Review: History is all you left me by Adam Silvera

Challenges: 

Diversity Bingo: Main character with an invisible disability. 

This story is told from Griffin’s point of view, Griffin who has just suffered a major loss. His ex-boyfriend Theo has died, and while people think it’s tragic they also seem to think that Griffin should move on, because after all they were EX-boyfriends and Theo had found someone new. But Griffin always considered himself and Theo endgame, so the loss hurts just as much as if they were still together. 

We follows Griffin’s struggles with grief and his escalating OCD, while all his relationships tangle and untangle around him. He meets Theo’s new boyfriend Jackson, who is just as crushed as Griffin, and while they at first seem to be competing in grief for Theo they soon find out that the other one is the only one who can really understand them and they become tentative friends. Meanwhile Griffin and Theo’s old friend Wade tries to help Griffin, but Griffin rejects him. 

We slowly figure out how the relationships between these four boys have developed and deteriorated and as secrets are revealed relationships change. 

Griffin’s OCD is an integral part of the story and his character, without it seeming tacked on for interest, and I really appreciated that. It doesn’t overshadow the plot, but is well-written and becomes an integral part of the story. 

I really liked this book. It is written in two different timelines; one in the present and one in the past. The past one shows us Griffin’s relationship with Theo while the present shows us his relationships with Jackson and Wade and I thought all of it was really well done. 

I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.