History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

The Quick Cut: A teen boy struggles with his grief when his first love and ex-boyfriend suddenly drowns in an accident. A Real Review: Loss can be difficult at any age, but losing a person you loved as a teenager? That can be particularly devastating during one of the most hormonal times in a person's life. How can you cope with loss? This is the struggle for Griffin. Griffin is lost when he finds out his ex-boyfriend and first love, Theo, drowned in an accident. Theo may have moved to California and gotten a new boyfriend, Jackson, but Griffin always held out hope that he'd come back to him. Griffin finds that the only person who can relate to his grief is Jackson. Will he find a way to move on or stay stuck in the past? This book is so deep in grief and loss that I can understand why so many people live it. The loss that Griffin shows is so strong that it feels real to the reader. However, it also comes off as a little annoying at best and at worst over the top. The level of sadness here isn't one I can relate to, but my way of grieving is admittedly far more casual. Griffin is so stuck on his first boyfriend that he's never tried to find his next great love. If he'd spend more time focusing on his own happiness instead of being sad over his past - he'd be better off. I did enjoy the albeit brief mention of OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a condition so stigmatized that people associate it with being clean or counting. It's so much more than that and I love that this story did reflect the reality. It would've been better if it was discussed as more than just in passing. A story about grief in the extreme. My rating: 3 out of 5