Plus I think that with the theme of death, and love, and grief, and coming-of-age, and friendship… it was a little over-the-top to also try to develop a mental illness theme into the plot.

I will admit that I have no close family or friends with a mental illness similar to this one, so it’s safe to say that I can only imagine what it must be like and not fully understand it to the core of its definition, but I couldn’t help but feel that something sounded unauthentic about Griffin’s OCD. There is no actual problem I can pinpoint about this novel, though I did feel rather unsatisfied about the way Silvera explored the ‘‘mental illness-OCD’’ theme. Which is not a bad thing in itself, since I adore tranquil, trust-worthy, open-to-love heroes struggling with personal matters and trying to find their way… coming-of-age style. He constantly reminded me of Aaron Soto from Silvera’s previous novel. The writing is excellent, as is the main character, Griffin. It’s not that it isn’t lyrically-written, like More Happy Than Not, because it truly is-and more. I never thought I’d say something like this about an Adam Silvera book, ever, but here’s the ugly truth: I struggled to finish History Is All You Left Me. This is where we give up hope on reversing time, where we abandon finding a cure to death, where we live in this Theo-less universe, where we say goodbye. But as the grieving pair grows closer, readers will question Griffin’s own version of the truth-both in terms of what he’s willing to hide and what true love means. When Jackson begins to exhibit signs of guilt, Griffin suspects he’s hiding something, and will stop at nothing to get to the truth about Theo’s death. In an attempt to hold onto every piece of the past, he forges a friendship with Theo’s last boyfriend, Jackson.

OCD-afflicted Griffin has just lost his first love, Theo, in a drowning accident. Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT, Life and Death, Grief, Romance, Friendship, Coming-of-Age, Mental Illness History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

History is all you left me plot