Museum of Heartbreak

by Meg Leder

[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).