To be honest, it was a struggle finishing this book. Sure, there were great, fancy, colorful illustrations, but that is not what I needed. It was kind of dragging for me how the protagonist went on and on about the things she kept while she was in a relationship with the guy in the story. Though I know that the main point is that the story revolves around those things, it also made the whole book kind of uninteresting. Even if that was the case, I still managed to finish the book, and in the end I still felt for the protagonist. I still had a hard time getting over what the guy did to her and in that aspect, I think, the author was successful. I loved the characters, the distinct voice, the plethora of commas, the gorgeous illustrations, but I'm still trying to internalize a few things about it. Without spoiling the plot, I'll just say that there were stereotypical characters that embodied their tropes and cliche plot points-- since the protagonist is obsessed with movies and stories, I've been racking my brain for what Handler was trying to do by putting her within a cliche plot. Yes, the protagonist is self-aware that her story is cliche, but I'm trying to decide whether it was enough. What is the purpose of allowing a character to embody a trope but not allowing them to stray from it? To me, it read as discouraging, like people can't change, like they're stuck making the decisions they're supposed to make. I know that since I'm wrestling with themes and ideas, that Handler was definitely trying to do something with it, but I'm still not sure what that is.
