(Review) Instructions for a Broken Heart

Title: Instructions for a Broken Heart
Author: Kim Culbertson
Pub Date: May 2011
Pages: 304
Publisher: sourcebooks Fire

Source: I received an ARC of the book from the publisher for my honest review.

About the book:
Top Twenty Reasons He’s A Slimy Jerk Bastard

Jessa:
To help you get over your train wreck of an EX, I’ve enclosed 20 envelopes. Each one has a reason why Sean is a jerk and not worth the dirt on your shoes. And each one has an instruction for you to do one un-Jessa-like thing a day. NO CHEATING!
Ciao! — C

When Jessa catches her boyfriend, Sean, making out with Natalie “The Boob Job” Stone three days before her drama club’s departure to Italy, she completely freaks.
Stuck with a front-row view of Sean and Natalie making out against the backdrop of a country that oozes romance, Jessa promises to follow all of the outrageous instructions in her best friend’s care package and open her heart to new experiences.

Enter cute Italian boy stage left.
Jessa had prepared to play the role of humiliated ex-girlfriend, but with Carissa directing her life from afar, it’s finally time to take a shot at being a star.

This is Kim’s second YA book. If you remember yesterday I reviewed her debut ya book called Songs For a Teenage Nomad which I enjoyed but I have to say I think I enjoyed this one much more. Instructions For a Broken Heart had my laughing through out the book.

Being a teenager in high school is tough but when you throw in a boyfriend who you discover has been cheating on you is pretty rough and then you are all scheduled to go on a class trip is even rougher because you are basically front row to this new romance that is brewing.

Thankfully for me that never happened in that way for me. There was a guy a liked but he was nice enough to break my heart gently (I see that now but didn’t at the time) but shortly after that he started going out with someone so having to go through my own heart break and to watch this on a daily bases was pretty touch and I wish I had a friend like Carissa then to help me through that process would have been nice.

Jessa is your typical high school student who is dabbling into everything that her school has to offer with all the projects and different clubs she is involved with. As busy as she is she has two amazing friends Carissa and Taylor as well as a boyfriend Sean.

The schools drama club is just about ready to head over to Italy for a class trip but its not going to be as Jenna had hoped it would be because three days before they are scheduled to leave she catches her boyfriend in a compromising position with another girl in drama club called Natalie.

Jenna realizes that this trip will basically be like hell on earth for her and wonders if she should go to Italy but in the end but realizes that Sean can’t take this away from her so she heads out wondering how she will survive the next twenty days in Italy with a broken heart and Sean and his new girlfriend as well.

Carissa comes to her rescue and offers Jenna a package that contains twenty sealed envelopes. Inside each envelope contains a task that Jenna must do over the next twenty days to show her how much of a jerk Sean has really been in their relationship. Little does Jenna know but Taylor is also involved in this and he must make sure Jenna completes each task. Will she be able to complete each task or will it all be too overwhelming for her?

I have to say I loved the idea behind the envelopes because it allowed Jenna to do things she probably wouldn’t do on her own plus in some there was confessions and secrets that Jenna had no idea about. Will these secrets tear apart her friendships?

Eventually Jenna did a 360 turn and realized that she shouldn’t let Sean dictate her life and ruin her trip. No matter how much she hated him I think she realized it was for the best and I think it made her grow as a person.