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thepetitepunk's review against another edition
5.0
ARC provided by a Goodreads giveaway
4.5 stars
I had a hard time putting Broken Things down. This is one of those books where after reading the first sentence, you just know it's going to be good.
Quite a few elements made me fall in love with Broken Things. First and foremost, the cover is amazing. When I first saw it, I didn't even care what the book was about—I just knew I wanted to read it. And then there was the first scene of the book, which is violent, mysterious, and unexpected, serving its purpose of pulling the reader in very well. Lauren Oliver has a flowery, simile-filled way of writing that may not sit well with everyone, but I actually enjoyed it; the imagery is vivid, which works well for a book about girls with a strong imagination. The other part I really liked about Broken Things is the characters.
I'll admit, not everyone will fall in love with them. The two main characters, Brynn and Mia, are accused of murdering their best friend Summer after their obsession with the novel The Way into Lovelorn gets out of hand. When the five year anniversary of the murder approaches, the two girls finally set out to discover the truth behind it. Even though Brynn and Mia did not commit the murder, they are not perfect. Summer was far from perfect too. Although Brynn, Mia, and Summer were young when tragedy struck, they were far from innocent, flawless kids. But that's what I loved so much about them. Just from personal experience, Lauren Oliver perfectly captures what it's like to be a part of a trio of lonely, middle school girls. There were quite a few moments where I had to stop reading because Broken Things hit way too close to home. I may not have experienced the murder of one of my closest friends, but based off of their personalities and interactions, I could have easily replaced Brynn, Mia, and Summer's names with my name and my two friends from middle school's names. I know that these characters will rub many people the wrong way. I know, because I was once a part of a group like theirs, and I know that they're on the sidelines for a reason. But still, I could empathize with them, even though they weren't the best people.
The only other thing I have to say is that the ending was a bit disappointing. I don't read a lot of mysteries so I didn't figure it out by myself, but I had such high hopes for the ending that I was let down. The ending was more of a 3 stars for me, but I loved every other part of the book so much that it didn't really matter to me (even though it's the ending that makes a mystery good). Overall, Broken Things is fantastic. Just be warned though, it is pretty graphic, and some of the images and topics might be a bit unsettling.
4.5 stars
I had a hard time putting Broken Things down. This is one of those books where after reading the first sentence, you just know it's going to be good.
Quite a few elements made me fall in love with Broken Things. First and foremost, the cover is amazing. When I first saw it, I didn't even care what the book was about—I just knew I wanted to read it. And then there was the first scene of the book, which is violent, mysterious, and unexpected, serving its purpose of pulling the reader in very well. Lauren Oliver has a flowery, simile-filled way of writing that may not sit well with everyone, but I actually enjoyed it; the imagery is vivid, which works well for a book about girls with a strong imagination. The other part I really liked about Broken Things is the characters.
I'll admit, not everyone will fall in love with them. The two main characters, Brynn and Mia, are accused of murdering their best friend Summer after their obsession with the novel The Way into Lovelorn gets out of hand. When the five year anniversary of the murder approaches, the two girls finally set out to discover the truth behind it. Even though Brynn and Mia did not commit the murder, they are not perfect. Summer was far from perfect too. Although Brynn, Mia, and Summer were young when tragedy struck, they were far from innocent, flawless kids. But that's what I loved so much about them. Just from personal experience, Lauren Oliver perfectly captures what it's like to be a part of a trio of lonely, middle school girls. There were quite a few moments where I had to stop reading because Broken Things hit way too close to home. I may not have experienced the murder of one of my closest friends, but based off of their personalities and interactions, I could have easily replaced Brynn, Mia, and Summer's names with my name and my two friends from middle school's names. I know that these characters will rub many people the wrong way. I know, because I was once a part of a group like theirs, and I know that they're on the sidelines for a reason. But still, I could empathize with them, even though they weren't the best people.
