This book was alright, but I don’t think I’d ever read it again. The main character was just so frustrating and created her own problems. I kept reading because I wanted to know what would happen but it took me awhile because I was annoyed by her and her continued obsession with the one couple and refusal to write about herself. I know how writers block feels, and I also know that she could have just pushed through it and written at least SOMETHING so she didn’t lose her job and scholarship along with it instead of putting it off and crying and staring at her screen and slacking. It wasn’t a TERRIBLE book and I loved the cover. But not super great.

Honestly, this felt like a book I've read so many times before. I read several YA contemporary each month so that could be why, but I found myself just not really caring about this story like I do with other contemporaries.

This feels like a book I’ve read a million times. A generic YA trope that John Green or Jesse Andrews have done or would have done, but they would have done it better.

*3.5 stars*

Lu writes a column for a hot online teen magazine. The column is kind of a big deal - Lu just graduated from high school, and her scholarship to NYU is contingent on her being a staff member of the magazine. But Lu has been recently dumped, and she can't stop thinking about a couple she met by happenstance at the park ... a couple she wants to write a column about, but they keep saying no.

While I read this, I kept thinking about Donna Tartt's The Secret History. They are NOTHING alike (for one thing, Tartt's book is not a YA), other than the premise of someone falling in love with a group of people, rather than one person. While the topic is skirted here, I think that Lu does fall in love with both Cal and Iris, and the "perfect" romance they share.

Lu was kind of a hard character to love. I write, and I know all about writer's block (believe me!), but sometimes I wanted to yell at her, or at least get her mom more in the know so she could yell at Lu. We make dumb decisions, all of us do, but Lu doesn't seem to come to the realization of all the dumb decisions she's making, even at the end of the book. So yes, that was frustrating.

I also wanted more for Pete. Pete is pretty much Lu's rug - she stomps all over him, ignores him, and he lets her. Poor Pete!! And who wants to be called a wise old uncle when they're 18 years old?

Okay, so maybe this novel wasn't for me. It was well-written, and I certainly wanted everything to end up well for Lu at the end. But YA contemporary romance isn't my cup of tea.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I just couldn’t do it. DNF.

YA romances aren’t normally my thing, but I do appreciate a good one when I read it.

From the beginning, everything feels so contrived ... the settings, the conversations, and even the plot. There were so many ways this could have been a cute story. But I just found the main character unlikable and the story (up to where I read) unbelievable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I... have really weird feelings about this book. I never hated or disliked it. It's just that I never loved it either. It felt like every YA contemporary trope wrapped up into one book with some unique twists here and there to throw you off the scent.

I hated Lu. She was annoying, irresponsible, and kind of... obsessive? I really don't know how I would explain her, but I think that this book could've easily taken a different route and been a thriller with the way that Lu obsessed over Cal and Iris. I'm getting total Lifetime Movie vibes just thinking of the screenplay this could be turned into.

The other characters were fine. I liked Iris and I love Pete. He was the only one that seemed to have any common damn sense in the entire book. He didn't hold back and gave Lu tough love, though she ignored it while simultaneously living inside her own pity and selfishness that caused her to disregard anything going on around her if it did not involve Iris, Cal, or Leo. Can you tell that I hate her?

Anyways.. the story was fine. I don't know how else to describe it. It's probably the kind of fluffiness you want to read on vacation or when you're newly in love or something. I will say that it builds pretty slow, but it's not boring. If you're into teenage fluffy love stories, I'd say read it.

This book had a great premise, but ultimately I felt like it didn't deliver on being a true exploration of the heart at this critical juncture for teens. Deciding whether or not to continue a long-distance relationship after high school is a situation that many readers will face, but I felt like this book didn't really make any interesting cases for or against this. Instead, it lingered on the immaturity of the protagonist, whose selfishness may be age appropriate, but was tedious to read all the same.

I really enjoyed Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak. It was quirky and fun. It touches on a lot of the same topics as other YA romances but its still enjoyable. I thought the writing was snarky and fun, which I love. I know it can turn a lot of people off but I love a snarky main character. Lu made some cringeworthy choices but thats what makes this a YA story. We've all been there, to be young and think you know it all. Overall I think this story is sweet, interesting and funny.

This is a YA romance novel and as someone who enjoys them I found this to be right on par for a YA romance!

Lu is a high school grad, and her perfect summer has been ruined when her boyfriend breaks up with her. She becomes obsessed with trying to get him back until she meets Cal & Iris. A young couple, who plan to break up once the summer is over because they don't want to continue a long-distance relationship. She becomes extremely curious to figure out why their "love" is different from the one she had with her ex-boyfriend, Leo. Did I mention, Lu's a writer (hence young Carrie Bradshaw) and Lu's editor, H (forgot her name), wants her to write about Lu's breakup but Lu can't seem to get the words on paper!?! Well, shenanigans ensues because she becomes infatuated with writing about the relationship between Cal & Iris. By the end of the summer Lu must comes to understand what "love" means to her.

I connected with Lu because I can certainly remember being totally engrossed in "young love"! Personally, I thought she was right to obsess about her relationship with Leo and defining love because you are the definition of selfish when you're young, right?!? At that age, life has not really come upon you yet so it's just all about you! I got, the crush she developed on Cal because she longed to feel treasured like she once was by Leo. We all want to be loved and as we get older, society dictates that we have to "suck it up, Buttercup" rather quicly and just move on. However, I enjoyed reading reading about her just stopping and living in her grief for a moment and the clarity it brought!

