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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
luluhasnolife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
So I apologize in advance
It is incredible, I stayed all night reading this book. They are some heavy topics in this book but they are never full on detailed about it, I would keep this in mind if you are easily triggered about the tags warned…because those are the main one that are briefly discussed.
Another thing I want to point out in my rating about diversity, this book has characters with incredibly different backgrounds and personalities it’s magnificent but all of them are white if I recall, that’s why I put it’s complicated. It makes sense that they are all white but still.
Now positive!
I love how they brought actual historical events into this book, it made it feel more realistic
The whole ghost thing without spoilers is so juicy and sad at the same time. It keep me on my toes ngl, my dog moved and I would get startled
Some books can’t don’t time skips and changing pov but this author does an incredible job at it this.
The way there’s always sudden hints and foreshadowing in this book ties everything up in a beautiful bow
Minor: Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Murder
megwilli's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Police brutality
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Antisemitism
Minor: Miscarriage
kimbekaw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Antisemitism, and Classism