thebookkeepers's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This little book packed a considerable punch. I went into this expecting a young adult contemporary novel but it was more profound than that. Told with prose, the reader experiences the grief and reconciliation of a 16-year-old girl who learns suddenly that her estranged mother passed away months before. This story requires the reader's attention and will make you think deeper than many young adult novels I've read. It's layered with nuances and things aren't always straight out explained to the reader, which I loved. While everything wasn't answered entirely, I feel like that was the intent of the author, and was satisfied with how it wrapped up. There were times we jumped from dream states, to present, to past and I'd have to slow down to prevent getting lost. This slight discombobulation is what kept this from being a 5-star read for me.
Topics include nuanced family drama, broken families, generational trauma, addiction, and coming of age.
Topics include nuanced family drama, broken families, generational trauma, addiction, and coming of age.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Mental illness, Drug use, Death of parent, and Cursing
readereaterr's review
3.0
three stars for the reading experience. the ending did not connect at all. the book could have been longer to flesh that out. the epilogue was eatery though.
bluesclues1's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
shrrawat's review
4.0
"Break This House" is a realistic story about grief, even for those family members you thought you wanted nothing to do with. Minah is a 16 year old who thought she had left behind all her past familial issues by moving from Obsidian, Michigan to Brooklyn, New York with her father a couple years ago. But when she gets a Facebook message informing her of the death of her estranged mother, Minah finds herself drawn back to her old life and reflecting on what went wrong.
What I like about this book by Candice Iloh is that she's a big fan of "show, not tell." Minah never out and out says what she feels or is going on around her without us seeing a clear-cut example first. It allows for us to understand her character and her struggles in a way that is not forced or obnoxious, making this story all the more powerful.
"Break this House" is not your typical YA coming-of-age. It's not a story of happy endings or mended relationships, but of achieving closure when those broken ones finally come to an end.
What I like about this book by Candice Iloh is that she's a big fan of "show, not tell." Minah never out and out says what she feels or is going on around her without us seeing a clear-cut example first. It allows for us to understand her character and her struggles in a way that is not forced or obnoxious, making this story all the more powerful.
"Break this House" is not your typical YA coming-of-age. It's not a story of happy endings or mended relationships, but of achieving closure when those broken ones finally come to an end.
mlerountree's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
bookreviewswithkb's review against another edition
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
okay i really liked this book. i listened to it on audio and the narrator was so good 💯 are there some plot holes? sure. but it’s fine. let me tell you why
this is a book about gentrification, grief, addiction, and family dysfunction. how all of these things come together and explode and are more complicated than they seem. how young people try to grapple with their reality and make sense of the decisions adults make. this book is a spark of light
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Death of parent, and Cancer
leahsbooks's review
5.0
CONTENT WARNING: grief, death of a parent
After reading the sneak peek of this on BookishFirst, I was desperately hoping to get a copy. And when it arrived, I couldn’t wait to start it. It doesn’t hurt that it makes me feel like I’m making some progress on my never-ending and constantly expanding list of ARCs. This book turned out to be an absolute powerhouse in just over 200 pages.
This is one of those fast reads that can be read in a single sitting, not just because it’s easy to fly through, but also because I just couldn’t put it down. Yaminah is 16 years old and has moved from Obsidian, Michigan to Brooklyn, New York a few years back, and is doing everything that she can to forget the painful memories she left behind. But, as we all know, moving doesn’t solve all problems, especially the hurts that we keep inside. And when Yaminah gets an invitation to a family reunion in honor of her recently deceased mother, it turns her entire world upside down.
The writing is beautiful, descriptive, and genuine. It was easy to relate to Yaminah and what she’s going through in this story, The dialogue is written informally, and feels so real to anyone who’s spent any amount of time in the boroughs. And simply reading about what her life is like and what she sees in Brooklyn feels so realistic it was as though I was transported to the diverse streets of Brooklyn, with all the sounds, sights, and smells that I know are there.
At its core, this is a deeply moving story about learning to express yourself and process emotions in a world that tells us to hide them away. Yaminah struggles with the complex feelings she’s been stuffing down, and they explode out of her, especially once she finds herself drawn back into the family dynamics she’s been trying to leave behind. It is an emotional story of grief, loss, acceptance, and learning how to process emotions, many of which are difficult for people of any age, let alone as a teenager.
“You can type LOL and send heart-shaped emojis in a text without anybody knowing that you’re sad. Or that anything’s wrong with you. You can type anything without the person on the other end knowing what’s really up.”
