Emotional Whiplash Adam, emotional whiplash… The good kind.

I struggled to read, History Is All You Left Me, in public because one moment I’d be laughing and the very next I’d be brought to tears. It’s a deeply emotional book about first love. I can only imagine this book was extremely personal for Adam Silvera, because it was written with such grace, beauty, and clearly came from someone who understands on a personal level what it means to love and have love lost. The story is driven by love, grief, and friendship between four boys. Written in a unique way, jumping back and forth between the loss of one of them in the present and their history’s in the past.

There are no villains in this story, there’s no bad guy, no one out to get someone else. This is a book about four people trying to be the best versions of themselves they can. They just don’t always succeed. They’re human. Silvera manages to weave a thread between these relationships, in a way that feels authentic and beautiful.

“He broke me in a way everyone should be lucky to be cracked open at least once.”

Our main character, Griffin loses his first love and best friend Theo in the books opening preparing for a funeral. As the story unfolds, we meet Wade, their other best friend, and Jackson, Theo’s college boyfriend. The layers are never ending and kept me guessing till the end of the book.

It wasn’t all sad and gut wrenching emotions. It was warm, and funny, super funny. Filled with a geeky love and fun. Our main character’s OCD is a challenge handled the same way it often feels suffering from OCD. A slippery slope which doesn’t always have footing.

As for the LGBT side of things, this book is filled with supportive parents and friends. It’s not a story of homophobia at all. Instead it has a positive representation of gay and bisexual boys. This includes sex without shame, (something all books could use a dose of).

I’d recommend this book and the other two by this author (More Happy Than Not & They Both Die At The End) without a second thought. I can’t wait till your next book Adam. I’ll be per-ordering.