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thephdivabooks's review
5.0
Seriously unputdownable—I am buzzing with energy over my obsession with The World Breaks Everyone by Lauren Clark! Can I gush for a moment? This book was one of my favorite of 2018 (and I have read some AMAZING books in 2018). I picked this one up to do a mini book club read with my besties Jennifer and Berit. We got this about a month ago, and I’ve been going along with my scheduled reads until all three of us could read this together. And can I just say, I was expecting to enjoy it, but I ended up blown away! We were literally texting late into the night about how we couldn’t put this book down! For a virtual book club, a book that can bring that level of excitement across the country (east coast, Midwest, and west coast representing here) is truly an amazing experience. If you are a thriller lover, choose The World Breaks Everyone for your next book club pick—you won’t regret it!
About the Book
Olivia is on the cusp of her 17th birthday, but fading away from her life…
Just two years ago her mother passed away, and Olivia can barely cope with the knowledge that it was her fault. Now, her father Theo is truly making it in the culinary world of New Orleans with his much-anticipated restaurant opening. On the night of the opening, Olivia plans to take a break from her life for good—she’s heading to Baja with her boyfriend Gabe. That is the plan, anyways. But when an attack on herself and her father occurs, Olivia finds herself on the run.
Kate is excited to finally meet her boyfriend Theo’s daughter…
On the night of Theo’s restaurant opening, Kate arrives as scheduled, but finds herself caught in the middle of a drunken fight and ends up with a black eye. When Theo and his staff rush to take care of her, Olivia finds out about their relationship in the worst possible way. Kate leaves for work at the crisis center, only to learn about the attack on Theo and Olivia later that evening.
Theo tells Olivia to run…
In the wake of the attack, Olivia runs. She doesn’t know who to trust, or where to go. But she does know one thing—someone is after her and her father, and they are willing to take out whoever is in their path to get to them. And though Olivia doesn’t know Kate, she may be the one person Olivia can trust.
Reflection
I mentioned this was a book club read with two of my besties, Berit and Jennifer. What I didn’t mention is that Jennifer is already a big fan of this author. In fact, Jennifer is the one to recommend this book to us. I cannot be more excited that she did, because I absolutely loved this twisty cat-and-mouse thriller! This is the best part about the book community—I took a chance on something new that a friend told me about, and now I have a new favorite author to follow!
The tension that Clark built in this story is the reason that thrillers are a top genre. From the moment Olivia ran that night, I couldn’t stop reading. I felt uneasy when she was alone, and paranoid when someplace she turned for help didn’t feel quite right. I felt tempted to trust characters and not trust others, based on their words and actions. It felt like I was on the run along with Olivia!
And then the alternating storyline with Kate was fantastic. I absolutely loved Kate as a character. First, Kate is a psychologist and that alone gave me an initial connection. But Kate is so much more than that—she has a vulnerability and damage to her, that through her authenticity and raw emotions displays a strength of character I admired. Kate feels jealousy, but admits her irrationality. She isn’t perfect. She isn’t without basic human mistakes. But Kate is also humble and strives to constantly be more empathetic by reframing her thoughts to understand what others are going through. She’s a beautiful person and a joy to read about. Her chapters were so important, not just because of how great she is, but because she kept us informed of the search of Theo and Olivia.
I can’t say much more without spoilers, but I want to say that the twists through the characters and plot delighted me! I trusted and mistrusted every single character as events unfolded, switching back and forth. I was right along with Olivia as she followed her gut instinct, in the absence of a trusted advisor or even a good night’s sleep to make rational decisions with. What a ride!
I recommend this book fully and I know readers will love it!
About the Book
Olivia is on the cusp of her 17th birthday, but fading away from her life…
Just two years ago her mother passed away, and Olivia can barely cope with the knowledge that it was her fault. Now, her father Theo is truly making it in the culinary world of New Orleans with his much-anticipated restaurant opening. On the night of the opening, Olivia plans to take a break from her life for good—she’s heading to Baja with her boyfriend Gabe. That is the plan, anyways. But when an attack on herself and her father occurs, Olivia finds herself on the run.
Kate is excited to finally meet her boyfriend Theo’s daughter…
On the night of Theo’s restaurant opening, Kate arrives as scheduled, but finds herself caught in the middle of a drunken fight and ends up with a black eye. When Theo and his staff rush to take care of her, Olivia finds out about their relationship in the worst possible way. Kate leaves for work at the crisis center, only to learn about the attack on Theo and Olivia later that evening.
Theo tells Olivia to run…
In the wake of the attack, Olivia runs. She doesn’t know who to trust, or where to go. But she does know one thing—someone is after her and her father, and they are willing to take out whoever is in their path to get to them. And though Olivia doesn’t know Kate, she may be the one person Olivia can trust.
Reflection
I mentioned this was a book club read with two of my besties, Berit and Jennifer. What I didn’t mention is that Jennifer is already a big fan of this author. In fact, Jennifer is the one to recommend this book to us. I cannot be more excited that she did, because I absolutely loved this twisty cat-and-mouse thriller! This is the best part about the book community—I took a chance on something new that a friend told me about, and now I have a new favorite author to follow!
The tension that Clark built in this story is the reason that thrillers are a top genre. From the moment Olivia ran that night, I couldn’t stop reading. I felt uneasy when she was alone, and paranoid when someplace she turned for help didn’t feel quite right. I felt tempted to trust characters and not trust others, based on their words and actions. It felt like I was on the run along with Olivia!
