"The Catastrophic History of You and Me" by Jess Rothenberg

3 of 5 stars.

The Basics: 15 year old Brie Eagon dies suddenly of what is believed to be complications from a per-existing heart condition. In actuality, she died from a broken heart after her boyfriend Jacob spoke the words, "I do not love you." Brie's death brings turmoil to her family as her father overworks himself trying to find the cause of her death, knowing that her mild heart condition could not be the reason. Also, Brie's three best friends are struggling to handle life after her death.
In Brie's afterlife at Slice (a pizzeria), she runs into Patrick, an energetic teenager who passed away in the 80s based on his attire. He helps Brie go through the 5 stages of grief (which turn into the different parts of the book). Brie struggles with letting go of her past life while Patrick hopes to unravel a secret he's been waiting on Brie to uncover for the past 20+ years..

My Thoughts: This book was cute. In the beginning I thought it would be about a teen following her old life once she had passed, but it was much more than that. It was a lesson in letting go and understanding that other people have issues they are battling, I think. It was kind of weird because the book started sadly, but then it got kind of upsetting when Brie decided to get revenge on Jacob for breaking her heart. As the book progressed it did get kind of creepy. The introduction of Larkin and then the whole "stealing souls" thing came out of left field. It felt out of place.
Also, I felt like I was reading a young adult novel which is funny because I read YA allllll the time and never feel like an old fart reading a teenager's book. There were many cliches and honestly the only person I really felt bad for was Jacob. He was pretty much haunted by Brie but she never heard the full story of why he wasn''t in love with her until well after she exacted her revenge (cue the cliched music now)!
Either way, I would certainly recommend this book to my giggly middle school girls but it certainly wasn't my favorite.

Remember, teachers read fun stuff too!