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A review by ulharper1
Break by Hannah Moskowitz
3.0
Here's the thing with Break. First off it's a great read. The language is wonderful and the timing is great. I think this is young adult novel. That thought is neither here nor there but I thought I'd state it anyway. The pacing is almost spot on as well. Aside from that the author seems to be wise beyond her years. Hannah Moskowitz does a great job adding interesting information to the story at times when you don't expect it. Refreshing. This is a clever read as well. Our protagonist, is clearly defined with memorable attributes.
With all this said, as I moved towards the back of the novel something hit me as not quite right and I couldn't figure out what it could have been. Then I figured it out. Of course this would only be worth bringing up with a strong story, to begin with. At some point, I told myself that this was a character story and not a plot driven story as one might think. Jonah, the main character has a situation to overcome or as someone might put it, conflict. The thing is the reader never quite gets the sense that he's in the conflicting condition his is in, not mentally. The elements are there but you never actually believe he has a problem. To some degree it seems that the author isn't trying to convince us of this, which is perfect because that would have taken the story somewhere that the tone wouldn't have supported. However, it is noticeable.
Yes, the end is a little rushed. That didn't matter.
The other thing is that I really wanted resolution with his parents and to some degree I wanted his name cleared as far as all that stuff in the hospital (not trying to do the spoiler thing, here).
Keep in mind that if you like Chuck Palahniuk you should enjoy this. Break has much of the same cadence as something he might write. In the future I would definitely pick up a book by Hannah Moskowitz.
With all this said, as I moved towards the back of the novel something hit me as not quite right and I couldn't figure out what it could have been. Then I figured it out. Of course this would only be worth bringing up with a strong story, to begin with. At some point, I told myself that this was a character story and not a plot driven story as one might think. Jonah, the main character has a situation to overcome or as someone might put it, conflict. The thing is the reader never quite gets the sense that he's in the conflicting condition his is in, not mentally. The elements are there but you never actually believe he has a problem. To some degree it seems that the author isn't trying to convince us of this, which is perfect because that would have taken the story somewhere that the tone wouldn't have supported. However, it is noticeable.
Yes, the end is a little rushed. That didn't matter.
The other thing is that I really wanted resolution with his parents and to some degree I wanted his name cleared as far as all that stuff in the hospital (not trying to do the spoiler thing, here).
Keep in mind that if you like Chuck Palahniuk you should enjoy this. Break has much of the same cadence as something he might write. In the future I would definitely pick up a book by Hannah Moskowitz.