Sometimes I can't get into books because the characters really annoy me. Lu is one of those. She was bratty and annoying and selfish. though a lot of girls her age are the same way, so many teens will connect with this story. We bought copies for our collections.

I know YA often exists in a non-reality based vacuum, but this book felt out of touch for me. Maybe it's just me, now that I'm middle aged, but the writing didn't ring true, the characters felt two dimensional and perhaps just the basic plotline seemed a bit too fanciful. I had to DNF about halfway through.

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review and I really enjoyed this book. I think mostly because I am guilty of eavesdropping on conversations going on around me. I do it all the time and now I want to do it all the more! I enjoyed the characters, even if Lu did get on my nerves here and there. I could still relate to her and what she was going through. I remember having my heart broken and just wanting to talk to the person who did it in the hopes that maybe, just maybe they would realize they made a mistake. I love Pete and Cal too! It was definitely a enjoyable read.

I love a good YA romance when I come across one. This one was good. Not great. But good. Having never read Alsaid's previous work, I came into this story with zero expectations. Lu writes a column for a popular teen magazine. She has just graduated high school and has a scholarship to college contingent on her being a staff member of the magazine. But Lu was recently dumped and is having a hard time meeting her deadline. So Lue does the next best thing and latches on to another couple who has "the perfect relationship". Queue some dumb decisions and mishaps that move the story along.

Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak checks all of the boxes of a great YA novel: romance and heart ache, adventure, humor, and most importantly, characters who are relatable and believable. What I wanted to see, though, was more character growth. In great YA novels it is present, but more often than not, true development of the character is lacking in YA novels and I feel like it was lacking in Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak. Lu makes some pretty dumb decisions, as do all girls her age, but she doesn't seem to come to the realization of all the dumb decisions she's making, even at the end of the book.Therefore, this was a 3/5 star book for me.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I heard good things about this author so I thought I'd give it a try.

I was sorely disappointed. The book has basically no plot, it's just a girl who breaks up with her boyfriend and decides to start stalking another couple. The main character, Lu, is absolutely terrible. She's obnoxious, awkward (not cute awkward, weird awkward) and treats her best friend and her mom like crap. She begins to stalk a couple she eavesdropped on and then drops her best friend so she can start spending more time with them instead. She then goes on to betray the couple as well and basically allows her entire world to fall apart.

I understand that the main character is a teenager and this was a YA novel. I just expected it to be a little more interesting. The book was so long and I found myself doing almost anything else so I wouldn't have to read it.

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of BRIEF CHRONICLE OF ANOTHER STUPID HEARTBREAK from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

FOUR stars and here’s why:

This YA book nailed the gut-wrenching experience of a first love’s heartbreak. The story is told through the eyes of Lu, and is juxtaposed with her columns for an online magazine, which she needs to write for her scholarship. In typical teen fashion, Lu is very dramatic and overwhelmed when her world implodes after a heartfelt break-up with her first love. It’s not a quick read as the title so aptly suggests, but the characters are engaging and relatable, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

If you love good writing, engaging characters, and a story that captures what it means to love and be loved, then this book is for you. Highly recommend!

Blog: The Nerdgirl Review
Review Run-Date: April 15, 2019

As some of you know, me and young adult contemporaries, especially those that surround romance, have a complicated and strained relationship. They used to be my shit in middle school and high school, but as I've gotten older and progressed through college, and now that I am done with college, I've found myself enjoying them less. They just don't appeal to me like they used to. I don't know if that's because I've matured and my tastes have changed or if I've found them to be more annoying and just reincarnations of the same tale twisted constantly. Probably both. Despite that, I still make the effort to read them every once in awhile. This author has written other YA contemporaries that have done fairly ok in the past, so when presented with the opportunity to read this book, I decided why now.

All that being said, I thought the book was ok. The romance didn't really go the way I thought it was going and it all just felt really underwhelming. The way the main character views this couple and attaches herself to them is really strange and makes for a less than stellar plot. I think the idea behind the plot could be interesting, but there comes a point where there needs to be a shift away from the couple and more towards the main character and her romance. I understand the underlying messages that were trying to be portrayed, but they fell flat to me.

So if you're looking for something cute to read, uhmmm... this may or may not be for you. Honestly there are better YA contemporaries that you could spend your time on.

This was anything but brief. Great concept and story, but rather long winded. Alsaid does a fabulous job of sharing the trials of being a teenager in and out of love, but takes far too long to get to the whole story.

