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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
Once I picked up this book I did not want to put it down. The two main characters captured my heart.
Owen is an MMA fighter on his way to a championship and hitting the big time even though it's the last thing he should be doing. Peyton is in high school figuring out how to deal with being the victim of domestic abuse and great loss while also being uprooted from her home and friends.
While these aren't the most complex of characters and it's a simple storyline with a predictable ending, I was still invested and eager to reach the conclusion and HEA I was expecting.
It's a quick and easy read for fans of YA and a love story where broken hearts are mended.
Once I picked up this book I did not want to put it down. The two main characters captured my heart.
Owen is an MMA fighter on his way to a championship and hitting the big time even though it's the last thing he should be doing. Peyton is in high school figuring out how to deal with being the victim of domestic abuse and great loss while also being uprooted from her home and friends.
While these aren't the most complex of characters and it's a simple storyline with a predictable ending, I was still invested and eager to reach the conclusion and HEA I was expecting.
It's a quick and easy read for fans of YA and a love story where broken hearts are mended.
Some parts of this were really hard to get through but overall I really liked it
A romance of stark importance to anyone who has ever loved after being hurt. Garcia creates realistic teen characters in a small town environment. Though the book deals with some heavy issues, the romance is the center of the story. I like the relationships characters built. I especially liked how gutsy the main character, Peyton, is when it comes to righting wrongs! Even though she doesn't take care of herself perfectly, she's always ready to stand up for someone else.
TW domestic abuse, drug use
TW domestic abuse, drug use
I adored this one. There were so many characters that pulled on my heartstrings. Peyton's cousins provided such great comic relief, they were also the sweetest to her. I loved their relationship. There were the usual high school stereotypes that was a little disappointing, but it was still a really great story!
I really wanted to like this book because I like that it’s bringing awareness to abusive relationships, but unfortunately I did not like this book. None of the characters felt real to me, they certainly didn’t behave as if they were high school students, and I didn’t care about any of them. Way, way too much fighting and drama.
[2,5 stars]
Like a lot of romance novels I own, buying Broken Beautiful Hearts was an impulsive decision, rather than a book I actually looked forward to reading - which is probably why I found it so hard to enjoy it at all.
What I hoped would be a quick, interesting read turned out to be a very dramatic and (for me) over-the-top story. While the story seemed to be about a girl in an abusive relationship overcoming it, and I really hoped this could be a novel that taught girls - or anyone, really - how to find strength within yourself, the plot just seemed too constructed. The main character, Peyton, acted like a spoiled brat, as if she expected everything to be given to her on a silver plate. Although I know that's a very controversial opinion, even in the beginning, her actions seemed bratty; I get that she wanted attention from Reed, but she behaved like an impatient little child, whining and demanding attention. Though she did not in any way deserve what Reed did to her, I found it shockingly difficult to sympathise with her. Both Reed and Peyton were shitty people.
The one scene where Peyton was in the bathroom after meeting her cousins Cam and Christian, was another scene that should help the reader connect with Peyton, but for me, did the exact opposite. Her standing up to April and Madison and defending Grace would have been great, a really good opportunity to show (more) positive sides to her personality, but it just made her more unlikeable. The constant fighting between April and her was unnecessary and sometimes, she behaved even worse than April did, throwing in little comments like "loser" or "bitch" where she didn't need to. The amount of these two girls hating on each other was just too much. Peyton never let it go. This, as well as her freaking out about her locker number (which didn't make any sense) and her making Owens condition all about herself just made her incredibly immature.
To me, she seemed very ungrateful even to the people who were trying to help her - her cousins and her mother, for example - and almost stopped interacting completely with her cousins once she met Owen. After initially disliking him, Peyton warmed up to him *really* quickly and began talking about "love" - and Owen did the same. At this point, I almost stopped reading, because their chemistry came out of literally nowhere - as did the other guys' attraction to Peyton. I never quite understood just why she was so desirable, why every boy in this school had a crush on her.
Owen himself had little to no personality - I guess it's understandable that Kami Garcia couldn't give as much of an insight in his life and personality as she could Peytons, but he behaved like the stereotypical high-school-hottie, only existing to be complementary to the protagonist, to fulfill his role as only her boyfriend. Other than how "hot" and "gorgeous" he is, I learned practically nothing about him before it was revealed what his secret was.
Even his big "secret" did not surprise nor touch me in any way - which it probably should have.
What I found particularly ridiculous - even though that's a relatively small part, given what Broken Beautiful Hearts focuses on - was that Peyton could walk more or less without any difficulties after a few days. I might have too little experience to judge that, I just found it hard to believe that she could walk such long distances without any problems so shortly after her "accident". Maybe that was a flaw in story telling or research.
Also, although it's very subtle and probably really not meant to be interpreted that way - quite the opposite, I'd say - the many comments about women and what they could and couldn't do, they bugged me. It's not a woman's sole purpose to cook or tidy the whole day. Even though Peyton did express her discomfort about these stereotypes, I think it could have been handled a lot better.
