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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Graded By: Stephanie
Cover Story: Light-Up Heart
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: Lifetime For YA
Bonus Factors: Sports, The Tami Taylor Award for Amazing Motherhood
Anti-Bonus Factor: Gaslighting
Relationship Status: Casual Fan
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Light-Up Heart
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: Lifetime For YA
Bonus Factors: Sports, The Tami Taylor Award for Amazing Motherhood
Anti-Bonus Factor: Gaslighting
Relationship Status: Casual Fan
Read the full book report here.
**Review originally posted on My Fangirl Chronicles**
Trigger warnings: Drug abuse, physical abuse
Okay, [b:Broken Beautiful Hearts|33158532|Broken Beautiful Hearts|Kami Garcia|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504809945s/33158532.jpg|53851685] is now officially my favorite [a:Kami Garcia|2895706|Kami Garcia|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1452664536p2/2895706.jpg] book.
I had a little trouble really getting into the story in the beginning (but that tends to happen to me with most books), but after a few chapters I was so captivated by Peyton's story that I could not put it down. Once I even unintentionally stayed up until 3am! I absolutely adored Peyton's strength and resilience throughout the entire ordeal. No matter what, Peyton stuck to her principles and her resolve did not waver one bit. She was very independent and stubborn which made her feel more genuine to me. Hands down, she was my favorite throughout the entire novel. Her twin cousins were annoyingly endearing with how overprotective they were towards her, and made me wish they were my cousins.
In the beginning, it seemed as if Reed was like the typical YA "Bad Boy" type of character that I usually swoon over, but as the story progressed he became worse and worse - his feelings for Peyton morphing into a dangerous obsession. I became increasingly worried for her because Reed was becoming more and more unpredictable. Thankfully, Peyton had some great people who genuinely cared for her, believed in her, and wanted to keep her safe. Owen becomes one of those people - one of the most important ones, actually - and I absolutely loved him. The perfect foil to Peyton's ex-boyfriend, Reed, Owan was also an MMA fighter but had the qualities Reed severely lacked. He was so swoon-worthy - sweet, charming, smart, and selfless (sometimes a little too much). I really liked Peyton and Owen's dynamic, they complemented each other really well. Be warned, however, there is one sex scene, but I thought it was written really well and didn't feel cheesy or too perfect.
I adore Kami's writing when she does contemporaries. She knows exactly how to write interesting and in-depth characters that feel real, and weave them into a plot that will have you captivated from the start. Discovering that the premise of this story is based off Kami's own experience was shocking but made me understand why it felt so raw and emotional. I felt so sympathetic and protective over Peyton after everyone she knew - and even people she didn't - turned their backs on her.
I also applaud Kami for addressing the issue of drug abuse because it is not something I see often in YA. Probably the only criticism I have for this book is the use of the typical popular mean girls troupe. There never really was an explanation for their attitudes and why they're the way they are, so these girls felt very hallow and stereotypical and were just there to cause drama.
Overall, I loved, loved, loved Broken Beautiful Hearts and cannot recommend it enough! Although the main plot can be predictable at times, there are definitely a lot of twists and turns that catch you by surprise, and honestly had me at the edge of my seat!
Trigger warnings: Drug abuse, physical abuse
Okay, [b:Broken Beautiful Hearts|33158532|Broken Beautiful Hearts|Kami Garcia|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504809945s/33158532.jpg|53851685] is now officially my favorite [a:Kami Garcia|2895706|Kami Garcia|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1452664536p2/2895706.jpg] book.
I had a little trouble really getting into the story in the beginning (but that tends to happen to me with most books), but after a few chapters I was so captivated by Peyton's story that I could not put it down. Once I even unintentionally stayed up until 3am! I absolutely adored Peyton's strength and resilience throughout the entire ordeal. No matter what, Peyton stuck to her principles and her resolve did not waver one bit. She was very independent and stubborn which made her feel more genuine to me. Hands down, she was my favorite throughout the entire novel. Her twin cousins were annoyingly endearing with how overprotective they were towards her, and made me wish they were my cousins.
