Why We Broke Up

Min is breaking up with Ed. She has a lot of reasons for it, and she recounts them all in this book, in a letter to Ed, along with a few cute little illustrations of the objects that remind her of the episodes that lead up to the breakup. This book, which was authored by the man known to most people as Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), is honestly one of the worst books I've ever read in my life. And that, dear reader, is saying something. Because I have read many lousy books.What's so surprising is that somebody who wrote a series as utterly brilliant and fascinating as A Series of Unfortunate Events would write a book like this. I have no intention of being mean and I have nothing personally against the author. But the book was written in a way that made it extremely difficult to stay interested. First: dialog could go on for pages at a time with no break, and I would often forget who was talking. By extension, that dialog was often confusing. I felt like I was running in circles. Second: What was going on? The book was literally like trying to piece together a mosaic. I knew that something bad or exciting was happening, but because of the 'artistic" writing I couldn't quite put my finger on exactly what was going on, which means I was skipping paragraphs or pages to try and figure out what in the name of Lemony Snicket was happening. No, no, no! NEVER confuse the reader like that! Third: Why did Ed and Min really break up? I expected it to come in short snippets that led up to the breakup, but it basically came in one swoop at the end of the book, rather than building up to it. I mean, the book IS called 'Why We Broke Up." So am I recommending this book? No, although somebody might like it. Somewhere. But it's sure not here.