The Breakup Bible by Melissa Kantor

Pages: 272

Publisher: Hyperion

Age Group: Young Adult

Challenges: N/A

Release Date: May 1, 2007

Jen Lewis is having a great junior year.  She is the features editor of the school paper, and she's dating Max Brown, the paper's editor-in-chief. Everything is perfect-that is, until Max says, "Maybe it would be better if we were just friends." In shock and total denial, Jen wonders how she is going to deal with the pain of seeing Max in school every day. Her misery only intensifies when her grandmother gives her a book that she heard about on the radio. Dr. Emerson's The Breakup Bible claims that "there's no reason a woman can't get over a breakup very quickly if she'll just follow a few basic commandments." Jen is doubtful. What does Dr. Emerson know about her and Max?

Stars: 4/5

Cover: B-

Plot:

The Breakup Bible was a very cute, fast, witty read that had me laughing out loud practically every other page. I couldn't put this book down, and read the last half in one sitting. 

It was a very fast paced book, and didn't take very long to read. Not to mention, as soon as you started The Breakup Bible, you were swept up into Jen's world and unable to get her or her story out of your head.

Characters:

Jennifer was an awesome MC that really let me in her head, and understand what she was feeling.

I loved the character development. At the beginning of the book, Jennifer was heartbroken and confused, and by the end of the novel, she was a strong, confident young woman that was completely over Max (with the help of The Breakup Bible).

Writing:

This was the first book I've read by Melissa Kantor, but I can assure you it won't be the last. I loved everything about the way she wrote this book: the premise, the plot development, the characters, and the funniness of it. I was reading it in class, and I'd burst out laughing and get weird looks from the people sitting around me. :)

Ending:

The ending to this book left me with a smile on my face, and thinking, "You go, girl!"

One thing that I would have realllllyyy liked cleared up is why Max actually broke up with Jen. He never said, and it wasn't really specified, and I'm extremely curious as to know why he just dropped her like that.

Cover:

The cover to this book is cute, but I would have preferred it to be more eye-catching, or resemble more of what the book is actually about. 

I'll admit, I didn't have very high expectations of the book (partly because of the cover), and I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

Lovely Line:

But then I thought about going to school tomorrow and seeing Max and Anya, and I started to panic. What if I froze up again, just like I did at the theater? Thinking of standing paralyzed in the two-hundreds corridor, unable to put one foot in front of the other, while my classmates circled around me like I was some kind of slideshow freak ("Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Step right up and see the woman paralyzed by the humiliation of being dumped!") was all the motivation I needed to follow Dr. Emerson's instructions to the letter.

(Page 143)

The Final Verdict:

The Breakup Bible was one of those feel-good novels that have you rooting for the MC the entire way.

I recommend this book to anyone who has a few extra hours to spare, and wants a good laugh.

FTC: Bought.