In the beginning, it seemed as if Reed was like the typical YA "Bad Boy" type of character that I usually swoon over, but as the story progressed he became worse and worse - his feelings for Peyton morphing into a dangerous obsession. I became increasingly worried for her because Reed was becoming more and more unpredictable. Thankfully, Peyton had some great people who genuinely cared for her, believed in her, and wanted to keep her safe. Owen becomes one of those people - one of the most important ones, actually - and I absolutely loved him. The perfect foil to Peyton's ex-boyfriend, Reed, Owan was also an MMA fighter but had the qualities Reed severely lacked. He was so swoon-worthy - sweet, charming, smart, and selfless (sometimes a little too much). I really liked Peyton and Owen's dynamic, they complemented each other really well. Be warned, however, there is one sex scene, but I thought it was written really well and didn't feel cheesy or too perfect.
I adore Kami's writing when she does contemporaries. She knows exactly how to write interesting and in-depth characters that feel real, and weave them into a plot that will have you captivated from the start. Discovering that the premise of this story is based off Kami's own experience was shocking but made me understand why it felt so raw and emotional. I felt so sympathetic and protective over Peyton after everyone she knew - and even people she didn't - turned their backs on her.
I also applaud Kami for addressing the issue of drug abuse because it is not something I see often in YA. Probably the only criticism I have for this book is the use of the typical popular mean girls troupe. There never really was an explanation for their attitudes and why they're the way they are, so these girls felt very hallow and stereotypical and were just there to cause drama.
Overall, I loved, loved, loved Broken Beautiful Hearts and cannot recommend it enough! Although the main plot can be predictable at times, there are definitely a lot of twists and turns that catch you by surprise, and honestly had me at the edge of my seat!
4.5/5
yo... he deadass pushed her down a flight of fucking stairs because he's that psycho. now THATS next level. other than peyton being a huge hypocrite during the last quarter THIS WAS GREAT WOW I LOVE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING again aside from the hypocrisy in the last quarter cmon peyton i expect more from you
OWEN IS A FUCKING BAE LETS GET MARRIED WOW YOU STOLE MY HEART THIS MAN
yo... he deadass pushed her down a flight of fucking stairs because he's that psycho. now THATS next level. other than peyton being a huge hypocrite during the last quarter THIS WAS GREAT WOW I LOVE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING again aside from the hypocrisy in the last quarter cmon peyton i expect more from you
OWEN IS A FUCKING BAE LETS GET MARRIED WOW YOU STOLE MY HEART THIS MAN
“Losing him made me realize that we can’t control everything that happens in life. The universe has its own plans and we don’t get a vote.”
“I used to believe that everyone gets one perfect day sometime in their lives—if they were lucky. But I had it all wrong. We don’t get one perfect day. We get a lifetime of imperfect days, and it’s up to us to decide what we want to do with them. Some days are hard, and they leave us feeling like we just got our asses kicked. That’s the way I felt after Reed pushed me and wrecked my knee—broken and battered, with a life that would never be as whole as the one I had before. But broken and battered can become broken and beautiful.”
More like 2.5 stars I would say. Mmm. I don’t know how I felt about this. Actually I do. I just can’t describe it because I didn’t really like it. I love romance and stuff but have the book was useless. It was way too cliché, had too many tropes, and was overall cringey. It definitely wasn’t the best but I will say that it wasn’t to too bad. But threee starts seems to be too much so that’s why it’s more of a 2.5?
Click here to see this review and others on my blog Reading With Daniella
My gosh, can you say disappointment?
Between the interesting synopsis, and promising reviews (I mean, come on - it has a 4.01 star average), I thought that I was sure to love this book. Unfortunately, I was sorely mistaken.
It had such great potential. The idea behind it was fantastic, but in my opinion, the execution was very poor. I think the story-line itself was decent, but unfortunately, the book lacked development, and was filled with annoying cliches and poor writing.
Something I did really like about this book was the MMA fighting aspect! I have for some reason always really loved books that involve sports and athletes, which is bizarre considering the fact that I couldn’t care less about these things in real life. Nonetheless, I will happily gobble up any sports romance that I can get my hands on.
I would have really liked the beginning of the story to be longer so that we could have gotten to know Peyton’s ex-boyfriend better. I feel like he was made into the villain of the story too early on. It would have been fascinating if we, as the reader, had grown some sort of attachment to him to gain a better understanding of what Peyton was going through.
