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thrscldrn's review
5.0
I'm ready for the unknown.
This book is literally what it is, "The Book of Broken Hearts". This is my favorite from Sarah Ockler so far. I love how it tackles family, illness, trust and love all at the same time. And most of all I love that Jude Hernandez lived her own life, made her own choices, just at the right moment.
This book is absolutely amazing!!!
This book is literally what it is, "The Book of Broken Hearts". This is my favorite from Sarah Ockler so far. I love how it tackles family, illness, trust and love all at the same time. And most of all I love that Jude Hernandez lived her own life, made her own choices, just at the right moment.
This book is absolutely amazing!!!
alicebme's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. How do you weave all those themes together so seamlessly? Sisters, Latin culture, Alzheimer's, motorcycles, first love, forbidden love... I devoured this book on a Saturday. Well done.
halynah's review
4.0
Four solid stars. Not five, because some parts were slow and unnecessary, like all Jude's memories about her sisters. The book is focused on the relationships between the family members and fighting with illnes of the father of the family. The characters were really nice and I loved Jude's interactions with her Dad. In general - great read.
mollywetta's review
4.0
This review also appears on my blog wrapped up in books
First off, I want to talk about the cover. I pretty much think it’s terrible. I rarely discuss the book’s cover in reviews, but I do think a review can be about the entire package and I feel strongly enough about this cover to discuss it. I have a personal issue with that shade of purple going back to childhood trauma involving glitter at the hands of my gifted facilitator in elementary school who was obsessed with the color, so that was the first strike against it. I get the book/heart stock photo goes with the “book of broken hearts” but I really don’t feel it captures the feeling or tone or the “aboutness” of the book AT ALL.
Here’s what I pictured after reading it: blue-grey background, a winding road, and a motorcycle.
I loved this book, and I really felt like the cover did the book a disservice. It’s uninspired and makes it seem like the book is an overly sentimental romance when it’s really about so much more. Gendered covers can alienate a large segment of readers and reinforce stereotypes and I wish marketing departments in publishing houses would stop going for the least common denominator when they design book covers.
Despite the awful cover, I really enjoyed the book. While there is a great romantic storyline, the core of the novel is about family. Jude’s relationships with her father and her sisters are the driving force of the plot. They are a tight-knit Hispanic family—Jude’s parents emigrated from South America—and I loved the realistic portrayal of a family who speaks Spanish at home and my mouth was watering at all the empanadas they were constantly eating. Jude’s relationship with her father was touching and moving and the dynamic between the sisters was complex and nuanced.
Jude’s sisters are older than her, and one has always bossed her around, and she’s always looked up to both of them. She’s determined to make them proud by doing a good job taking care of her father over the summer. Jude’s father has early onset Alzheimer’s and his condition has been worsening.
Jude’s big idea to connect her father with his memories is to fix up his old motorcycle from his life in Argentina before he moved to the US. Their summer project is designed to keep him busy and active, but requires the help of a professional mechanic, too.
Enter Emilio Vargas. One of those Vargases, from a family of heartbreakers. Two of his relatives have devastated Jude’s older sisters and they made Jude agree to a pact to never get involved with a Vargas boy.
But really, their relationship is based on friendship, at least at first. Though he’s a charmer, Jude is reluctant to admit her own feelings. It’s sweet and endearing and I loved watching their love blossom.
As much as I enjoyed Emilio and Jude’s scenes, it was Jude’s father who captured my heart. Too few YA novels showcase teens relationships with their parents, and this one is well-executed.
I highly recommend this books to fans of young adult contemporary stories. I was so happy to discover a beautiful story of family, friendship, and love, especially since it features an immigrant family.
First off, I want to talk about the cover. I pretty much think it’s terrible. I rarely discuss the book’s cover in reviews, but I do think a review can be about the entire package and I feel strongly enough about this cover to discuss it. I have a personal issue with that shade of purple going back to childhood trauma involving glitter at the hands of my gifted facilitator in elementary school who was obsessed with the color, so that was the first strike against it. I get the book/heart stock photo goes with the “book of broken hearts” but I really don’t feel it captures the feeling or tone or the “aboutness” of the book AT ALL.
