History is All You Left Me is a heartbreaking tale of first love and grief, as Adam Silvera expertly navigates what it means to have love and have lost. Griffin and Theo have been as thick as thieves since meeting as kids and ultimately pursuing a monastic relationship as teenagers. They fall in love rapidly, but their relationship is cut short as Theo moves from New York to California to pursue an animation degree; Theo then meets Jackson, who he dates up until his unexpected passing, rocking Griffin’s world and his perspective on life. 

Silvera has plenty of experience in crafting the perfect story, and this work is no exception. His portrayal of the main character, Griffin, is something to aspire to; he makes his characters feel like real people, with flaws and anger blinded by love. Griffin is too wrapped up in his love— and longing, for Theo that he misses out on moving forward. Whether that be with Jackson, Wade, or life in general, Silvera showcases the way that grief can truly make the world stop; time moves forward, but it doesn’t mean that people do. Even his OCD, which seems to control his life at points, gives Griffin more depth than most characters seen in literature today. 

Not only is Griffin a complex character with a unique perspective given his closeness to Theo, but the way that the flashbacks are written give the audience an inside look into the mind of Theo through the way Griffin describes him. It’s fairly easy to say that Griffin puts Theo on a pedestal throughout most of the work, but it makes sense given the way that the two interact as Griffin recalls their history. Their ending feels unfinished, as loss often does, but it serves as the perfect metaphor: love the one you’re with, hold the ones you love close. The way that the two main characters love each other shines through the work in a way that can be hard to encapsulate when writing about teenage love, because it is so often shallow; Silvera ensures that is not the case here, as Griffin and Theo’s love story is so deeply rooted in their history that they are not truly experiencing love for the first time but rather acting on how that’s love has shifted. 

This work is so special in the way that it grapples with such heavy topics in the world of teenagers, as it demonstrates how life can move forward through even the toughest of times. The audience sees this with Griffin towards the end of the work as he pieces his life back together and finally lets Theo go in order to find peace, which isn’t an easy thing for anybody to do. History is All You Left Me serves as a reminder that anybody can experience the kind of love worth writing books about, a facet of emotion lost on most people nowadays. There isn’t an age limit on love, as Griffin and Theo are perfect examples of what it means to love someone until your dying breath.