What I did like was the description of the school Peyton goes to. It was very detailed, and I think I fell in love with Grace a little bit. She was fantastic - supportive, kind, shy but ultimatively not afraid to stand up for herself and others. Who wouldn't want a best friend just like her? Although she was a character not much is known about, I adored her.
The last 50 Pages or so were the only ones I really enjoyed - because Peyton finally confronts her abuser and because she and Owen talk about their issues instead of ignoring each other. This is why this novel gets 2,5 stars - although all in all, I did not like it very much, Graces character and the ending convinced me to at least give it that.
Like a lot of romance novels I own, buying Broken Beautiful Hearts was an impulsive decision, rather than a book I actually looked forward to reading - which is probably why I found it so hard to enjoy it at all.
What I hoped would be a quick, interesting read turned out to be a very dramatic and (for me) over-the-top story. While the story seemed to be about a girl in an abusive relationship overcoming it, and I really hoped this could be a novel that taught girls - or anyone, really - how to find strength within yourself, the plot just seemed too constructed. The main character, Peyton, acted like a spoiled brat, as if she expected everything to be given to her on a silver plate. Although I know that's a very controversial opinion, even in the beginning, her actions seemed bratty; I get that she wanted attention from Reed, but she behaved like an impatient little child, whining and demanding attention. Though she did not in any way deserve what Reed did to her, I found it shockingly difficult to sympathise with her. Both Reed and Peyton were shitty people.
The one scene where Peyton was in the bathroom after meeting her cousins Cam and Christian, was another scene that should help the reader connect with Peyton, but for me, did the exact opposite. Her standing up to April and Madison and defending Grace would have been great, a really good opportunity to show (more) positive sides to her personality, but it just made her more unlikeable. The constant fighting between April and her was unnecessary and sometimes, she behaved even worse than April did, throwing in little comments like "loser" or "bitch" where she didn't need to. The amount of these two girls hating on each other was just too much. Peyton never let it go. This, as well as her freaking out about her locker number (which didn't make any sense) and her making Owens condition all about herself just made her incredibly immature.
To me, she seemed very ungrateful even to the people who were trying to help her - her cousins and her mother, for example - and almost stopped interacting completely with her cousins once she met Owen. After initially disliking him, Peyton warmed up to him *really* quickly and began talking about "love" - and Owen did the same. At this point, I almost stopped reading, because their chemistry came out of literally nowhere - as did the other guys' attraction to Peyton. I never quite understood just why she was so desirable, why every boy in this school had a crush on her.
Owen himself had little to no personality - I guess it's understandable that Kami Garcia couldn't give as much of an insight in his life and personality as she could Peytons, but he behaved like the stereotypical high-school-hottie, only existing to be complementary to the protagonist, to fulfill his role as only her boyfriend. Other than how "hot" and "gorgeous" he is, I learned practically nothing about him before it was revealed what his secret was.
Even his big "secret" did not surprise nor touch me in any way - which it probably should have.
What I found particularly ridiculous - even though that's a relatively small part, given what Broken Beautiful Hearts focuses on - was that Peyton could walk more or less without any difficulties after a few days. I might have too little experience to judge that, I just found it hard to believe that she could walk such long distances without any problems so shortly after her "accident". Maybe that was a flaw in story telling or research.
Also, although it's very subtle and probably really not meant to be interpreted that way - quite the opposite, I'd say - the many comments about women and what they could and couldn't do, they bugged me. It's not a woman's sole purpose to cook or tidy the whole day. Even though Peyton did express her discomfort about these stereotypes, I think it could have been handled a lot better.
What I did like was the description of the school Peyton goes to. It was very detailed, and I think I fell in love with Grace a little bit. She was fantastic - supportive, kind, shy but ultimatively not afraid to stand up for herself and others. Who wouldn't want a best friend just like her? Although she was a character not much is known about, I adored her.
The last 50 Pages or so were the only ones I really enjoyed - because Peyton finally confronts her abuser and because she and Owen talk about their issues instead of ignoring each other. This is why this novel gets 2,5 stars - although all in all, I did not like it very much, Graces character and the ending convinced me to at least give it that.
- kinda it ends with us vibes
- the main character annoyed me at times
- i really liked the way the side characters were written LOL and also the message at the end
- the main character annoyed me at times
- i really liked the way the side characters were written LOL and also the message at the end
I give this book a 4.75. It was such an amazing book with multiple hard hitting topics but the way these topics were presented were beautifully done. I loved Peyton. Owen has my heart 😂 but most of all, I loved the family aspect and how important family was for Peyton and her recovery. The reason it is not an actual 5 is because there is a specific scene at the very end where I felt that Peyton should have handled the situation instead of ignoring the hard hitting facts and risking something for someone. I loved Kami Garcia’s writing. I felt this book was so easy to read in a way that it was fast pace but at the same time it felt like you were in the story. I would love to follow Owen and Peyton’s journey and maybe also follow Cameron and Christian. I just loved the twins so much that I want them to have their own separate books. Overall, I highly recommend reading it.