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laural27 's review for:
Beautiful Broken Things
by Sara Barnard
Beautiful Broken Things has one of the most striking covers of the year so far and had me salivating as soon as I laid my eyes on it. I’m a huge sucker for beautiful covers and along with the blurb, this book cried for my attention.
Beautiful Broken Things is an intimate and claustrophobic look at the power of friendship, predominantly female friendship, during the teenage years. Set in Brighton, Beautiful Broken Things tells the story of Cadnam (Caddy) and Rosie who are inseparable and spend as much time as possible with each other. When a new girl starts at Rosie’s school, Rosie is keen to introduce her to Caddy. Soon the girls take Suzanne under their wing and exist in a trio. Yet Suzanne has a past that slowly reveals itself and whilst Rosie is cautious about what trouble Suzanne can bring, Caddy is tempted by the thought of striking out and being slightly rebellious.
Is Suzanne trouble? Will the girls find their friendship is irrevocably broken or will it bring them closer together…?
This book was addictive from the get go; the intensity of the friendships were almost intoxicating and I found myself sucked into the world of the three girls. It was apparent very early on that Suzanne’s past was one that seeped into her present and affected the way she viewed the world and the way she behaved. At times I wanted to take Caddy to one side and warn her that it wasn’t wise to get caught up in Suzanne’s world and to listen to Rosie’s words of wisdom. But at the same time I was also content to let her make her mistakes and then learn from them…after all that’s what being a teenager is about…right?
The book rushes to a heart stopping moment near to the end when suddenly a bright light is shone upon everything that has happened between the girls. The resolution was one of honesty and truth even though it was painful and I longed for a different outcome. Whilst the novel is narrated by Caddy, it very much felt like Suzanne’s story and toward the end I had a huge change of heart toward her; for the vast majority of the book I was wary and frustrated by her but by the end I felt guilty for feeling that way.
I feel Beautiful Broken Things captures the essence of teenage female friendship pretty damn well and whilst at times the characters were unlikeable and seemed flawed to the extreme, I appreciated the realness of it all. There wasn’t a sugar coat to it and that is what made this book stand out to me. I look forward to seeing what Sara writes next.
Beautiful Broken Things is an intimate and claustrophobic look at the power of friendship, predominantly female friendship, during the teenage years. Set in Brighton, Beautiful Broken Things tells the story of Cadnam (Caddy) and Rosie who are inseparable and spend as much time as possible with each other. When a new girl starts at Rosie’s school, Rosie is keen to introduce her to Caddy. Soon the girls take Suzanne under their wing and exist in a trio. Yet Suzanne has a past that slowly reveals itself and whilst Rosie is cautious about what trouble Suzanne can bring, Caddy is tempted by the thought of striking out and being slightly rebellious.
Is Suzanne trouble? Will the girls find their friendship is irrevocably broken or will it bring them closer together…?
This book was addictive from the get go; the intensity of the friendships were almost intoxicating and I found myself sucked into the world of the three girls. It was apparent very early on that Suzanne’s past was one that seeped into her present and affected the way she viewed the world and the way she behaved. At times I wanted to take Caddy to one side and warn her that it wasn’t wise to get caught up in Suzanne’s world and to listen to Rosie’s words of wisdom. But at the same time I was also content to let her make her mistakes and then learn from them…after all that’s what being a teenager is about…right?
The book rushes to a heart stopping moment near to the end when suddenly a bright light is shone upon everything that has happened between the girls. The resolution was one of honesty and truth even though it was painful and I longed for a different outcome. Whilst the novel is narrated by Caddy, it very much felt like Suzanne’s story and toward the end I had a huge change of heart toward her; for the vast majority of the book I was wary and frustrated by her but by the end I felt guilty for feeling that way.
I feel Beautiful Broken Things captures the essence of teenage female friendship pretty damn well and whilst at times the characters were unlikeable and seemed flawed to the extreme, I appreciated the realness of it all. There wasn’t a sugar coat to it and that is what made this book stand out to me. I look forward to seeing what Sara writes next.