The Catastrophic History of You and Me

By: Jess Rothenberg

Narrated by: Suzy Jackson

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Brie's life ends at sixteen: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart - literally. But now that she's in heaven, Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined.

Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend knows a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost - and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul who's been D&G (dead and gone) much longer than she… and who just might hold the key to her forever after.

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the 5 stages of grief before she's ready to move on.…But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

©2012 Jess Rothenberg (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC

Love it

I have to say, Suzy is the best narrator ever! I love the way her characters comes to live and they are unique. Every time her voice changes, I already know who she is referring to. Love love love the story but without her voice, it would have been nothing!

love is like being eaten alive by a grizzly bear

This book is about Brie, who dies, literally, from a broken heart. Brie isn’t quite ready to move on, and meets Patrick in the space between moving on, and the real world.

I liked the very beginning of this, thought it was amusing, Brie is talking about love, and claims love is like being eaten alive by a grizzly bear. I’ll admit, that was the reason I got this book, THAT LINE.

Then I got a little ways into it, and was enjoying that chapters were named from song lyrics. But at the same time was thinking ‘What the hell did I get myself into, this is freaking depressing.’

Brie was 15, almost 16, so there were mentions of school, and dances and general teenage life stuff that totally had me going back to those horrifying moments of my teenage years best left forgotten.

Overall, predictable. As far as the basic plot line went. Why Jacob broke up with her, who Patrick really was. There were some amusing parts, cheese themed nicknames, I like! Parts that were really depressing, the people left behind dealing with the death, too close to home for me thank you very much. I can’t say I didn’t like it, but I’m not sure I really liked it either. I think I’m mildly indifferent to it.

Excpected better but it was a nice story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

hmmmm , maybe the end of the book , and how did the story develop between Patrick and Brie

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

more of Patrick and Less of Jacob LOL

What does Suzy Jackson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I was reading and listening at the same time , maybe she was faster than me reading that's why I finished the book in one sitting

Could you see The Catastrophic History of You and Me being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I don't like these kind of stories which talks about "live" after "death " it doesn't make sense to me that's why I don't recommend it as a movie

Any additional comments?

I wanted to give this book a solid five stars but at the end I felt that there was something missing , but it was a nice book

Surprised

I do not even know what to write about this book. This was a total cover buy from my local library. I thought it was your typical contemporary romance, but then I saw on Goodreads that this was Fantasy and Paranormal. I have been putting off reading it since I saw that. When I saw this was part of the Audible romance section, I decided it was time to give it a try. The sections are broken up into the Stages of Grief and I felt anger, acceptance, and sadness while reading this. I would not say this was fantasy, as this deals with a 15 year old who passes away and is in the afterlife. I had Ghost (the movies) vibes in this, but with so much more to it than that. Brie is reflecting back on her life (friends, family, losing her life at such a young age). There were times were it was very sad, and there are some twists and turns along the way. I did not see the twist coming at all! I was not a huge fan of the ending, but I expected it since this is Young Adult. I loved that each chapter was a song name, and songs were used throughout. There were also several Disney references which I also enjoyed. This was definitely an unexpected read for me, and I really enjoyed it.