Reviews

Broken by Elizabeth Pulford, Angus Gomes

missbookiverse's review against another edition

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3.0

Dieses Buch ist ganz nett, die Grundidee interessant und das Konzept sogar recht originell, aber alles geht viel zu schnell und teilweise langweilig vorbei.

Die Protagonistin liegt nach einem Unfall im Koma, kann aber hören, was um sie herum geschieht, z.B. wer sie besucht und ihr was erzählt (Familie, Freunde). Diese Szenen fand ich interessant, aber auch ein wenig frustrierend, weil Zara nie begreift, warum ihr Besuch nicht auf ihre Erwiderungen reagiert.
Dazwischen gibt es Erinnerungen an Zaras Vergangenheit, innere Monologe und eine Comicwelt, in der Zara umherirrt. Diese Mischung war mir zu wirr. Es wird zwar versucht durch Kursivschreibung und verschiedene Schriftarten etwas Übersichtlichkeit in den Text zu bringen, aber ich musste trotzdem oft überlegen, ob sie jetzt gerade jemandem zuhört oder sich an etwas erinnert.

Die Comickapitel werden durch Zeichnungen im typischen Comicformat aufgelockert. Der Zeichenstil hat mir leider nicht so sehr gefallen, ich hätte mir da eher etwas gewünscht, das mehr dem Cover entspricht. Außerdem hätte man das ruhig mehr durchziehen können. Zara beschreibt ständig, was sie im Comic tut und ab und zu wird das ganze durch zwei Bilder illustriert. Es wäre aber viel cooler gewesen, wenn diese Kapitel komplett als Comic dargestellt worden wären.

Während ich Zaras Hintergrundgeschichte und ihr soziales Umfeld ziemlich spannend fand, hat mich ihre Reise durch den Comic eher gelangweilt. Ständig wiederholt sich alles und sie irrt ziemlich ziellos durch die gezeichnete Welt. In Zaras Vergangenheit hingegen ist etwas erschreckendes und ungewöhnliches passiert
SpoilerSie wurde als kleines Kind von einem Mann entführt und mehrere Wochen lang in einen Schrank gesperrt festgehalten
, das sie traumatisiert hat. Eigentlich wird auf das ganze Thema viel zu wenig eingegangen, man hätte dem ganzen viel mehr Spielfläche geben sollen, um alle möglichen Auswirkungen austesten zu können.

Insgesamt kann man das zwischendurch ruhig mal lesen, aber viel hängen geblieben ist bei mir nicht.

sngick's review against another edition

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2.0

Much potential with the story line but difficult to follow with all the jumping around of present day, flashbacks, repressed memories, and dreams. Loved the mash up of bits of graphics within the text.

zarah_christine's review

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3.0

Terrible book, the writing was horrible and there were multiple grammar mistakes. It still did make me cry though so it gets an extra star for that.

lawbooks600's review

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2.0

Trigger warnings: Grief and loss depiction, death of a grandmother, death of a brother, motorbike crash
Read this review for context: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5436952810

4/10, after reading an underwhelming realistic book I was hoping that I would enjoy this one, I didn't and turns out as you've guessed by the rating of this, it's even worse than the last one, I had so many issues and could not like this book at all, where do I even begin. It starts off with the main character Zara Wilson who was on a motorbike with her brother Jem when he crashed into a tree to avoid a toddler, killing him and knocking Zara out and there's the first problems: the beginning of this is similar to the last book and it suffers from the same issues, "sighs". Soon enough I find myself inside Zara's subconscious and then she goes into a comic??? I don't get it since this would be a more fantasy aspect but the library put this wrongly I might add into the realistic section. In the comic, she is all alone at first but then there are some other characters like Trace, Jem, Dark Eagle and the antagonist Morven and all of them I just couldn't connect to which was tantamount to the last book. She is in this world for quite a while when the story just confuses me, it switches between not one, not two, but three points of view which are Zara's, Zara in the past and the outside world which was hard to wrap my head around. In the end, I think Zara leaves the comic and recovers ending this on a high note.

sngick's review

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2.0

Much potential with the story line but difficult to follow with all the jumping around of present day, flashbacks, repressed memories, and dreams. Loved the mash up of bits of graphics within the text.

bluehairedlibrarian's review

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4.0

This is a really unique take on storytelling that could have failed horribly, but doesn't. It left me a little broken by the end and that surprised me. More on WFTM.com soon.

mandi_m's review

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3.0

A cleverly constructed YA novel that wasn't perfect, but was definitely an enjoyable read. Pulford is really interesting author and her novels are always worth a read.

demmi's review

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1.0

1.5
I liked the idea of the story but I just found it impossible to connect with it or with any of the characters.

andye_reads's review

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4.0


The first word that comes to mind when I think of Broken by Elizabeth Pulford: Weird. Gosh dang, this was a weird book. But here's the thing: Weird in no way means bad. The truth is that this book is intensely powerful, incredibly emotional, extremely creative, and strangely poetic. Elizabeth Pulford takes a tragic situation, a teen girl in a coma after a terrible accident, and turns it into a gripping and entirely original plot. I can honestly say that I've never read anything even remotely similar to Broken. In the book Zara is in a coma, all the while having extremely vivid dreams while simultaneously being aware of what is going on in the world around her. She can hear it when her parents are talking to her; in her mind, she talks back to them, carrying on the conversation. It seems like a completely horrifying situation to be in. Usually, I don't like to read this type of book. I don't enjoy books that make me sad. But this plot has much, much more to it than just a girl in a coma; in Zara's dream-state, she is in a comic book world. This is where it gets weird. She meets heroes and villains from this popular comic series, all the while searching for her brother, Jem. This is a powerful book, make no mistake about it. Not only is Zara searching for her brother, but she is also sorting out her inner demons. So while going through this fantasy of a comic book, get ready to be punched in the feelings. I enjoyed this book. It was written very well. The pacing, while taking some getting used to, is absolutely superb. If you are prepared to go through a roller coaster of emotions while reading a book that will often having asking yourself, "Wait... What?" then this is definitely a book for you.

-Austin
ReadingTeen.net