The Museum of Heartbreak

by Meg Leder

In this ode to all the things we gain and lose and gain again, seventeen-year-old Penelope Marx curates her own mini-museum to deal with all the heartbreaks of love, friendship, and growing up.

• ISBN10: 1481432109
• ISBN13: 9781481432108
• Publish Date: 7 June 2016 (first published 2 June 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon Pulse
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

This book is not badly written, it's just so not me I want to give it 2.5 stars. I don't like the cursing. I don't like the dingy world of New York City. I don't like the at Pen is so immature she doesn't seem 16, she seems 13. I don't know why it weirdly shifts to second person right at the end in some surreal sort of way but it does so capably. I don't like the kids going to a party and getting drunk. It's the careful crafting of a dingy world that may be realistic but isn't pleasant to spend time in. The thing with any book like this is you have to like the main guy. And Ephraim is sweet and protective and likable even when he's a jerk. The other thing that works is that this book is deeply realistic. When Eph is a jerk he's not a snarky bad boy but still kind of cool jerk. It's an actually ugly moment, as it's supposed to be. And people are the worst versions of themselves. But they recognize that and feel remorse so nothing feels one dimensional, even Penelope in her immaturity. It really probably deserves the three stars I gave it, even it wasn't the story I would have wanted (how fittingly ironic). 

[Bianca]

— Awful characters + sloppy writing + slut shaming. The main character is the worst. Why did I even finish this?

[Sam@WLABB]

Aww, I am so in love with Meg Leder right now. This story was smart, funny, sweet, and heartfelt.

Our main character is Penelope. She has been part of a social "triangle" comprised of Audrey, Ephraim, and herself for many years, and she was happy with this arrangement. However, it seems that the other members of the triangle may be trying to redefine the friendship. They start talking about expanding their social circles, and this terrifies Pen. My heart ached for Pen as she tried to deal with the changes in the friendships that she believed were so solid, but I guess that is a part of growing up. The friendship had to evolve, because Eph and Audrey were changing. Pen struggled with this idea of her friends in the past and her friends in the present for most of the book, and it really tugged at my heartstrings.

that all that history didn't just disappear, even if the people we'd been then no longer existed.

Pen does attempt to expand her social circle, though. She develops a crush on a boy, Keats, and makes new friends through the literary magazine, but it is so hard for her to not want to share good news with Audrey or run to Eph to cry on his shoulder.

I had woken up that morning with a hangover of sadness

I keep talking about all the heartbreak (well, it is in the title), but this book is a lot of fun too. The banter and some of the narratives made me audibly giggle.

Right then a super-tall, thin, strawberry-blonde-haired, willowy girl, who probably had traveled on a unicorn straight from some mystical elven city to this particular moment, kneeled down next to Eph, handing him his skateboard like she was paying tribute to some king, and I barfed a little in my mouth.

Pen's head was sometimes a very fun place to be. She had this outrageous way of describing things, and she was also a little neurotic about things, which resulted in funny rants.

Divine intervention from Zeus or Thor or Buddha or the patron saint of single, unkissed sixteen-year-old girls seemed more likely.

Seriously, Ephraim -- "tall, handsome, hottie". I just loved him, and I loved the history he and Pen shared. They had quite a beautiful friendship. I adored when the two of them were together.

When we met, a tiny Superman putting his hand in mine, how you folded my fingers so gently around yours.

Overall: fantastic read. My heart pitter pattered, I shed a few tears, I laughed a lot, and I walked away from it all warm and fuzzy.