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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
rescuemama97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War
shannananahey'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Antisemitism
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, and Child death
toofondofbooks_'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
3.5
There is so much to like about this book. First and foremost, the students at the boarding school were excellent, by far my favorite characters, Katie and Sonia especially. There were moments between them that were just so genuine and beautiful that it broke my heart. I thought the paranormal element of the story was very spooky and I loved the historical details that were there throughout. The 1950 chapters were my favorite because I loved the gothic boarding school setting and the haunting that came with it.
On to some negatives: The first 50 or so pages were a little slow and it made it hard for me to concentrate. I feel like this book would have benefitted greatly from some first person narration. I didn't like how detached the third person made me feel at times. I think that seeing at least one of the girl's from the first person perspective would have made a difference. I also thought the relationship part of the plot with Fiona and her boyfriend was annoying and took me out of the experience whenever it was being focused on. Additionally, during Fiona's investigations, a lot of things seemed to come to her very quickly and conveniently, which more than once made me, out loud, go "really?" It just seemed like she should've had to work a little harder for information that seemingly fell into her lap.
Overall, because of how much the characters overall meant to me, I gave this a 3.5. It was a perfect spooky wintry book for December!!
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Drug use, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Excrement
dalmavatai'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? No
The present timeline was also entertaining, I enjoyed Fiona's investigation and her efforts to uncover what happened to Sonya as well as her own sister Deb. I didn't connect with her or care about her as much as I did about the girls in the past timeline, but I did enjoy the amateur sleuth trope, I love when a character is investigating a mystery and has to talk to people, question them, uncover documents, etc.
The ending was a bit anticlimactic for me, I expected the twists to be more shocking and satisfying in wrapping up the story. I still liked them, though, I did not see them coming and one was especially interesting.
Overall, a dark, tense, emotional read with lovable characters and an engaging investigation. A memorable read even if I was a bit let down by the ending.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War
Minor: Blood and Grief