Jess Rothenberg

Just before her sixteenth birthday, Brie Eagan dies of a broken heart when her boyfriend tells her he does not love her, and she then must go through the stages of grief, while watching her friends and family try to cope with her death.

The Catastrophic History of You & Me

An addictively page-turning romance for fans of Before I Fall and The Fault in Our Stars Brie is the “biggest, cheesiest, sappiest romantic” who believes that everyone will find their perfect someone. So when Jacob, the love of Brie's life, tells her he doesn't love her anymore, the news breaks her heart--literally. But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie revisits the living world to discover that her family has begun to unravel and her best friend has been keeping an intimate secret about her boyfriend. Somehow, Brie must handle all of this while navigating through the five steps of grief with the help of Patrick, her mysterious bomber-jacketed guide to the afterlife. But how is she supposed to face the Ever After with a broken heart and no one to call her own? "The debut is a fast, twisty, highly dramatic read about the turbulent nature of love."--Romantic Times "Rothenberg exploes what happens in the afterlife when you aren't quite done with your life."--San Francisco Chronicle "The funniest, sweetest, most heartfelt, sigh-worthy and oh-so-romantic story I've ever read. You'll love it!"--Cynthia Leitich Smith, New York Times bestselling author of Eternal and Blessed

The Catastrophic History of You And Me

Kath Lau

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.

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If I'd known right then that this was the kid who would grow up to break my heart beyond repair, maybe I would've stayed upstairs on the phone with Tess. Maybe I would've gone to bed early. Maybe I would've begged my parents to take me with them - even though those doctor dinners are pretty much the boringest things ever. But I didn't know. Couldn't know. So instead I shrugged and said something really genius like "Um, whatever." And proceeded to fall totally, madly, crazy in love.

The Catastrophic History of You and Me

Siobhán

Review Post: http://totallybookalicious.blogspot.c...

Catastrophic History follows the story of young Brie, who literally dies of Broken Heart after her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her. She then finds herself in "Slice of Heaven" where she meets Patrick who tries to help her through the stages of grief. However, Brie is about to learn that love isn't as simple as she thought, secrets are revealed but will Brie be able to forgive and move on? Or will she force to live eternity with a broken heart?

What a cute and quick read this was. I started it on Sunday morning and I was hooked from page one. Very rarely does that happen. Jess has created a outstanding debut that just flows effortlessly. Brie's voice just stand out from other YA. She is cute, funny and at times a little scary when she is really into the revenge she tries give out. I adore the chemistry between her and Patrick. Patrick is another ghost who wants to help Brie but he is hidding a secret of his own. It's clear that there is something between them and they just bounce of each other perfectly.

The story itself isn't what I was expecting. Before I read this I thought that it would be a fluffy romance. However, it wasn't and I am glad it wasn't. It's very different to alot of books in the YA market. I mean a story about a girl who dies from a broken heart? Pretty unique. Catastrophic History was fast, fun, cute and witty. However, it was also very sad. Within the first chapter I was in tears, There is so much emotion in the novel that at times I thought my heart was about to break as well.

However, as much as I actually loved this book. I can't give it a 5 star :( mainly because even though the story was amazing and different a lot of it is unrealistic and very predictable. I knew exactly how this book was going to turn out. And the twists and turns I knew they were coming.

So if you want a very quick, cute and fun read that its beautifully written yet heart breaking then give this book ago. You will not be disappointed.

The Catastrophic History of You & Me

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