MashReads Podcast: 'History Is All You Left Me' is a heartbreaking novel about teenage grief

It's an uncomfortable feeling to read a novel about death and grief, especially when the one who has passed away and the ones who are grieving are young.

But for Adam Silvera, author of History Is All You Left Me, that's the point.

"I didn't want to force quippy remarks just to make the reader feel more comfortable. It's death -- you should feel uncomfortable," says Silvera.

History Is All You Left Me follows Griffin, a 17-year-old boy who is grieving the death of the love of his life, Theo, after he tragically drowns. Though they were separated at the time of Theo's death, Griffin always imagined himself reuniting with Theo and living happily ever after.

To make matters more complicated, as Griffin is dealing with his grief, he must also confront Jackson, Theo's current boyfriend, who has flown into town for Theo's funeral. As Jackson and Griffin both grieve, they strike up an unlikely friendship that proves to be as destructive as it is therapeutic.

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we are joined by Adam Silvera himself to discuss History Is All You Left Me. Join us as we talk about the messiness of grief, teenage love and writing realism in YA.

• Adam recommends Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows duology. "I am so excited because I've been told a really sad thing happens and I have no idea what it is. And I kind of just want to experience literary heartbreak."

• Aliza recommends Moonlight. "It's gorgeous both in the themes but [it's] also visually stunning...the acting was so good, and it's so important in that it's giving representation to people who are not often seen on screen. Especially seen on screen in such a positive way."

• Peter recommends reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. "This is just this magnificent genius just spilling thoughts and watching them come together in ways that I would never ever in a million years be able to coalesce them. It just creates awe. It just inspires me."

• MJ recommends the podcast Reply All and their recent episode "Worldstar," about the founding of Worldstar Hip Hop and the impact it had on the internet. "What I love about Reply All is that I feel like they are doing a great job spotlighting underrepresented voices in tech."

Next week we're reading Ursula Le Guin's short story "The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas." We hope you'll join us.

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