It received a Michael L. Printz Honor and a feature film starring Hailee Steinfeld was in the works, and was meant to be released in early 2014.

Min Green and Ed Slaterton, a high school junior and senior basketball jock, respectively, ended their relationship, which lasted from October 5 to November 12.

The box includes two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a lobby ticket, a box of matches, a pinhole camera, a folded note, a rubber band, a high school pennant, a toy truck, a recipe book (Real Recipes from Tinseltown), Pensieri, a fictional liquor (and Italian for "thoughts"), a protractor, a file, a concert ticket, an egg cuber ("makes a square egg"), a polaroid, a comb from a motel room, a pair of ugly earrings, and several other items collected over the course of their relationship.

[2] Brian Truitt of USA Today claims that the book should not have the "young adult" label because "writer Daniel Handler and illustrator Maira Kalman will connect with anyone who has ever had an ex.

[3] Amy Benfer, writing for barnesandnoblereview.com, commends Maira Kalman's "sly, beautifully produced illustrations", which are found throughout the novel.