And then the alternating storyline with Kate was fantastic. I absolutely loved Kate as a character. First, Kate is a psychologist and that alone gave me an initial connection. But Kate is so much more than that—she has a vulnerability and damage to her, that through her authenticity and raw emotions displays a strength of character I admired. Kate feels jealousy, but admits her irrationality. She isn’t perfect. She isn’t without basic human mistakes. But Kate is also humble and strives to constantly be more empathetic by reframing her thoughts to understand what others are going through. She’s a beautiful person and a joy to read about. Her chapters were so important, not just because of how great she is, but because she kept us informed of the search of Theo and Olivia.
I can’t say much more without spoilers, but I want to say that the twists through the characters and plot delighted me! I trusted and mistrusted every single character as events unfolded, switching back and forth. I was right along with Olivia as she followed her gut instinct, in the absence of a trusted advisor or even a good night’s sleep to make rational decisions with. What a ride!
I recommend this book fully and I know readers will love it!
sallashelves's review
4.0
Full review:
https://bookstoldmeso.blogspot.com/2019/01/review-world-breaks-everyone.html
The suspense is real. She is ready to leave the life she's known behind her but on the night she plans to leave it all goes down the drain. Her father goes missing and Olivia is on the run for her life.
https://bookstoldmeso.blogspot.com/2019/01/review-world-breaks-everyone.html
The suspense is real. She is ready to leave the life she's known behind her but on the night she plans to leave it all goes down the drain. Her father goes missing and Olivia is on the run for her life.
elisehud's review
1.0
Great story
I liked the story, but the typos and grammatical errors ruined a lot for me. I didn't think I was petty enough to let something like that bother me but it continuously jolted me out of an otherwise enjoyable book.
I liked the story, but the typos and grammatical errors ruined a lot for me. I didn't think I was petty enough to let something like that bother me but it continuously jolted me out of an otherwise enjoyable book.
energyrae's review
3.0
I really wanted to love this book and while I appreciated the constant back and forth of what was actually happening, there was just too much "no" to love it.
There were a lot of inconsistencies and repeated phrases, a lot of the medical information was just off. As someone with PTSD I do appreciate it when authors include that in their books, but I get picky when the information is less-than. Olivia was made out to be starving while on the run but ate often, she was also at times very immature for an almost 17-year-old, but then her know-how would be well beyond her years.
I felt like Kate's "big secret" wasn't as bad as she or Theo made it out to be and she was treated unfairly because of it (as opposed to Theo who kept a huge amount from Kate, so a giant double standard). Victoria was absolutely awful and I wouldn't keep someone like that in my life.
When I take out the things I didn't like about the book, I see the good in it. The author did do a good job of keeping the reader guessing as to what was going on. I also appreciated how the story was told in alternating viewpoints, as that can get tricky sometimes, but the author did well doing this. Overall a decent book that could be a lot better with some editing.
There were a lot of inconsistencies and repeated phrases, a lot of the medical information was just off. As someone with PTSD I do appreciate it when authors include that in their books, but I get picky when the information is less-than. Olivia was made out to be starving while on the run but ate often, she was also at times very immature for an almost 17-year-old, but then her know-how would be well beyond her years.
I felt like Kate's "big secret" wasn't as bad as she or Theo made it out to be and she was treated unfairly because of it (as opposed to Theo who kept a huge amount from Kate, so a giant double standard). Victoria was absolutely awful and I wouldn't keep someone like that in my life.
When I take out the things I didn't like about the book, I see the good in it. The author did do a good job of keeping the reader guessing as to what was going on. I also appreciated how the story was told in alternating viewpoints, as that can get tricky sometimes, but the author did well doing this. Overall a decent book that could be a lot better with some editing.
lonewolf6693's review
2.0
2.75 stars. What really hurt this book was there were a lot of errors and inconsistencies with plot and especially characters. Gosh there were so many issues with the actual characters themselves and the characterization. It's like this book wasn't edited properly because a lot of things were clearly overlooked. As far as plot, it was basic, highly predictable, and not at all plausible. The whole scenario surrounding the character Olivia being on the run doesn't make any sense. Kate's whole plot and background could have been removed honestly as it added nothing. Overall I feel like the story has potential, but there need to be some real edits and reworking done to the plot and characters.
lsmoore43's review
5.0
I love this author’s books. I have never been disappointed by any of them.
This one definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. Who was doing what and to whom. Who would want to see a young teen hurt or possibly worse and was her dad part of it. This book kept me turning the pages. It kept me guessing up until the end. I absolutely loved it and always look forward to books by Lauren Clark.
This book will draw you in. The characters are great and realistic and you will root for some while wanting others to just shut up. It’s well written. Well developed and full of suspense. Just the kind of book I needed.
A big 5 stars from me.
Thank you again Lauren Clark for a great book.
This one definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. Who was doing what and to whom. Who would want to see a young teen hurt or possibly worse and was her dad part of it. This book kept me turning the pages. It kept me guessing up until the end. I absolutely loved it and always look forward to books by Lauren Clark.
This book will draw you in. The characters are great and realistic and you will root for some while wanting others to just shut up. It’s well written. Well developed and full of suspense. Just the kind of book I needed.
A big 5 stars from me.
Thank you again Lauren Clark for a great book.
cubsfan3410reads's review
5.0
The World Breaks Everyone is a fantastic, roller coaster of a ride book! The twists and turns through the whole story kept me on the edge of my seat! Just when I thought I had things figured out, there was a plot twist.
I loved this book and highly recommend you read it!
I loved this book and highly recommend you read it!
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