The only other thing I have to say is that the ending was a bit disappointing. I don't read a lot of mysteries so I didn't figure it out by myself, but I had such high hopes for the ending that I was let down. The ending was more of a 3 stars for me, but I loved every other part of the book so much that it didn't really matter to me (even though it's the ending that makes a mystery good). Overall, Broken Things is fantastic. Just be warned though, it is pretty graphic, and some of the images and topics might be a bit unsettling.
steffany9's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
theonlybaillie's review against another edition
I don't care about any of the characters, nor do I care about what happens at the end of the book.
brendalovesbooks's review against another edition
2.0
This wasn't bad, it's just that I never really cared. By the end of the book, I just wanted it to be over.
notmaiareading's review against another edition
1.0
I have a lot of issues with this book
My first issue is that the mystery felt overshadowed by romance, even at the climax the inner dialogue was focused on the different romance elements of the story like ..... you're about to confront your friends killer maybe nows not the time to talk about your love for one another
My second issue is that there wasn't a blur between fiction and reality for the reader, everything that was fiction was clearly fiction and everything that was reality was clearly reality. This was not a mind fuck you don't know what real and what's not story which was disappointing as it was kind of advertised as such. Only at the end does a character think the fiction is reality however, they are clearly presented as such, I also was confused with how the book was related to the chapters. What annoyed me the most about this was that the girls did not take much time to question the play house that was made for them, especially when it was found empty after the murder, I feel like that would mess with someone's mind but it didn't really seem to for them.
My third issue is the mystery is boring, there was no suspense and no urgency to find the killer and I also find it hard to believe they were able to do it like they barely found any clues. They were also just going around outright asking people of they killed Summer like why would that work?
My final issue is that it felt very Scooby Doo but I'm a bad way. The killer is someone who is barely mentioned, barely looked at which makes it unsatisfying when you find out who it is because you're like seriously this insignificant random character that was talked to once and briefly mentioned once. It's seemed very much like who the monster in Scooby Doo turns out to be. I also think the reason for the murder was not very strong and was only discussed for like 2 pages which is extremely disappointing. The motive was also motive that I feel is over used and weird.
I also found the scenes of Summer being violent, harming animals and her friends a bit random as it didn't add much to the story and was probably added to have some kind of action in this lack luster book.
Overall this is not the best book I've read, it definitely had so much potential to be amazing but was written like a trashy YA thriller extremely disappointing.
My first issue is that the mystery felt overshadowed by romance, even at the climax the inner dialogue was focused on the different romance elements of the story like ..... you're about to confront your friends killer maybe nows not the time to talk about your love for one another
My second issue is that there wasn't a blur between fiction and reality for the reader, everything that was fiction was clearly fiction and everything that was reality was clearly reality. This was not a mind fuck you don't know what real and what's not story which was disappointing as it was kind of advertised as such. Only at the end does a character think the fiction is reality however, they are clearly presented as such, I also was confused with how the book was related to the chapters. What annoyed me the most about this was that the girls did not take much time to question the play house that was made for them, especially when it was found empty after the murder, I feel like that would mess with someone's mind but it didn't really seem to for them.
My third issue is the mystery is boring, there was no suspense and no urgency to find the killer and I also find it hard to believe they were able to do it like they barely found any clues. They were also just going around outright asking people of they killed Summer like why would that work?
My final issue is that it felt very Scooby Doo but I'm a bad way. The killer is someone who is barely mentioned, barely looked at which makes it unsatisfying when you find out who it is because you're like seriously this insignificant random character that was talked to once and briefly mentioned once. It's seemed very much like who the monster in Scooby Doo turns out to be. I also think the reason for the murder was not very strong and was only discussed for like 2 pages which is extremely disappointing. The motive was also motive that I feel is over used and weird.
I also found the scenes of Summer being violent, harming animals and her friends a bit random as it didn't add much to the story and was probably added to have some kind of action in this lack luster book.
Overall this is not the best book I've read, it definitely had so much potential to be amazing but was written like a trashy YA thriller extremely disappointing.
isa090197's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
malinuknow's review against another edition
1.0
So i skipped to the end. What a catastrophically bad book!! Like so many other have written, i also struggled with telling mia and Brynn apart. So bad.