History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

Jennings, his parents, only want what’s best for their son but also operate on their own definition of what’s best for him. Sometimes Griffin would adore and hate his parents in one page or he would be annoyed with his dad for being too cold to Jackson but at the same time be annoyed with his mom for being too nice to Jackson or how Mr. The parents-and all the main characters have parents-are very much a part of the story, to boot, and I like how Silvera doesn’t pull away from the infinite paradoxes of familial love. It doesn’t matter whether Griffin, Theo, and Wade are browsing the shelves of Barnes & Noble or they’re exchanging gifts or Griffin is talking to Theo’s family, it’s compelling and laced with pockets of emotion. As is the case with More Happy Than Not, the author does what he does best: writing everyday moments with a severe awareness of human connection. The book alternates in story lines between ‘History’, where we see Griffin and Theo falling in love and transitioning from best friends to boyfriends, and ‘Today’, where we see Griffin navigating through a Theo-less world.

In History is All You Left Me, Silvera delivers a surprisingly quiet, thoughtful exploration of friendship, grief, love, and loss. If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life. He’s losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he’s been keeping are tearing him apart. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin’s downward spiral continues. To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But now, the future he’s been imagining for himself has gone far off course. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. When Griffin’s first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes.

Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository | Fully Booked Other classifications: Depression and Mental Illness, LGBTQIA, Young Adult Publication: January 17th 2017 by Soho Teen

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera