gracemichelle's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
michelle_pink_polka_dot's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 Stars-- I loved this book!! I think it would be a full 5 stars if it didn't drag on a little. But A+ mystery and I love when books take inspiration from real life crimes!
Lauren Oliver is BACK!!! I know most people fell in love with her for The [b:Delirium|11614718|Delirium (Delirium, #1)|Lauren Oliver|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327890411s/11614718.jpg|10342808] series-- but I'm a [b:Before I Fall|6482837|Before I Fall|Lauren Oliver|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361044695s/6482837.jpg|6674135] girl & I've been WAITING for some kind of Contemporary/Mystery/Thriller from her for a long, long time. It's finally here!!! And it's SO GOOD!!
I didn't realize this book was full-on based on true-life events, but shortly after starting it, I realized this story is very similar to the case where those girls were obsessed with Slenderman and stabbed their friend over it. It doesn't follow it exactly or anything, it just starts with a similar beginning. I'm a big true-crime fan, always watching the ID channel and I used to read tons of true-crime books, so of course I'm drawn to books that get inspiration from them.
Brynn and Mia were really interesting characters. I rooted for their friendship the whole time. I could tell they cared about each other even though they THOUGHT their only real connection was through Summer. Summer may not have been in this book in the present, but I loved how well we got to know her through flashbacks and the people they talked to. She's the type of complicated girl that I love to read about-- she's that alluring/dangerous girl that people can't resist, but probably should. I'm a total sucker for girls like Summer in books.
Mia was the one that really pulled at my heart because of the heartbreak she went through with Owen, a guy she grew up being best friends/hopelessly in love with. Owen had made Mia FEEL like they were going to be together, but then Summer stole him from her right before her death. Owen was originally arrested for the murder and he's also had to live under suspicion all this time. He was adorable and I loved him and I feel like Lauren Oliver writes perfect book boys just for me... okay, maybe for you too??
The side characters could've been done a little better. Mia has a new friend, Abby, that started out with so much potential-- but somewhere along the way, her development was dropped. I thought she deserved more attention. The other character was Brynn's cousin Wade. He was a "fan" of the case and came along to help them solve it-- but he was just sort of a weirdo that was THERE. I wanted him to mean something more.
The ending was good, if not a little meh. I don't really "get" why the person who did it, DID it. It seemed like it was meant to be surprising, but I felt like it was just confusing and didn't make much sense. I wanted this book to do something twisty in the end, and this really wasn't that book.
PS-- Is it weird that I thought that the cover was jellyfish instead of hair??
OVERALL: SO ADDICTIVE. If you love Lauren Oliver, you'll love this. I could get used to her writing Mystery/Thrillers & I hope they are all like this-- except maybe a TAD more twisty?? Broken Things is loosely based on the Slenderman Stabbing crime and I would rec it to all my true-crime & mystery lovers.
My Blog:
Pink Polka Dot Books
Lauren Oliver is BACK!!! I know most people fell in love with her for The [b:Delirium|11614718|Delirium (Delirium, #1)|Lauren Oliver|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327890411s/11614718.jpg|10342808] series-- but I'm a [b:Before I Fall|6482837|Before I Fall|Lauren Oliver|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361044695s/6482837.jpg|6674135] girl & I've been WAITING for some kind of Contemporary/Mystery/Thriller from her for a long, long time. It's finally here!!! And it's SO GOOD!!
I didn't realize this book was full-on based on true-life events, but shortly after starting it, I realized this story is very similar to the case where those girls were obsessed with Slenderman and stabbed their friend over it. It doesn't follow it exactly or anything, it just starts with a similar beginning. I'm a big true-crime fan, always watching the ID channel and I used to read tons of true-crime books, so of course I'm drawn to books that get inspiration from them.
Brynn and Mia were really interesting characters. I rooted for their friendship the whole time. I could tell they cared about each other even though they THOUGHT their only real connection was through Summer. Summer may not have been in this book in the present, but I loved how well we got to know her through flashbacks and the people they talked to. She's the type of complicated girl that I love to read about-- she's that alluring/dangerous girl that people can't resist, but probably should. I'm a total sucker for girls like Summer in books.
Mia was the one that really pulled at my heart because of the heartbreak she went through with Owen, a guy she grew up being best friends/hopelessly in love with. Owen had made Mia FEEL like they were going to be together, but then Summer stole him from her right before her death. Owen was originally arrested for the murder and he's also had to live under suspicion all this time. He was adorable and I loved him and I feel like Lauren Oliver writes perfect book boys just for me... okay, maybe for you too??
