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momoka0330's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
swallowthemoons's review against another edition
5.0
“History Is All You Left Me” is a massive heart-breaker of a book. It is a deeply sad book and explores love, friendship, and grief in a heart-wrenching way. The characters in the novel feel extremely genuine and expertly fleshed out; no bad guys here – just four teenage boys with hearts.
I really enjoyed Silvera’s writing (not a hater, I always have), but in this book, I actually might just hate him for it. He writes one of the most heartbreaking, beautiful prose I have ever read in YA. I had no idea how much I could relate to this on a personal level. Also, I really enjoyed the representation. Although heartbreaking, this isn’t your typical LGBT representation that revolves around homophobia and horror stories.
Really a breathtaking novel about love and loss and friendship that hits too close to home.
I really enjoyed Silvera’s writing (not a hater, I always have), but in this book, I actually might just hate him for it. He writes one of the most heartbreaking, beautiful prose I have ever read in YA. I had no idea how much I could relate to this on a personal level. Also, I really enjoyed the representation. Although heartbreaking, this isn’t your typical LGBT representation that revolves around homophobia and horror stories.
Really a breathtaking novel about love and loss and friendship that hits too close to home.
emeszee's review against another edition
4.0
I finished this about two-three hours ago, but here we go...
This book wasn't really what I expected. I mean this in a good way. Wait, let me check the synopsis...um. Here we go. Yeah, it was a TOTAL ride. I saw it on the library's shelf, remembered it was in my tbr, and ta-da. There were so many things I didn't expect would happen. A bunch of secrets came out of nowhere. My heart hurt reading every word. Overall, it was a great contemporary.
This book wasn't really what I expected. I mean this in a good way. Wait, let me check the synopsis...um. Here we go. Yeah, it was a TOTAL ride. I saw it on the library's shelf, remembered it was in my tbr, and ta-da. There were so many things I didn't expect would happen. A bunch of secrets came out of nowhere. My heart hurt reading every word. Overall, it was a great contemporary.
beckyyreadss's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I wanted to read this book because I wanted to read more of authors work that I enjoyed previously. I liked the Death-Cast series, and I liked Adam’s collab work with Becky Albertalli. This book was in Waterstones when I last visited and decided to try this out. This book was okay, I just wanted more.
Griffen has lost his first love in a drowning accident. Theo was his best friend, his ex-boyfriend and the one he believed he would end up with. Now, reeling from grief and worsening OCD, Griffin turns to an unexpected person for help. Theo’s new boyfriend. But as their relationship becomes increasingly complicated, dangerous truths begin to surface. Griffin must make a choice: confront the past, or miss out on the future.
I liked the idea of how to move on after losing someone close to you especially like a first love, that’s what Theo was to Griffin. I liked Adam’s writing style when it comes to mental health and Griffin’s OCD and how Theo, Wade and Jackson all want to help him and will accommodate his way to help him. I loved that there was no homophobia whatsoever, no unsupportive parents and everyone seemed to care about their children in this book – which is a refreshing change compared to other LGBT books I've read where there is always one family member or one friend who is lowkey homophobic. I liked that this book was emotional and tugging on the heartstrings.
I didn’t like the jumps between History and Today, I would have liked it to be one consistent story with the start being from the beginning or at the end and starting with him moving on. I didn’t like the love triangle/square thing. I wanted it to die, and it just went on and on and on. I would have liked a happy ending, I feel like all I read from Adam is depressing books and I just want a happy gay love story from him. I would have liked this book to be a self-development of Griffin and that he didn’t need anyone to be happy, but instead he was just flopping between Jackson and Wade which didn’t feel great.