The writing was juvenile and oftentimes, extremely over-dramatic. For instance:
I have a condition,” Owen says.
“Like a disease?” What if it’s cancer?
“No. It’s a genetic condition. I was born with it. I didn’t know until two years ago.” Owen looks at me like he knows that what he’s about to say will crush me - and destroy us both.
“Something is wrong with my heart… I could die tomorrow.”
And gosh, isn’t it just so incredibly convenient when characters say everything going through their heads out loud when they think they’re alone. SO. CONVENIENT.
“Come on, Mom. Pick up.” Owen tugs at his hair like he’s trying to yank it out. “It’s bad enough that you’re ignoring my texts, but now you’re sending me straight to voicemail?” He stops pacing and leans against one of the ring’s padded corner posts with his arm above his head and his forehead pressed against the padding. “Don’t do this, Mom. Please. Not tonight,” Owen begs.
Sure, I could see someone saying the first sentence or maybe the last part, but all the middle section just dragged it out and felt unrealistic, and again, convenient.
There were moments of decent or at least somewhat entertaining writing scattered here and there, but they were few and far between. This one got a giggle from me:
The Twins noticed when I didn’t show up at lunch, and they made Grace check the girls’ bathrooms in case I’d fallen like the old lady from a Life Alert commercial.
However, there were also instances like this that really upset me and honestly turned me off from the book entirely:
The guy with the mullet laughs. I’m surprised he has the guts to laugh at anyone else when he’s sporting a bad 90’s haircut and a T-shirt that says: THE HIGHER THE TIRES< THE CLOSER TO GOD. The jerk’s friends wander over, cracking up like idiots. The taller guy has pockmarked skin and a unibrow. His buddy has two separate eyebrows, but he doesn’t seem to know his shirt size. His T-shirt is stretched over his gut like a sausage casing. These two shouldn’t be laughing at anyone, either.
I honestly can’t even express how much this quote upset me when I was reading. The first part with the bad haircut and T-shirt was fine, but when she started body-shaming them for things out of their control like acne scars and weight, I was pissed. And every time I re-read the section, it just makes me angrier. I can’t believe that things like this still get published. Little comments like these are so insensitive and it breaks my heart to see how normalized they are when they’re published in books.
This romance took insta-love to a whole ‘nother extreme. At first it seemed like there was going to be an enemies-to-lovers romance, but that didn’t end up happening. Instead, it worked into a terrible insta-love. They “fell in love” ridiculously quickly. It honestly made no sense. I feel like the only reason why she even liked Owen was because she was attracted to him. And I genuinely have no clue why he had any interest in her whatsoever. Everything about their relationship felt so superficial.
Peyton was a pretty unlikable person in my opinion. She was rude, judgmental, and flat out bitchy.
I will, however, give credit to whoever designed the cover because my goodness is it ever gorgeous?! I love the way that the writing loops through the heart - it’s simply stunning. It’s too bad the inside of the book isn’t.
Initially, I didn’t even realize that Kami Garcia was also the author Beautiful Creatures, which is a series that’s been on my Goodreads TBR for several years. However, I’ve heard a lot of negative things about the series, especially the last couple of books; I don’t think that I will ever bother with them at this point, especially considering what a massive disappointment this was.
My gosh, can you say disappointment?
Between the interesting synopsis, and promising reviews (I mean, come on - it has a 4.01 star average), I thought that I was sure to love this book. Unfortunately, I was sorely mistaken.
It had such great potential. The idea behind it was fantastic, but in my opinion, the execution was very poor. I think the story-line itself was decent, but unfortunately, the book lacked development, and was filled with annoying cliches and poor writing.
Something I did really like about this book was the MMA fighting aspect! I have for some reason always really loved books that involve sports and athletes, which is bizarre considering the fact that I couldn’t care less about these things in real life. Nonetheless, I will happily gobble up any sports romance that I can get my hands on.
Spoiler
I honestly wish that there could have been a heavier focus on Owen’s sport instead of his heart condition.I would have really liked the beginning of the story to be longer so that we could have gotten to know Peyton’s ex-boyfriend better. I feel like he was made into the villain of the story too early on. It would have been fascinating if we, as the reader, had grown some sort of attachment to him to gain a better understanding of what Peyton was going through.