It isn’t always easy to read her interactions with the other characters, although some of them are definitely more likable that others, but each character in the story is meaningful and vital to the story. I especially loved that there isn’t any info dumping, but rather snippets revealed throughout the story. I couldn’t quite get a handle on what to expect, especially at first. But as more comes to light, and we start to see some journal-type entries interspersed between the chapters, I had my suspicions which turned out to be correct. And we learn more as Yaminah does and starts to process the new information that she’s learning:
“I read somewhere that people can read palms and tell things about the future and about past lives. I wonder now if somewhere in my palms it can tell me how my mama still has the power to make me feel like something’s missing even when she’s dead.”
This is a fabulous book, and it’s definitely one that’s going to stay with me for a long time. It’s beautifully written, and immensely relatable, while also talking about coping with emotions, difficult family dynamics, gentrification, poverty, and the importance of family. And it’s one of the best books I’ve read this month.
After reading the sneak peek of this on BookishFirst, I was desperately hoping to get a copy. And when it arrived, I couldn’t wait to start it. It doesn’t hurt that it makes me feel like I’m making some progress on my never-ending and constantly expanding list of ARCs. This book turned out to be an absolute powerhouse in just over 200 pages.
This is one of those fast reads that can be read in a single sitting, not just because it’s easy to fly through, but also because I just couldn’t put it down. Yaminah is 16 years old and has moved from Obsidian, Michigan to Brooklyn, New York a few years back, and is doing everything that she can to forget the painful memories she left behind. But, as we all know, moving doesn’t solve all problems, especially the hurts that we keep inside. And when Yaminah gets an invitation to a family reunion in honor of her recently deceased mother, it turns her entire world upside down.
The writing is beautiful, descriptive, and genuine. It was easy to relate to Yaminah and what she’s going through in this story, The dialogue is written informally, and feels so real to anyone who’s spent any amount of time in the boroughs. And simply reading about what her life is like and what she sees in Brooklyn feels so realistic it was as though I was transported to the diverse streets of Brooklyn, with all the sounds, sights, and smells that I know are there.
At its core, this is a deeply moving story about learning to express yourself and process emotions in a world that tells us to hide them away. Yaminah struggles with the complex feelings she’s been stuffing down, and they explode out of her, especially once she finds herself drawn back into the family dynamics she’s been trying to leave behind. It is an emotional story of grief, loss, acceptance, and learning how to process emotions, many of which are difficult for people of any age, let alone as a teenager.
“You can type LOL and send heart-shaped emojis in a text without anybody knowing that you’re sad. Or that anything’s wrong with you. You can type anything without the person on the other end knowing what’s really up.”
It isn’t always easy to read her interactions with the other characters, although some of them are definitely more likable that others, but each character in the story is meaningful and vital to the story. I especially loved that there isn’t any info dumping, but rather snippets revealed throughout the story. I couldn’t quite get a handle on what to expect, especially at first. But as more comes to light, and we start to see some journal-type entries interspersed between the chapters, I had my suspicions which turned out to be correct. And we learn more as Yaminah does and starts to process the new information that she’s learning:
“I read somewhere that people can read palms and tell things about the future and about past lives. I wonder now if somewhere in my palms it can tell me how my mama still has the power to make me feel like something’s missing even when she’s dead.”
This is a fabulous book, and it’s definitely one that’s going to stay with me for a long time. It’s beautifully written, and immensely relatable, while also talking about coping with emotions, difficult family dynamics, gentrification, poverty, and the importance of family. And it’s one of the best books I’ve read this month.
krissyronan's review
4.0
Loved this story of family secrets and hometown memories brought into new light.
Thank you, Penguin Teen and Edelweiss+ for the ebook!
Thank you, Penguin Teen and Edelweiss+ for the ebook!
vickimarie2002's review
5.0
Sometimes, I read a YA novel and it's full of high school issues. Those issues seem huge at the time, but never stick with you. Then, there are YA novels like Break This House. Where a young girl, is dealing with hard and real issues like adults do. It's a good idea to step out of my, mostly white, world and into a world of any race that isn't mine. To put myself in the shoes of someone with a different view, and this book is a good one to do that with. I loved that I felt like I was walking with Minah and experience her life and her family with her. Minah is a typical teenager, worrying about parent issues and her boyfriend, but then she finds out in a Facebook post, that her mom has passed. They had a terrible relationship that resulted in her and her dad moving away, but you can still tell she hurts knowing her mom is gone. She decides to attend the family reunion in Obsidian and finds out answers to questions. It's kind of hard to talk about some things, so I don't give any spoilers, but I really enjoyed this book. It's a short and quick read.