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pasta_pardner 's review for:
Broken Country
by Clare Leslie Hall
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'll start with the good things. The nonlinear narrative is nicely structured. There's an interesting symmetry to the characters' hardships. The twists are hard to predict, but have wonderful foreshadowing.
But, as for the bad things...
The romantic elements of this book are atrocious-- which is very, very unfortunate, because romance dominates a huge percentage of the pages, and almost all of the major plot points necessitate that the audience find the romantic subplots believable. At best, the "love scenes" feel cliche and uninspired. At worst, the romance makes the characters involved IMMENSELY unlikable.
It seemed like the author was trying to craft flawed characters who are driven to conflict because of the intensity of their passions... yet the writing misses that mark by a wide margin. The lovers' passion falls flat. The characters feel more insufferablely trite than flawed. It's difficult to ignore the dissonance between what this novel is trying to be and what it actually accomplishes.
And, as an aside, some characterizations (namely,Bobby ) felt extremely one-dimensional. I found myself rolling my eyes at multiple junctions throughout the novel.
Overall, my disappointments with 'Broken Country' far outweigh its redeeming qualities. Not an utter waste of time, but certainly not something I would recommend.
But, as for the bad things...
The romantic elements of this book are atrocious-- which is very, very unfortunate, because romance dominates a huge percentage of the pages, and almost all of the major plot points necessitate that the audience find the romantic subplots believable. At best, the "love scenes" feel cliche and uninspired. At worst, the romance makes the characters involved IMMENSELY unlikable.
It seemed like the author was trying to craft flawed characters who are driven to conflict because of the intensity of their passions... yet the writing misses that mark by a wide margin. The lovers' passion falls flat. The characters feel more insufferablely trite than flawed. It's difficult to ignore the dissonance between what this novel is trying to be and what it actually accomplishes.
And, as an aside, some characterizations (namely,
Overall, my disappointments with 'Broken Country' far outweigh its redeeming qualities. Not an utter waste of time, but certainly not something I would recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent
Minor: Gore, Alcohol