I will be reading more of Adam’s work, especially with the Death-Cast 3 being announced, but this wasn’t his best work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
ashs_books's review against another edition
3.0
To be honest I think I was in the wrong headspace for this book. I was in the mood for something light and cheerful and this book was kind of the opposite haha! It was really sad and emotional, and it did get me in places. At the same time I felt like I didn’t really connect with the main character and didn’t understand some of his decisions and I was ready for the book to end. I really liked the relationships Griffin formed with people and it showed how important they are and to have those support people around you. I think I was just in the wrong mood, or I could’ve been really engrossed in this story.
graciellai's review against another edition
4.0
"And if bringing up the past annoys you now — know that I'm sorry, but please don't be mad at me for reliving all of it. History is all you left me."
ciuli's review against another edition
5.0
I don't think I'll ever get over how beautiful this book is. I loved every single page and every single phrase and when I was close to the end, I didn't want to read it because I didn't want it to be over.
Let me start with saying that this is no walk-in-the-park book. I wasn't in a good place, mentally speaking, when I started reading this book. I was going through a rough time and reading this book wasn't really helpful as i was crying the whole time while reading it. That's the reason why I dropped it halfway and it took me over a month to finish it. So, what I'm trying to say is, this book is truly beautiful but when you start it, make sure that you can handle all those emotions that it's going to give you. That way you will be able to fully appreciate it.
Now let's talk about the book itself! Never a good idea to start reading a book that begins with a funeral! You certainly can't expect for it to be all roses and flowers. But even when dealing with a great loss and the grieving that comes in hand, Adam silver a still managed to make me laugh out loud or make me smile through some quirky responses. I love the diverseness of the characters, how every one of them was mourning in a different way and loving Theo in a different way. During the first part of the book we have Griffin talking about his story with Theo, and since it's from griffin's POV we get this idolized picture of Theo, who's the perfect boyfriend and friend and human being. But the more we go on, the more POVs we get to see, we realize that he wasn't so perfect after all but that's cool. That's more than cool because no one is perfect and I think these characters' imperfections are what makes them all the more real. Apart from Wade, Wade is perfect and he will always have a special place in my heart. But I don't want to talk too much about this because I risk spoiling something and I don't want to!
I loved the way Griffin's OCD was described and how this whole book help raising awareness towards this illness, because sometimes it ends up unnoticed by people. And the fact that it's okay to help people with OCD around things, like Griffin always being on the left, but how that is not all that helpful because at some point you're just accommodating them, but not helping them get better.
I loved this book. I can't seem to find enough words to describe this overwhelming feeling of love that I have inside and that I can't fully express. I can just say that it has definitely become one of my favorite books of all times and that I will always keep it with me in my heart.
Let me start with saying that this is no walk-in-the-park book. I wasn't in a good place, mentally speaking, when I started reading this book. I was going through a rough time and reading this book wasn't really helpful as i was crying the whole time while reading it. That's the reason why I dropped it halfway and it took me over a month to finish it. So, what I'm trying to say is, this book is truly beautiful but when you start it, make sure that you can handle all those emotions that it's going to give you. That way you will be able to fully appreciate it.
Now let's talk about the book itself! Never a good idea to start reading a book that begins with a funeral! You certainly can't expect for it to be all roses and flowers. But even when dealing with a great loss and the grieving that comes in hand, Adam silver a still managed to make me laugh out loud or make me smile through some quirky responses. I love the diverseness of the characters, how every one of them was mourning in a different way and loving Theo in a different way. During the first part of the book we have Griffin talking about his story with Theo, and since it's from griffin's POV we get this idolized picture of Theo, who's the perfect boyfriend and friend and human being. But the more we go on, the more POVs we get to see, we realize that he wasn't so perfect after all but that's cool. That's more than cool because no one is perfect and I think these characters' imperfections are what makes them all the more real. Apart from Wade, Wade is perfect and he will always have a special place in my heart. But I don't want to talk too much about this because I risk spoiling something and I don't want to!
I loved the way Griffin's OCD was described and how this whole book help raising awareness towards this illness, because sometimes it ends up unnoticed by people. And the fact that it's okay to help people with OCD around things, like Griffin always being on the left, but how that is not all that helpful because at some point you're just accommodating them, but not helping them get better.
I loved this book. I can't seem to find enough words to describe this overwhelming feeling of love that I have inside and that I can't fully express. I can just say that it has definitely become one of my favorite books of all times and that I will always keep it with me in my heart.
emma_janet_93's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75