Book Title: History is All You Left Me
Author: Adam Silvera
Publisher: Soho Teen
Number of pages: 292
Genre: young adult, contemporary, LGBT, romance, fiction, mental health
Release Date: January 17th 2017
Favorite Quotes:
“You were always a pro at getting me to be brave – to take down the walls that could be taken down, at least. You can’t be faulted for my unbreakable compulsions.”
“Maybe you didn’t outgrow me; you just became someone else. It doesn’t make me want to know the new you any less, but it makes me feel a little less worthless.”
Goodreads Synopsis:
OCD-afflicted Griffin has just lost his first love, Theo, in a drowning accident. In an attempt to hold onto every piece of the past, he forges a friendship with Theo’s last boyfriend, Jackson. When Jackson begins to exhibit signs of guilt, Griffin suspects he’s hiding something, and will stop at nothing to get to the truth about Theo’s death. But as the grieving pair grows closer, readers will question Griffin’s own version of the truth—both in terms of what he’s willing to hide and what true love means.
My Review:
5/5 stars
Seriously, just wow. What an absolutely incredible book. I hate to admit this, but this is the first book I have read where an LGBTQ person is represented as the main protagonist in a novel. I loved the unique way in which Silvera wrote this book. I have read books from different points of view, but never from the same person from different points of time in their life. The author does a beautiful job at conveying how one’s grief may not always be in someone who passes away but in someone with you profess a like towards. Silvera is able to convey the different reasons as to why someone may grieve.
Honestly, some of my favorite parts of this book are how the main protagonist, Griffin, see his world in the eyes of someone with OCD.Griffin was such a beautiful yet complicated character. He is able to see things in a different way than those around him. What stuck with me was a conversation Griffin had with his friend Wade about puzzles. Wade couldn’t understand the point of playing with puzzles because puzzles are just something that can be destroyed. However, Griffin sees and understands how puzzles are a metaphor towards life. There are times where you mess up so badly, but you have the ability to rebuild and learn from your mistakes. This can also be applied to oneself. This scene will stay with me long after reading this book.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone. History Is All You Left Me is a beautiful story of an LGBTQ teen suffering from OCD who, along with friends and family, mourns the loss of a friend who was his first love.
I look forward to reading more books by Adam Silvera.
Author Websites:
Living in a World of Book Quotes 