The Catastrophic History of You and Me

by Jess Rothenberg

[Stephanie]

Brie died of a broken heart, literally. Right after hearing the words "I don't love you" from her boyfriend, her heart split in half and she died right there at the table. Now she has to overcome the five stages of grief in her 'little slice of heaven' while she watches her family and friends fall apart. Luckily she has Patrick there to help her through it all.

I was really interested to see how 'dying of a broken heart' was played out and how the author explained it, scientifically. Brie's dad is a cardiologist, so the fact that his daughter died because of her heart really weighed on him and made him feel like he had to figure out what happened, since a heart doesn't necessarily split in half too often, especially in a 16 year old.

I didn't expect this to be so sad. Well, I expected some kind of sadness, but this story really gets deep and emotional. Especially when Brie see's what is happening to her family and friends after her death, and how much her death affected them. There is so much I really want to elaborate on, but I don't want to give too much away. I really think you all should just read the story to find out, because I was pleasantly surprised by everything and really enjoyed it all.

This is a different take on the afterlife. I have to admit that I was confused at times, because Brie's after life takes place in almost an alternate universe where all the dead go before they can move on. Basically, it's like a Limbo, but it's in the form of Bries hometown. So when Brie goes back and forth between the two worlds, I had some trouble trying to decipher whether she was in her 'slice of heaven' or the real world. I really liked the idea of 'zooming' and them being able to jump back and forth between worlds, which explains how there could be ghosts. It was also fun to see Brie mess with her friends.

Now, Patrick. I loved him. He was the comic relief of the story. I loved everything he said and enjoyed every minute he was around. That being said, I did get annoyed with Brie at times, especially with the way she treated Patrick. I couldn't understand why Patrick would want to be with her at times because she was so rude to him. But Patrick was always there for Brie whenever she needed him. Especially when Brie was trying to come to terms with her death.

The ending was what really made me love the story. Everything came together perfectly and I definitely didn't see it coming. It was a little confusing, but I knew that going into the story, so it didn't throw me off too much.

Overall, I really liked this story. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a new twist on the afterlife.