The side characters could've been done a little better. Mia has a new friend, Abby, that started out with so much potential-- but somewhere along the way, her development was dropped. I thought she deserved more attention. The other character was Brynn's cousin Wade. He was a "fan" of the case and came along to help them solve it-- but he was just sort of a weirdo that was THERE. I wanted him to mean something more.
The ending was good, if not a little meh. I don't really "get" why the person who did it, DID it. It seemed like it was meant to be surprising, but I felt like it was just confusing and didn't make much sense. I wanted this book to do something twisty in the end, and this really wasn't that book.
PS-- Is it weird that I thought that the cover was jellyfish instead of hair??
OVERALL: SO ADDICTIVE. If you love Lauren Oliver, you'll love this. I could get used to her writing Mystery/Thrillers & I hope they are all like this-- except maybe a TAD more twisty?? Broken Things is loosely based on the Slenderman Stabbing crime and I would rec it to all my true-crime & mystery lovers.
My Blog:
Pink Polka Dot Books
aabubuyog's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
queeenaleex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Pedophilia
addy1991's review against another edition
3.0
It's amazing what people believe when the facts are made to look a certain way. Mia and Brynn, Owen too for a little bit, are accused of having killed Summer. Summer was their friend and tormentor. It was a love-hate relationship of a scary kind. But they didn't do it and several years later, try to piece it together and figure out what happened. What happened was a bit beyond what I guessed and I don't mind being wrong. Hopefully, their knowing the truth will set them free to fix the broken things that they became.
nightingfae's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published on nightingfae's blog
“The problem with fairy tales isn't that they don't exist. It's that they do exist, but only for some people.”
Once upon a time, a girl went into a bookshop and walked through its shelves, looking but not looking for any specific book, until she heard the music of words, their gravity, the power they have to guide someone to a really good place, person or thing. This time, it was a book, and it was calling the girl. This book took the girl to another place in this same world we live in, but what she was reading was not real —luckily, she thought—, because it was about a murder… a really scary murder.
So that’s what happened to me, my real self, when I found Broken Things in the bookshop. I was sceptical about buying it, because I’d read another book by Lauren Oliver before and I didn’t enjoyed it too much. But I was craving a good thriller or a mystery story and the temptation was too strong. And honestly, I am glad I got it.
Mia, Summer and Brynn had two lives, one in the real world and the other one in the magic world of Lovelorn. But when Summer decides it’s time to end the game none of the girls talk about going back to Lovelorn ever again, until Summer comes back to Mia and Brynn and tells them that is time to finish the story completely. Which involves a sacrifice. None of them could imagine it would end up like that.
This book took me back to The Chronicles of Narnia, it made me walk through the wardrobe with Lucy, feel the snow falling to my cheeks, meeting Mr. Tumnus and the rest of the creatures in Narnia. But it also made me thing about the cons of fantasy. You can fall in love with a story —with a world that doesn’t exist— so deep that you end up believing it does exist, getting obsessed with it. Surely, fiction and fantasy can evade you from the real world, but you can’t forget where and who you are, you should not confuse the two worlds, the real one and the fictional. It’s scary how a story can go too far in a child’s mind.
Lauren Oliver has created a truly meaningful story, from which you can spend a good time and learn how people should not take fantasy so lightly. The good plot and the depth of the characters are two of the best things in this intriguing novel.
*Spoiler alert* I loved the end. The whole book talks about The Way to Lovelorn and its unfinished ending, and Oliver took advantage of it and ended her own book midsentence. This is wonderful, if I ever wrote a book I’d end it like that too.
“The problem with fairy tales isn't that they don't exist. It's that they do exist, but only for some people.”
Once upon a time, a girl went into a bookshop and walked through its shelves, looking but not looking for any specific book, until she heard the music of words, their gravity, the power they have to guide someone to a really good place, person or thing. This time, it was a book, and it was calling the girl. This book took the girl to another place in this same world we live in, but what she was reading was not real —luckily, she thought—, because it was about a murder… a really scary murder.
So that’s what happened to me, my real self, when I found Broken Things in the bookshop. I was sceptical about buying it, because I’d read another book by Lauren Oliver before and I didn’t enjoyed it too much. But I was craving a good thriller or a mystery story and the temptation was too strong. And honestly, I am glad I got it.
