A review by brooke_review
Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia

4.0

Peyton Rios has just scored a spot on the University of North Carolina’s National Championship-winning women’s soccer team. She just has to maintain her GPA, continue to showcase strong leadership & soccer skills, and play in her current position, center forward, at her high school this fall. Her senior year couldn’t be off to a better start.

However, things take a drastic turn when Peyton attends a local party with her MMA-fighting boyfriend, Reed. While searching for her phone in his car, Peyton discovers a steroid kit - Reed has been doping to achieve greater results in his MMA fights. When Peyton confronts him about it, things get heated between the two, and Peyton ends up at the bottom of a flight of stairs. She swears that Reed pushed her, but he denies it. What is evident is that Peyton’s knee is shattered, and her dreams of playing soccer at UNC are dashed.

Peyton, who is struggling with the recent loss of her dad, a Marine, in Iraq has just received another devastating blow. Soccer is her life. What will she do if she can’t play in college? Luckily, a top-notch physical therapist is located near her uncle’s home in Black Water, Tennessee. The therapist bets she can get Peyton back in the game for the spring season, so Peyton packs up her bags and moves in with her uncle and twin cousins for the next few months. Peyton plans to focus on her recovery, but what she didn’t count on is Owen Law, the mysterious hot guy at her new school. There’s just something about Owen, but after Reed, she has sworn off guys forever ... or has she?

Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia is a sexy, heart-pumping thrill ride into the backwoods of Tennessee and the mixed martial arts circuit. Garcia’s colorful characters don’t back down from a fight, and the novel does not lack in its share of testosterone-fueled passion and fury. While Peyton does a worthy job of defending herself against catty girls and abusive guys, Garcia plays into the southern gentleman stereotype through her male characters who would never think of defending a woman’s honor sitting down. This novel is not short on violence, whether it be a schoolyard brawl or a professional fight in the octagon, making it a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat read.

Garcia’s Broken Beautiful Hearts is a refreshing entry in the YA genre, which can often find itself saturated with tropes and cliches. By bringing in MMA fighters to the dating game, Garcia has found a way to make this teenage love story feel dangerous and exciting. Regardless of the risks, her female lead, Peyton, is always in control. While Peyton can at times be overbearing in her efforts to not appear weak and dependent, she is a strong female character who does not take abuse in any form from the men (or women) in her life. This is not a damsel in distress tale.

If you love a swoon-worthy love story with a touch of southern charm and a dash of rage, you’ll enjoy Kami Garcia’s effortlessly fun Broken Beautiful Hearts.