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A review by hedihenderika
Beautifully Broken by Laura Lee
4.0
This book was provided by Netgally in exchange for a honest review
I knew he would ruin me from the moment we met. Everything about the man screamed confidence. Sensuality. Intelligence. Worldliness. But it was how he saved me that ruined me most.
This book was a pice of art, it was heartfelt, raw, emotional and true to life. At first i was a little skeptical when i saw what kind of trope this book was about.. the romance between a student and a teacher. It isn't something i normally read, but there was something about this book that just wanted me to read it and im really happy i did!
The story begins with Kat celebrating her birthday in a bar alone, this is were she meets Gavin aka "Sparkles" as Kat named him. It is pretty obvious that Kat had a really hard life. She has been in the foster systeem since she was a kid, she doesn't have a dad that is in the picture and a herion-addicted mother who sells her body and isn't really there for Kat. She takes her birthday as a day to forget al her problems and Gavin is just what she was looking for. Their attraction for eachother is like no other, they both can deny it and it makes Kat a little bit scared because she doesn't open up to people... she just wants sex to make her feel better.
Kat goes home with him and lies about her age and turns every question he asks –like what she does for work – into a game so he barely knows anything about her. Imagine his surprise when a few days later she is sitting in his classroom and Gavin aka Sparkles is also Mr. Cooper her English teacher! They both try to deny their attraction and know their situation is wrong even though he didn’t know she was in high school and she is eighteen, but fighting their feelings is harder than they thought.
Kat was a really amazing character, she was the most real character i have ever read about. She had so much hardship in her life, the rumors that surround her, the lack of parents and jugdement.. but everything that came her way she dealt with it. She was so mature, sometimes even more so than Gavin was at some points. She was broken, but because she let Gavin in and her gave her the love and constant reassurance that she was worthy of love and so much more than she gave herself credit for she became whole again for the first time in her life. It was such a dark and real novel, so much more than i had ever thought when i read the blurb.. and that is a good thing. Their flirty banter was cute and believable and Kat and her friends acted and talked like real eighteen year olds.
I also liked the non-judgemental aspect of stripping in the novel. Kat described most of her coworkers as being college students just trying to earn a quick buck so they can advance in life. We find that some of the girls that have worked there have gone on to be doctors, lawyers, veterinarians etc. Although I think this is not the case for many strip joints, I think it is still a good lesson that you shouldn’t judge someone for where their life leads them. Also the aspect of the rumors that surrounded Kat, she had been through an tramatic experience and people jut believed what they wanted to believe.
The only thing i wasn't a big fan of was the unnecassery sex scenes between them. Yes, it was part of their connection but sometimes it wasn't necassery to write about it.. it didn't have to been written at that moment. Not all the sexscenes were unnecassery but some of them were. I also was a bit frustrated with the ending. I had the feeling it could have been written differently, it still was beautiful but it didn't feel compleet. Also the sort of ending before the 4 year jump at the end, Gavin fell short for me. I could completely understand Kat’s POV and why she chose what she did but Gavin really had no excuse.
Overall this was an amazing read and beautiful book. It was true, heartfelt, heartbreaking and everything more... If you are looking for serious drama but with a HEA then this is the book for you! Thank you Netgaly for giving me the change to read this book and having me write a review.
I knew he would ruin me from the moment we met. Everything about the man screamed confidence. Sensuality. Intelligence. Worldliness. But it was how he saved me that ruined me most.
This book was a pice of art, it was heartfelt, raw, emotional and true to life. At first i was a little skeptical when i saw what kind of trope this book was about.. the romance between a student and a teacher. It isn't something i normally read, but there was something about this book that just wanted me to read it and im really happy i did!
The story begins with Kat celebrating her birthday in a bar alone, this is were she meets Gavin aka "Sparkles" as Kat named him. It is pretty obvious that Kat had a really hard life. She has been in the foster systeem since she was a kid, she doesn't have a dad that is in the picture and a herion-addicted mother who sells her body and isn't really there for Kat. She takes her birthday as a day to forget al her problems and Gavin is just what she was looking for. Their attraction for eachother is like no other, they both can deny it and it makes Kat a little bit scared because she doesn't open up to people... she just wants sex to make her feel better.
Kat goes home with him and lies about her age and turns every question he asks –like what she does for work – into a game so he barely knows anything about her. Imagine his surprise when a few days later she is sitting in his classroom and Gavin aka Sparkles is also Mr. Cooper her English teacher! They both try to deny their attraction and know their situation is wrong even though he didn’t know she was in high school and she is eighteen, but fighting their feelings is harder than they thought.
Kat was a really amazing character, she was the most real character i have ever read about. She had so much hardship in her life, the rumors that surround her, the lack of parents and jugdement.. but everything that came her way she dealt with it. She was so mature, sometimes even more so than Gavin was at some points. She was broken, but because she let Gavin in and her gave her the love and constant reassurance that she was worthy of love and so much more than she gave herself credit for she became whole again for the first time in her life. It was such a dark and real novel, so much more than i had ever thought when i read the blurb.. and that is a good thing. Their flirty banter was cute and believable and Kat and her friends acted and talked like real eighteen year olds.
I also liked the non-judgemental aspect of stripping in the novel. Kat described most of her coworkers as being college students just trying to earn a quick buck so they can advance in life. We find that some of the girls that have worked there have gone on to be doctors, lawyers, veterinarians etc. Although I think this is not the case for many strip joints, I think it is still a good lesson that you shouldn’t judge someone for where their life leads them. Also the aspect of the rumors that surrounded Kat, she had been through an tramatic experience and people jut believed what they wanted to believe.
The only thing i wasn't a big fan of was the unnecassery sex scenes between them. Yes, it was part of their connection but sometimes it wasn't necassery to write about it.. it didn't have to been written at that moment. Not all the sexscenes were unnecassery but some of them were. I also was a bit frustrated with the ending. I had the feeling it could have been written differently, it still was beautiful but it didn't feel compleet. Also the sort of ending before the 4 year jump at the end, Gavin fell short for me. I could completely understand Kat’s POV and why she chose what she did but Gavin really had no excuse.
Overall this was an amazing read and beautiful book. It was true, heartfelt, heartbreaking and everything more... If you are looking for serious drama but with a HEA then this is the book for you! Thank you Netgaly for giving me the change to read this book and having me write a review.