Here’s what I pictured after reading it: blue-grey background, a winding road, and a motorcycle.
I loved this book, and I really felt like the cover did the book a disservice. It’s uninspired and makes it seem like the book is an overly sentimental romance when it’s really about so much more. Gendered covers can alienate a large segment of readers and reinforce stereotypes and I wish marketing departments in publishing houses would stop going for the least common denominator when they design book covers.
Despite the awful cover, I really enjoyed the book. While there is a great romantic storyline, the core of the novel is about family. Jude’s relationships with her father and her sisters are the driving force of the plot. They are a tight-knit Hispanic family—Jude’s parents emigrated from South America—and I loved the realistic portrayal of a family who speaks Spanish at home and my mouth was watering at all the empanadas they were constantly eating. Jude’s relationship with her father was touching and moving and the dynamic between the sisters was complex and nuanced.
Jude’s sisters are older than her, and one has always bossed her around, and she’s always looked up to both of them. She’s determined to make them proud by doing a good job taking care of her father over the summer. Jude’s father has early onset Alzheimer’s and his condition has been worsening.
Jude’s big idea to connect her father with his memories is to fix up his old motorcycle from his life in Argentina before he moved to the US. Their summer project is designed to keep him busy and active, but requires the help of a professional mechanic, too.
Enter Emilio Vargas. One of those Vargases, from a family of heartbreakers. Two of his relatives have devastated Jude’s older sisters and they made Jude agree to a pact to never get involved with a Vargas boy.
But really, their relationship is based on friendship, at least at first. Though he’s a charmer, Jude is reluctant to admit her own feelings. It’s sweet and endearing and I loved watching their love blossom.
As much as I enjoyed Emilio and Jude’s scenes, it was Jude’s father who captured my heart. Too few YA novels showcase teens relationships with their parents, and this one is well-executed.
I highly recommend this books to fans of young adult contemporary stories. I was so happy to discover a beautiful story of family, friendship, and love, especially since it features an immigrant family.
viviennemorgain's review
4.0
Four stars, because it was a very good book with endearing characters, but I was also able to stop reading it halfway and returned to finish it after months, so...
notpopeyesolive's review
5.0
I have to be honest and say that when I started this book I expected the usual story of good girl turns bad boy into good guy.
Well...boy was I in for a big surprise.
This is a beautiful story about finding yourself, and about learning that in order to really live, you should keep your eyes on the future, and not dwell on the past. It's about accepting the things we cannot change, and about enjoying the beautiful things in life, as long as we still have them.
It's an amazing, poignant story that's definitely worth reading!
Well...boy was I in for a big surprise.
This is a beautiful story about finding yourself, and about learning that in order to really live, you should keep your eyes on the future, and not dwell on the past. It's about accepting the things we cannot change, and about enjoying the beautiful things in life, as long as we still have them.
It's an amazing, poignant story that's definitely worth reading!
eatingwords's review
4.0
After reading Bittersweet, I wanted to read more by Sarah Ockler. Her writing is just plain beautiful and since The Book of Broken Hearts came out this year I wanted to see if I would like this contemporary romance as well.
What I liked very much:
1. The Argentinian family. I just loved how Jude and her family and actually almost everyone that they associated with had a South American background. I also enjoyed reading the scattered Spanish phrases and words that were embedded into conversations. Also reading about all of the food..thinking about it makes me hungry again :D
2. The non-existent love triangle. There just was no love triangle. I enjoyed that there was just one love interest. There was no need to put in a second guy to complicate things. It was complicated as it was.
3. The bond between the sisters. I loved their relationship and although Jude and the 'Hole Trinity' were quite a few years apart they still were the Hernandez sisters that had each others back no matter what.
4. Jude's love and fight for her father. It was so affectionate to read about how Jude wanted her father to get better although that was not possible. Her project rebuilding his motorcycle with him was great and I loved how much Jude wanted to do this for her father.
