Pages and Patterns

*Disclosure: I received a galley of this book through Netgalley, but this opinion is entirely my own.

The Museum of Heartbreak is the tale of Penelope Marx’s first love and loss. It’s a story of friendship and heartbreak and firsts that only a 17 year old can truly experience. One many can relate to.

It starts with a nightmare that prompts Penelope to create her own museum, cataloging the items from her heartbreak, beginning to end, leading to the creation of The Museum of Heartbreak. From here, we’re taken back to the beginning, to the first item and guided through her story. From meeting Keats, aka the perfect guy - handsome, charming - if only she could get him to notice her. To Eph, her life-long, confusing, infuriating, best guy friend. To Audrey, her increasingly distant best friend, who is growing closer with Penelope’s arch nemesis Cherisse.

Penelope, Eph and Audrey, have been best friends since elementary school and Penelope has this unshakeable belief that it will be just the three of them forever. She doesn’t need other friends or to expand her social circle. She’s never been kissed, is a total fangirl, and loves to read the classics. She believes in all-day tv marathons and holding on to childhood traditions like her life depends on it. She believes that nothing will ever get between her friendship with Eph and Audrey. That is until Keats shows up and throws a wrench into her carefully crafted world. It’s the beginning of something new and the end of everything she thought she knew.

Her relationships are tested; she learns that life isn’t this perfect, Gilbert Blyth and Anne Shirley romance where everyone lives happily ever after. Life is hectic, and messy, and confusing, and everything you took for granted can be taken away with just a few words. Things can break. She manages to meet new people who help change her point of view, and also manages to come to terms with the fact that things don’t always go the way you expected and that’s okay.

While it did have a teenage love triangle, and sometimes I wanted to smack Penelope, I really liked her. I saw much of myself in her - I was a major goodie-two-shoes in high school and could relate to much of her personality. Makes you (me?) wonder who wanted to slap me at times back then, right? I enjoyed her Buffy & Angel references and her imagination was incredible. I think Meg Leder did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life. It was funny and relatable, but also got down to the nitty-gritty of teenage heartache. It was a breeze to read and had a few literary Easter eggs I enjoyed (brothers names Keats and Beckett anyone?).

Overall, I enjoyed The Museum of Heartbreak and give it a solid 3.5 stars. I think it would be great for those who enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss or Anatomy of a Misfit.

*I received a galley of this book from the publisher, but this review and opinions are entirely my own

The last line of the official synopsis summarizes Britt-Marie Was Here perfectly:

“Zany and full-of-heart, Britt-Marie Was Here is a novel about love and second chances, and about the unexpected friendships we make that teach us who we really are and the things we are capable of doing.”

Britt-Marie is a cleaning machine. She eats dinner at 6pm every evening like a civilized person, believes in only one way to organize a cutlery drawer, and baking soda can solve any problem. She finally walks out of a loveless marriage after 40-years, to end up in a tiny town called Borg, with a population of a few hundred and a rat as a confidant, working at the recreation center as its caretaker. The post is only supposed to last three weeks, but what an eye-opening three weeks.

Borg is full of children who are obsessed with soccer, a subject Britt-Marie’s absolutely loathes, and are in need of a coach. She reluctantly agrees to coach them, and increasingly becomes more vital to the community. She grows attached to these kids and can’t help but begin to become attached to the rest of Borg.

Britt-Marie is haunted by an old news story of a woman who had been dead for weeks before neighbors found her due to the smell, because no one knew her; she does not want to end up like that. This prompts her to seek a job, which lead her to Borg. For the first time in her life, she’s on her own, left to make decisions about her life, her wants, her needs. While she continually wants to go back home, to her previous life, she continues to work with what she has. But mostly, she wants people to know she was here. She does not want to be left for the neighbors to find.

While I’ve heard good things, this was my first book by Fredrik Backman. I truly wasn’t sure what to expect when going into this one, but I’m so, so glad that I gave it a chance! Britt-Marie was hard to like as a person at first, but then I just adored her. And the city of Borg and its people! It’s hard not to fall in love with this one. It will make your heart hurt, but it’s so entirely worth it. I didn’t want to put it down! I laughed out loud, and cried, and couldn’t believe it was over by the end. I will definitely re-read this one and would highly recommend.