Mia, Summer and Brynn had two lives, one in the real world and the other one in the magic world of Lovelorn. But when Summer decides it’s time to end the game none of the girls talk about going back to Lovelorn ever again, until Summer comes back to Mia and Brynn and tells them that is time to finish the story completely. Which involves a sacrifice. None of them could imagine it would end up like that.
This book took me back to The Chronicles of Narnia, it made me walk through the wardrobe with Lucy, feel the snow falling to my cheeks, meeting Mr. Tumnus and the rest of the creatures in Narnia. But it also made me thing about the cons of fantasy. You can fall in love with a story —with a world that doesn’t exist— so deep that you end up believing it does exist, getting obsessed with it. Surely, fiction and fantasy can evade you from the real world, but you can’t forget where and who you are, you should not confuse the two worlds, the real one and the fictional. It’s scary how a story can go too far in a child’s mind.
Lauren Oliver has created a truly meaningful story, from which you can spend a good time and learn how people should not take fantasy so lightly. The good plot and the depth of the characters are two of the best things in this intriguing novel.
*Spoiler alert* I loved the end. The whole book talks about The Way to Lovelorn and its unfinished ending, and Oliver took advantage of it and ended her own book midsentence. This is wonderful, if I ever wrote a book I’d end it like that too.
andreacaro's review against another edition
1.0
Yeah, I got too much stuff on my TBR to read to spend any more time on a book filled with graphic animal torture/death, challenged homophobic comments, and unchallenged fatphobic comments. Also, apparently there's pedophilia so I wish I never wasted my time trying. This is my first Lauren Oliver and I'm so annoyed that it's probably my last.
ashleighbeanxo's review against another edition
4.0
Broken Things follows Brynn and Mia, who were accused 5 years ago of murdering their best friend, Summer, in a sacrifice to a character from their favourite book. The thing is, they didn't do it. But that hasn't stopped people around the world from branding them as monsters.
In the present day, Brynn is in her sixth rehab. She's not actually an addict, but she feels safer there than at home with a family who can't bear to be in the same room as her. Mia, on the other hand, is living with a mother with hoarding issues, and is being home-schooled after dropping out of school due to bullying and threats. One day, Mia discovers new evidence which could help them find out who really killed Summer, so she checks Brynn out of rehab and set out to hunt the killer down and clear their names..
Really enjoyed this book. It had elements of other YA mystery thrillers that I've read but I've read so many that of course some are gonna be similar. But it was really enjoyable and fast-paced. This is also the first time in a long time I've read a book like this and not guessed the killer, which is a nice surprise. I did have a slight problem with the ending however.
Overall, it was a great read.
In the present day, Brynn is in her sixth rehab. She's not actually an addict, but she feels safer there than at home with a family who can't bear to be in the same room as her. Mia, on the other hand, is living with a mother with hoarding issues, and is being home-schooled after dropping out of school due to bullying and threats. One day, Mia discovers new evidence which could help them find out who really killed Summer, so she checks Brynn out of rehab and set out to hunt the killer down and clear their names..
Really enjoyed this book. It had elements of other YA mystery thrillers that I've read but I've read so many that of course some are gonna be similar. But it was really enjoyable and fast-paced. This is also the first time in a long time I've read a book like this and not guessed the killer, which is a nice surprise. I did have a slight problem with the ending however.
Spoiler
We only get an ending chapter from Mia, and there isn't much wrapped up in the ending. We see Mia and Owen kiss, but will they actually get together? I get that that was the intention because it calls back to the ending of the book within the book, but I was slightly frustrated with that. Also, Brynn and Abby. We have this build up where Brynn is falling for Abby and it looks like Abby might reciprocate that but she freaks out when Brynn kisses her. And it's hinted that Abby likes Brynn but she was maybe confused on her feelings, but she's spending more and more time with Wade, so does she like him instead? But she explicitly says that she's not in love with him but someone else, and there's no resolution to it!!!!!! Really frustrated me.Overall, it was a great read.
holsarmstrong's review against another edition
3.0
I finished this book in one sitting and although I did enjoy it, I hated the ending. I felt like I spent the majority of the book waiting for something major to happen and it never came. I did enjoy the characters and I liked the idea of the story I just thought the mystery was too obvious and it ended really abruptly and I would have liked to have read more about what happened to both girls afterwards than a short chapter. I do like Lauren Oliver’s work and this book has been on my TBR pile forever.