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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
4.25
"That was what the books did—they turned off your thinking for you, put their thoughts in your head so you wouldn't have your own."
I'm a fan of Simone St. James' writing and I love a good historical gothic thriller, so I'm honestly still not sure why it took me this long to actually pick up my copy of The Broken Girls. I'm definitely kicking myself now though, because while not my absolute favorite story written by her, I still ended up having an excellent time reading it. This book uses a dual timeline structure, switching between 1950 with four different POVs and 2014 with one POV. I personally did feel we didn't need the POVs of all four girls in the 1950s timeline; it made it harder to connect to them and I would have much preferred a focus on just one or two of the girls instead. That said, I did enjoy the 1950 timeline with the school setting and the paranormal/gothic/ghost element is well incorporated. I confess that ghost stories don't always work well for me, but I really like what this element added in The Broken Girls. The 2014 timeline focuses on Fiona, who is a journalist with a complicated past. It did take me some time to warm up to her and she could get frustrating at times, but I liked the investigation into Idlewild and the way certain facts were slowly revealed. The two timelines are initially only connected by location rather than the characters, but everything comes together in the end. I did see some of the twists coming, but there were also a couple surprises and as a whole I really enjoyed my time with this story.
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lbrumler's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War
Moderate: Genocide
lindzboots's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Xenophobia
Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Classism
eerieehobbit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Genocide, Violence, Antisemitism, and War
imfixintoread's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Murder
Moderate: Genocide, Sexual assault, and Stalking
colourado's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War
lampbee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Torture, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Genocide, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and War
Obviously a lot of the book centers around how one of the school girlschris_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Moderate: Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture
Minor: Sexual content
flying_monkeys's review against another edition
3.5
Set during winter in a small town called Barrons, Vermont. Part of the story takes place in the 1950s at Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for "bad girls." The other part takes place in 2014. Both involve the town legend of Mary Hand.
While its mystery is a page-turner, some of the situations the 1950s girls experienced before being cast off to the school's responsibility, were horrific and might trigger certain folks.
Prepared for that brutality, though, this thriller would be an excellent read on a cold winter's day.
3.5 stars
Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, and Rape
Moderate: Suicide attempt
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Rape, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Suicide attempt and Pregnancy