History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera: Book Review

Apr 17, 2018
3 min read

*Posted on my book reviews page*

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera was a beautiful, heartbreaking, and an emotional whiplash novel about a teen, Griffin, with extreme Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Delusional Disorder. Griffin is a homosexual male, and when his ex boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, Theo’s boyfriend, Jackson, is the only one who Griffin can confine in because they both truly understand each others heartbreak. I had to put on the audio book for the first five pages of this novel because I couldn’t really focus, but the book was still very easy for me to get into. Adam Silvera is such a brilliant author, and did a fantastic job at connecting me with the characters. Even though the description tells you that Theo dies, I still found myself hysterically crying, because the author switches from “History” (past), and “Today” (present). In the first “History” chapter, I felt immediately connected to all of the characters, especially Theo, and couldn’t possibly prepare myself for the chapters that followed. This book is so heartrendingly engaging, and my emotions were all confused while reading this story. I would have full on belly laughs one page, and literally the next I’ll be frantically balling my eyes out. The main characters in this novel were Griffin, Theo, Jackson, and Wade. Griffin, Wade, and Theo were inseparable friends, and were just so hilarious, hence why I was literally uproariously laughing a lot. Even the moments where Griffin and Jackson were grieving with each other were equally memorable, and beautiful. The back and forth with each chapter for present and past didn’t bother me at all, surprisingly. If anything, it made me love the book even more, and I am normally not a fan of chapters that switch between tenses. This book is filled with tragic, and sad events, but I think that is why this story was so amazing to me. I think my favorite character definitely had to be Theo. His humor was just glowing throughout this book, and even all the characters in the story loved his company. He was so quirky, and different. I think these characters can be very relatable, because even I personally know some teenagers who have lost their first love. Even then though, it’s very easy just to relate to their feelings as a teenager. Overall, I strongly really, really loved and enjoyed this novel! I thought it was an absolute amazing book, and I would recommend it to literally everyone, because it was such an important LGBTQIAP+ book to read. One thing I really loved about this book, is that it wasn’t stereotypical at all. Each character was different, and it showed the side of LGBTQIAP+ teenagers with supportive parents. Adam Silvera is a literal genius, and I really loved his writing style. I also really loved the fact that Griffin had mental disorders throughout this story, which gave it a very different feel than various other books I have read. It was very interesting to read about how everyone around him reacted to his mental disorders, and how it affected everyone individually. Overall, I really, really loved and enjoyed History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera, and thought it was such a heartbreaking, yet amazing read that will always have a special place in my heart!