiction, Romance, Chick-lit, Contemporary, YA
In this ode to all the things we gain and lose and gain again, seventeen-year-old Penelope Marx curates her own mini-museum to deal with all the heartbreaks of love, friendship, and growing up.
Welcome to the Museum of Heartbreak.
Well, actually, to Penelope Marx’s personal museum. The one she creates after coming face to face with the devastating, lonely-making butt-kicking phenomenon known as heartbreak.
Heartbreak comes in all forms: There’s Keats, the charmingly handsome new guy who couldn’t be more perfect for her. There’s possibly the worst person in the world, Cherisse, whose mission in life is to make Penelope miserable. There’s Penelope’s increasingly distant best friend Audrey. And then there’s Penelope’s other best friend, the equal-parts-infuriating-and-yet-somehow-amazing Eph, who has been all kinds of confusing lately.
But sometimes the biggest heartbreak of all is learning to let go of that wondrous time before you ever knew things could be broken.
*MY THOUGHTS*
When I first heard about this book I was so freaking excited. I loved the IDEA of this book and I just knew it would be one I loved. But unfortunately, this book I had been eagerly anticipating completely missed the mark with me.
“Maybe in real life there aren’t happy endings.”
pg. 3 (ARC)
Penelope’s life has always been safe. She has the same friends, who do the same things, and talk about those things afterwards. Until one day a guy walks into her life. And he’s nothing like she’s ever known. She soon learns that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Soon things start to change faster than she thought.
“Nothing less than absolute, one hundred percent, soul stirring, Anne-and-Gilbert-meant-to-be, Jack-and-Rose-forever-and-ever, one true love. Nothing else.”
pg. 36 (ARC)
The main reason I didn’t like this book was the characters. In the very first few pages one of the characters makes a “fart” noise. Then throughout the book he’s continuously described as saying stupid things like “Exsqueeze me” whenever someone says something that rhymes with fart. -__- I’m not sure if they author was trying to be funny, but it just didn’t do it for me. It just got on my nerves. I’m one of those people that say it’s crazy to say that YA characters are “young,” but at the same time, these characters did. To be honest they seemed more like MG characters. My cousin makes those noises in the 4th grade.
“…surprise that something so terrifying could be so lovely.”
pg. 63 (ARC)
Another thing I didn’t like about this one was the plot. I remember being able to figure out what was going to happen on page one. I would have liked it better if there was something I hadn’t figured out was going to happen, but alas, I called it all. The entire book felt way too cliche.
“No such thing as the perfect moment in real life.”
pg. 119 (ARC)
The only reason I didn’t DNF this was because I was hoping to see some type of change in the story. It did indeed get better (the one character had stopped talking about fart noises) but by that time it was already the end of the book. I also was hoping for some change in the characters. One person seemed to get a little more mature, but Pen stayed the same until the very end and it just got monotonous.
“At this point I’m sorry I bought you anything.”
pg. 165 (ARC)
To be honest, this was a little disappointing to me. I wanted to DNF it numerous times, but something told me to continue to give it a shot. I’m sure this will be great to others but it just wasn’t for me.
Overall, I give this
Too bad you didn't love this. I'm sure someone else will enjoy it. Thanks for the honest review!
hmmm I was so excited for this read but i am a little afraid. that fart comment really turns me off. That has no placein ya books. Maybe MG but not ya. hmmm. not sure about this book now.