Lu Charles is a columnist for an online mag called Misnomer. She writes about love in the teenage world. After her boyfriend breaks her heart, she meets Bench Boy. He’s a cute teenage boy, also apparently going through a heartbreak. He walks away after their brief encounter, but doesn’t really leave her life.

Randomly interspersed with chapters about the current day are columns that Lu has written in the past. We find out about the relationship Lu shared with her boyfriend through these columns, while Lu obsesses over Bench Boy and his pinup-style girlfriend Iris. In the name of journalism, Lu inserts herself into their lives and relationship trying to break through her writer’s block that appeared with her own breakup.

Lu’s best friend Pete tries to warn her of getting too deep, but Lu doesn’t listen. Lu’s mother is constantly begging her to spend more time at home with mom and Lu’s video game addicted brother. Lu is single minded about getting the story.

As I said, the concept and story were great, it just felt like we’d never get to the end. I did enjoy the book, just not enough to give it more than about 3.5 stars, rounding down to 3. Perhaps teenagers will feel differently.

I would like to first thank the publisher and author for gifting me a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for honest review.

I like a good YA novel every now and then and even more when its about those sweet or funny teenage romances. This sounded like it would fit that and be a perfect vacation read over Christmas break. I liked the premise of the main character writing a love column for an online magazine and using her relationship and break-up as inspiration. However, I ended up really REALLY disliking her and was so annoyed with her that I just wanted the book to be over. She was selfish and irresponsible, mean to her best friend, and overly focused on the boy she "loved" with little more to say about the relationship then how he looked and how she liked any physical touch from him. So, I may be describing a lot of teenagers, but as the main character of a YA book, it got old and obnoxious super fast to a not YA reader. I just wanted to yell at her the entire book about all the stupid decisions she was making to ruin herself while blaming the breakup as the total ruination of everything going on in her life. So annoying! Sure, she learns better at the end and grows a little, but man it was painful reading the book to get to that point. I am disappointed. sorry

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's the summer before Lu starts college, and she's just been dumped. Lu knows that her heartbreak from being dumped by Leo is only temporary, but she's having a really hard time shaking the sadness she's feeling. A chance encounter in the park leads her to meeting Cal and eventually his girlfriend Iris, and from that moment on Lu is single-mindedly obsessed with the couple.

Everything is on the line for Lu; her amazing job at the trendy online magazine Misnomer, the scholarship that comes with the job, and her own sanity. It take almost all summer for Lu to convince Iris and Cal to let her chronicle their relationship, but it intrigues Lu because they seem to have found what she and Leo couldn't; how to stay together before heading off the college. No matter what Lu does though, she is seemingly paralyzed with writer's block.

Will Lu be able to get it together and meet her deadlines? Is there more to things than what she can see?

I don't think I've ever been so frustrated by a protagonist! Time and again Lu put off writing her article, even with such high stakes. She literally could not see past her own selfish needs, even when everyone in her life was telling her to get her act together. I also found it frustrating that there were so many opportunities for her to reach out for help, to confide in her friends and adults about her writer's block and depression that she was feeling after her breakup. I was mentally exhausted after reading this novel. I would say pass on this one for now, maybe get as an additional purchase at best.

I don't think it would be fair of me to give this a rating. As of today I have decided not to finish this book. I am not enjoying it at all. I've picked it up and put it down many times in the past month. The writing style is great and it is easy to read. The concept of the book is also fun. However, this book was not for me. The main character was so annoying. I am now in my 30's and not the target audience and maybe that is part of the problem. Maybe I have just grown out of the ya genre.

Great read fro a teen. Loved the storyline just wish that I loved the charcters a much. Well the main character was a bit self centered. She can’t seem to get the whole, love, lost, move on bit. SHe doesn’t seem to ever grow up and she just doesn’t learn fro her break up.

I was really happy to receive an arc from this writer for the first time, but unfortunately, I did not enjoy the story. Sorry!
The protagonist is heartbroken and needs to write a text for a blog to secure her scholarship, but nothing works for her. She is interested in a situation that appears and begins to get too involved in it and everything ends up becoming a great confusion in her head.
I really tried to connect with her, I hoped she would see a certain character more interesting right next to her but she was really lost and the book was already lost for me too.
As the book will only be published in April, I believe the writer still has a chance to try to save this plot because the blurb is very interesting and Pete too.

Hello, I will add the review to Instagram, blog, and Goodreads on April 17th, 2019. Review will also be added to Amazon and Barnes & Noble (if applicable) on the publication date. Links to reviews will be added when they are public, thank you.