5. The romance. It was subtle and more in the background, which I liked. It didn't overtake the whole story. I liked that there were more important things than the romance.
6. The writing. As already mentioned, I really love Sarah Ockler's writing style. It is just so beautiful and once you have started reading, you don't want to stop.
7. Dealing with Alzheimer's. It's not like I would know how people cope with this kind of situation. How their relationships with the affected person changes and how people still try to hold everything together despite the disease. But everything about it seemed authentic and real to me. I didn't doubt that Sarah Ockler didn't know what she was writing about.
8. The motorcycles. Engines, cars and motorcycles are not really my thing. They are my boyfriends' thing. It's not that I'm passionate about them, but I enjoyed reading about them. Since the actual technical parts were not that long, I thought that it was cool to bring something so untypical for a contemporary romance up.
What I didn't like too much:
1. Mari's bossiness. I didn't like how she came around for a few weeks and then decided that everything should work like she wanted it. I also didn't like how Jude just stood there, let it happen and waited for her next order.
2. The Book of Broken Hearts. Like, really?! How could Jude be so naive and try not to break some oath that was ridiculous from the beginning.
Overall I really loved this story and I hope to read more of Sarah Ockler in the future!
What I liked very much:
1. The Argentinian family. I just loved how Jude and her family and actually almost everyone that they associated with had a South American background. I also enjoyed reading the scattered Spanish phrases and words that were embedded into conversations. Also reading about all of the food..thinking about it makes me hungry again :D
2. The non-existent love triangle. There just was no love triangle. I enjoyed that there was just one love interest. There was no need to put in a second guy to complicate things. It was complicated as it was.
3. The bond between the sisters. I loved their relationship and although Jude and the 'Hole Trinity' were quite a few years apart they still were the Hernandez sisters that had each others back no matter what.
4. Jude's love and fight for her father. It was so affectionate to read about how Jude wanted her father to get better although that was not possible. Her project rebuilding his motorcycle with him was great and I loved how much Jude wanted to do this for her father.
5. The romance. It was subtle and more in the background, which I liked. It didn't overtake the whole story. I liked that there were more important things than the romance.
6. The writing. As already mentioned, I really love Sarah Ockler's writing style. It is just so beautiful and once you have started reading, you don't want to stop.
7. Dealing with Alzheimer's. It's not like I would know how people cope with this kind of situation. How their relationships with the affected person changes and how people still try to hold everything together despite the disease. But everything about it seemed authentic and real to me. I didn't doubt that Sarah Ockler didn't know what she was writing about.
8. The motorcycles. Engines, cars and motorcycles are not really my thing. They are my boyfriends' thing. It's not that I'm passionate about them, but I enjoyed reading about them. Since the actual technical parts were not that long, I thought that it was cool to bring something so untypical for a contemporary romance up.
What I didn't like too much:
1. Mari's bossiness. I didn't like how she came around for a few weeks and then decided that everything should work like she wanted it. I also didn't like how Jude just stood there, let it happen and waited for her next order.
2. The Book of Broken Hearts. Like, really?! How could Jude be so naive and try not to break some oath that was ridiculous from the beginning
Spoiler
(even if Johnny Vargas did cheat on Celi, it does not mean that Emilio Vargas will cheat on Jude..I don't really understand why Jude spoke so mighty of this oath because it seemed just absurd to me. Also, she was only twelve when taking that oath, so that makes it doesn't even count..)Overall I really loved this story and I hope to read more of Sarah Ockler in the future!
sailorkchick's review
4.0
The novel really dives into the plot quick and then lets you figure things out as you go, which is a little hard for the first quarter of the novel, but I ended up really enjoying it and I think it'll stay with me for a long time.
jturner73's review
5.0
This book was surprisingly emotional. I don't mean just gushy romance either. I laughed, cried, and "aww'd" my through. It was so romantic and sad and hilarious all at the same time! This is one of the best contemporary books I've read.