I rated this 4/5 stars because I enjoyed the coming-of-age and self-discovery of the novel! I am going to get this book for my teenage daughter because I think she will enjoy it!

Thank you Netgally for an ARC of this book!!

Thank you for allowing me to read an egalley of this book.

When I saw the cover for this book and then read the synopsis I figured it would be perfect for me. Who doesn't want to read about heartbreak and maybe what comes afterwards. It seemed light, fluffy, and uplifting. Sadly it wasn't. The MC Lu just complains about how awful it was to be broken up with and then continues to bring it up the whole book. I know it's tough but in the book it becomes almost annoying.
I wanted Cal and Iris to be together, more so there was a happy ending. It didn't seem right for Lu to be with him, that just feels forced.
Overall I think a plot idea was there the MC just got in the way with all the whining.

(Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for my honest opinion!)

When Lu's boyfriend breaks up with her, so does her ability to write. Which is kind of a problem for a romance columnist. But try as she might, she can't seem to find the words. All she can do is dwell on Leo, and how he broke her heart. That is, until she overhears a conversation between a cute boy she met on a bench and a girl she saw in a bookstore. A conversation remarkably like the one she and Leo had: college is fast approaching, and long distance just doesn't work. Is it better to break up now, or give it a shot? Lu knows what she believes. If only Leo did, too, she'd still be writing. Could this couple be the key to getting her voice back?

This book sounded super interesting, and don't get me wrong, it was. When we meet Lu, she's on the verge of losing her college scholarship. She knows what she has to do--write an article, send it to her publisher--but somehow she can't make herself do it. It seems to be less about writer's block, and more about her fixating on her breakup, though, so it felt frustrating to watch her continuously struggle. When she meets another couple (Cal and Iris) who are going through the same thing her boyfriend breaks up wit her for, she sort of... fixates on them, too. Obsesses, even. She follows them, eavesdrops, arranges a meeting after finding Cal's lost wallet... it all feels a little creepy. She hangs her hopes on the couple and alienates her best friend in the process, and the whole time I just wanted to shake her.

I had a lot of trouble liking Lu, or even relating to her. Sure, we've all been broken up with. We've all floundered. But she kept complaining about troubles of her own making as if her ex was to blame, for making a single rational decision. I couldn't see him as the bad guy, especially as Lu became more and more self-absorbed.

Cal and Iris, I rooted for them. Even as Lu <spoiler> developed a crush on Cal, I just wanted them to stay together, because they were *so good* as a couple! Unlike what Lu described herself and Leo as, which... really did not seem like the kind of relationship worth throwing your future away over.</spoiler>

Highlights: Pete the wise uncle, Starla, Cal and Iris.

Downsides: selfish, unlikeable (to me) MC, and too much whining about Leo the Lame.

Really, it wasn't a bad story at all. I just could not get behind the main character, and that made it a slow read for me. Hard to engage with someone so selfish and mean to poor Pete! I did wish the interviewing had gotten started sooner, because it felt like Lu was just befriending people to put her nose in their business, and calling it "journalistic".

I expected a typical YA novel about breakups and makeups. It was that, but I just didn't like Lu. While I get that a breakup can be a really tough thing, and the novel gives that due coverage, she lets he whole life implode and no adult in her life seems to notice/care. So, an extreme case. But it got tiresome to hear the same thing over and over while she found herself unable to write anything at all in order to keep moving forward. I know this was the point, but it got monotonous.

I liked the general plot, but found the main character’s behavior to be a bit maddening. That said, I *am* pushing 40, and I think my teens will enjoy it!

I enjoy a lot of YA, but this might be one that I am simply too old for. The angst was too much for me. I became so frustrated with the main character and her inability to get it together (and this is coming from someone who is kind of a mess). I couldn't forgive her for how she treated her mom and best friend. I also think that the way the characters talk about love is way too over the top. I suspect that actual teens will enjoy and relate to this book more, and to be fair, they are the audience. I, personally, did not enjoy it.

Loved this book! The emotions that it caused me were so strong that I couldn't think of anything else! A must read!

DNF. I struggled to get into this book and for some reason it didn't click with me. I am a fan of the author and will try the next books Alsaid puts out.

This is a YA book which may account for the weird writing style. I couldn't get into it.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Unfortunately I could not get into the writing style of this book and didn't stay with it to get a sense of the story.

This had been on my wish list for a long time. However, when I started reading it, I found it so similar to a variety of other books I have read, that I felt as though this was just a tired story that was rewritten yet again.

Very disappointed.

I have some really mixed feelings about this one. It’s a bit weird. Lu’s obsession over Iris and Cal was really awkward. It’s weird. Like really weird. I found myself skipping over whole paragraphs because they were very stalkerish and uncomfortable. I guess I just really disliked Lu. She was immature, and frankly she was a really crappy friend.

I really liked the other characters though. Pretty much every other character in the book had something that just drew you in to continue reading, even though Lu was so unbearable. And what I DID really appreciate was the resolution of the book. That was kind of its redeeming quality for me.