“History Is All You Left Me”

“History Is All You Left Me”

Written by Adam Silvera

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

“History Is All You Left Me” is the third novel that I have read by the young and well-loved author, Adam Silvera. Silvera creates wonderfully realistic and loveable LGBT characters in every novel he writes, interweaving emotional and creative stories.

In beginning to read “History Is All You Left Me”, I recognized that the plot was not completely unique to me. I have enjoyed many stories in which a character mourns the loss of a teen or young adult that they were in love with. I loved “13 Reasons Why”, “Tuck Everlasting”, “Looking for Alaska”, and a favorite of mine, “The Secret Year”. I highly recommend “A Secret Year” if you appreciate any of the novels mentioned.

In this, we meet Griffin and Theo. Griffin tells the story of Theo, his first love, who has passed on after a terrible drowning accident. We read the story in two parallel storylines: Griffin recounting the history of him and Theo, and then the story of Griffin that continues after Theo’s death.

One of the most important aspects of this novel is the representation of death, loss, and mental illness. The portrayals are full of stark emotion and poignance. This was my least favorite of Adam Silvera’s books so far, but that does not mean I did not enjoy this story. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my review of “They Both Die at the End”, Silvera’s two main characters in every story he’s written have a very similar trope pattern. This causes the characters to blend in with each other.

I think that the plot of this story is hard to come to grips with. I find it harder to sympathize with novels like this now that I’m older. Teen loss does not relate to me, and I find it harder to relate to the main characters. Additionally, there is not much of a plot, when characters overcome grief. However, if overcoming grief stories are intriguing to you, I recommend it.

The conclusion of this story was not what I expected. There’s a very strange romantic twist that I was not expecting. However, this did not ruin the book for me or make the book any worse.

Lastly, I enjoyed this story, less than I had hoped, but I still appreciated it. I plan to continue to read Silvera’s books, and I look forward to reading any future ones he will write.