Title: Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak
Author: Adi Alsaid
Publication Date: April 30th, 2019
Rating: 2 stars
eARC provided by publisher through NetGalley

Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak follows Lu after her summer after graduating high school doesn't go as planned and she is now faced with being single. She still must maintain her job as a journalist for a love column  and meets a couple that may just be the break she needs for inspiration and starting the healing process.

I didn't have any expectations going into this book  and so when the characters didn't really stick out to me it wasn't upsetting. This is book is a typical contemporary about love and break ups. Lu wants to get back with her ex and never sees the the one guy friend who is always there for advice as someone more than just a friend. She makes horrible decisions and tries to fall in love with someone she just met and when that goes sour she still doesn't see the person who has always been there for her.

Out of all the characters I liked Pete the most. He stuck by Lu through all her bad decisions and still tried to push her down the right path. At times I thought they would get together and when I was on the last chapter I had high hopes but sadly that ship never sailed. I think it would have been a better ending if it did.

There wasn't much character development besides learning of one couple's relationship and Lu becoming okay with her own break up. The pace moved quickly and the plot was okay and those are the two reasons why I kept going with this book.

Overall, it was okay. Maybe if I was younger it would be a different story but this book just wasn't for me.

This novel didn't grip me. I spent the first chapter or two wondering if the narrator was male or female, and I don't like doing that.

I love this genre but this book isn’t one that stands out. The characters are hard to connect and care about. I do like the idea of it and the overall plot, but it fell flat for me.

Adi Alsaid was one of those contemporary YA authors that I never got around to reading, though I've always wanted to. I thought this would be a good book to start with, but I just couldn't connect. The writing wasn't all that polished or mature. I would say maybe I've grown out of the genre but I don't think thats it. I think I'm just looking for more sophistication with my YA. This might appeal to the younger set though. Cute, strong parts, but just didn't hit the mark for me..

I came into this novel with zero expectations. I'm glad that I did... because I was a bit disappointed and not sure I really enjoyed this novel.

I was extremely frustrated with the main character and she got on my nerves. Felt like she was a tad bit self centered.

Lu's boyfriend breaks up with her and it breaks up her ability to write her romance column as well. All she can seem to do is focus on Leo and the heartbreak of losing her boyfriend. I had a lot of trouble relating to Lu... felt again that it was the typical "wooo is me character and blaming everyone else for her problems." I just keep rolling my eyes at her decisions and lack there of to change her life. This is my biggest annoyance in real life... let alone in a book!

Overall, I felt like the message the author was trying to portray here was first love, moving on, and growing up. But, I don't think Lu was able to move on and grow up based on her self-loathing and self pity character.

I have started to have a YA obsession but this unfortunately feel extremely flat for me.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Huge thank you to Harlequin Teen/Inkyard Press for the arc in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Pub date: 4/30/19
Published to GR: 12/16/18

The Synopsis explains the book very well so Ill just tell you how I felt. I didn't catch that there was going to be any LGBTQ in it on I wouldn't have taken the book! I didn't finish when there was.. However I read that on a few reviews so maybe thats changed now.

If only the book were as brief a chronicle as the title promised... 2.5, rounded up because I'm not a monster.

Having never read Alsaid's previous work, I came into this with zero expectations. I chose it because I liked the cover art and, well, I'll read most anything about heartbreak. While I can see the frustration other readers had with Lu as a character, that's not what bothered me the most. What bothered me was the plot, which, I think many people are conflating with the character. Yes, Lu is petulant and creates her own problems. That could probably describe the majority of humanity, on any given day-- particularly after a difficult break up. This in itself is not a reason to dislike a character or a book. The issue is that there's not a strong enough plot to propel the story, so we're forced to fall back on her inability/unwillingness to write, and her constant guilt and complaining about that issue. The plot then becomes the character, exacerbating what is already unpalatable. There's also an argument somewhere here, I'm sure, about men not writing teen girls well. I won't go there, as I've not read any of his other work, but I definitely felt that the protagonist's voice wasn't fully developed. It seemed like the strongest character was Pete, which, I can only assume, is the character most closely resembling the author himself. For a short time, I thought the story was going to head in the direction of 'Lu doesn't see what's right in front of her', and she was going to wind up with Pete, but I'm glad it didn't go there. I really liked the platonic friendship, and the added nugget that Pete was asexual.

Ironically, I actually think Alsead does a good job demonstrating what writers' block is actually like, however, I'm not sure anyone wants to experience that. After all, we're probably reading to procrastinate our own tasks.