The writing was juvenile and oftentimes, extremely over-dramatic. For instance:
Spoiler
When Owen goes to Peyton’s house and the twins all of a sudden tell Peyton that Owen is dying, it was so over-dramatic and unrealistic. I feel like they dropped the bomb out of nowhere and it was written weirdly when Owen confessed. I mean, could you be any more dramatic?I have a condition,” Owen says.
“Like a disease?” What if it’s cancer?
“No. It’s a genetic condition. I was born with it. I didn’t know until two years ago.” Owen looks at me like he knows that what he’s about to say will crush me - and destroy us both.
“Something is wrong with my heart… I could die tomorrow.”
And gosh, isn’t it just so incredibly convenient when characters say everything going through their heads out loud when they think they’re alone. SO. CONVENIENT.
“Come on, Mom. Pick up.” Owen tugs at his hair like he’s trying to yank it out. “It’s bad enough that you’re ignoring my texts, but now you’re sending me straight to voicemail?” He stops pacing and leans against one of the ring’s padded corner posts with his arm above his head and his forehead pressed against the padding. “Don’t do this, Mom. Please. Not tonight,” Owen begs.
Sure, I could see someone saying the first sentence or maybe the last part, but all the middle section just dragged it out and felt unrealistic, and again, convenient.
There were moments of decent or at least somewhat entertaining writing scattered here and there, but they were few and far between. This one got a giggle from me:
The Twins noticed when I didn’t show up at lunch, and they made Grace check the girls’ bathrooms in case I’d fallen like the old lady from a Life Alert commercial.
However, there were also instances like this that really upset me and honestly turned me off from the book entirely:
The guy with the mullet laughs. I’m surprised he has the guts to laugh at anyone else when he’s sporting a bad 90’s haircut and a T-shirt that says: THE HIGHER THE TIRES< THE CLOSER TO GOD. The jerk’s friends wander over, cracking up like idiots. The taller guy has pockmarked skin and a unibrow. His buddy has two separate eyebrows, but he doesn’t seem to know his shirt size. His T-shirt is stretched over his gut like a sausage casing. These two shouldn’t be laughing at anyone, either.
I honestly can’t even express how much this quote upset me when I was reading. The first part with the bad haircut and T-shirt was fine, but when she started body-shaming them for things out of their control like acne scars and weight, I was pissed. And every time I re-read the section, it just makes me angrier. I can’t believe that things like this still get published. Little comments like these are so insensitive and it breaks my heart to see how normalized they are when they’re published in books.
This romance took insta-love to a whole ‘nother extreme. At first it seemed like there was going to be an enemies-to-lovers romance, but that didn’t end up happening. Instead, it worked into a terrible insta-love. They “fell in love” ridiculously quickly. It honestly made no sense. I feel like the only reason why she even liked Owen was because she was attracted to him. And I genuinely have no clue why he had any interest in her whatsoever. Everything about their relationship felt so superficial.
Peyton was a pretty unlikable person in my opinion. She was rude, judgmental, and flat out bitchy.
I will, however, give credit to whoever designed the cover because my goodness is it ever gorgeous?! I love the way that the writing loops through the heart - it’s simply stunning. It’s too bad the inside of the book isn’t.
Initially, I didn’t even realize that Kami Garcia was also the author Beautiful Creatures, which is a series that’s been on my Goodreads TBR for several years. However, I’ve heard a lot of negative things about the series, especially the last couple of books; I don’t think that I will ever bother with them at this point, especially considering what a massive disappointment this was.
This review was originally posted on Bookish Things & More
I can't say enough good things about this book. I loved every second of it. I love how seemlessly Garcia brought this heartbreaking story to life. And, how she gives a sense of hope.
5 reasons to read Broken Beautiful Hearts
I can't say enough good things about this book. I loved every second of it. I love how seemlessly Garcia brought this heartbreaking story to life. And, how she gives a sense of hope.
I enjoyed the message it had, and I can really say that I learned from this book, but otherwise I was uncomfortable at parts