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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, Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent
halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I really enjoyed Break this House. Though it was a short read, the tension and stress Minah was under had me reading it in small chunks.
Minah returning to her childhood home and visiting her relatives after 6 years made me think of my own relatives. Those memories made up majority of my childhood and reminded me of our own happy moments.
It warmed my heart, especially along with the author's thank you letter at the end. They thanked their family for letting them write this book as a way of grieving.🥺
Minah returning to her childhood home and visiting her relatives after 6 years made me think of my own relatives. Those memories made up majority of my childhood and reminded me of our own happy moments.
It warmed my heart, especially along with the author's thank you letter at the end. They thanked their family for letting them write this book as a way of grieving.🥺
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
foreverinastory's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Thank you to Penguin Teen for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Reflective like Iloh's debut, but in a different way.
I claimed a copy of Break This House by Candice Iloh from Bookish First. I absolutely loved Iloh’s verse debut, Everybody Looking, and so I was really eager for their prose debut. Break this House is a coming of age story about grief, divorce and familial estrangement. This book was set up to be a new favorite for me, but my brain constantly kept getting distracted. So while I did enjoy what I recall from this one, I am putting this one aside with a mini review of Not Right Now (NRN). The themes of grief and family tension were well done, but it was almost too evocative. I think with all the chaos of the past month, I couldn’t devote the time and brain power a serious book like this one needs. Iloh still has the gripping writing I came to admire from their debut, so I am excited when I do get a chance to pick this one back up.
Rep: Black cis female MC, Black cast.
CWs: Grief, death of parent. Moderate: Mental illness (depression - not the MC), addiction, drug use, alcohol consumption, cancer, death, possible suicide (left unclear).
Reflective like Iloh's debut, but in a different way.
I claimed a copy of Break This House by Candice Iloh from Bookish First. I absolutely loved Iloh’s verse debut, Everybody Looking, and so I was really eager for their prose debut. Break this House is a coming of age story about grief, divorce and familial estrangement. This book was set up to be a new favorite for me, but my brain constantly kept getting distracted. So while I did enjoy what I recall from this one, I am putting this one aside with a mini review of Not Right Now (NRN). The themes of grief and family tension were well done, but it was almost too evocative. I think with all the chaos of the past month, I couldn’t devote the time and brain power a serious book like this one needs. Iloh still has the gripping writing I came to admire from their debut, so I am excited when I do get a chance to pick this one back up.
Rep: Black cis female MC, Black cast.
CWs: Grief, death of parent. Moderate: Mental illness (depression - not the MC), addiction, drug use, alcohol consumption, cancer, death, possible suicide (left unclear).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, and Alcohol
melaniereadsbooks's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to BookishFirst and Penguin Teen for a finished copy of this book.
I loved Candice Iloh's debut, Every Body Looking, and knew I needed to read their second. Yaminah has been living in Brooklyn with her father for years, trying to stay away from the wreckage of the rest of her family. But when she gets an invite to a family reunion and realize her abusive mother has died, she heads back to Obsidian to reckon with her past and family.
This book was poignant and deep. Even though it is not written in verse, it felt like it at times with the poetry of the prose. Minah is a great main character and I loved the growth and understanding she was able to go through in this book. It talks about a lot of concepts such as emotional abuse, gentrification, and family.
I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to more by Iloh!
I loved Candice Iloh's debut, Every Body Looking, and knew I needed to read their second. Yaminah has been living in Brooklyn with her father for years, trying to stay away from the wreckage of the rest of her family. But when she gets an invite to a family reunion and realize her abusive mother has died, she heads back to Obsidian to reckon with her past and family.
This book was poignant and deep. Even though it is not written in verse, it felt like it at times with the poetry of the prose. Minah is a great main character and I loved the growth and understanding she was able to go through in this book. It talks about a lot of concepts such as emotional abuse, gentrification, and family.
I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to more by Iloh!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
marywahlmeierbracciano's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Candice Iloh’s sophomore novel is not a neat story tied up with a bow but something that more closely resembles the messiness of real life. Yaminah Okar lives in Brooklyn with her dad, but she didn’t grow up there. She’d rather focus on her relatively new vegan diet, sweet first boyfriend, and upcoming high school exams than think about the place where she came from. But when a message from her hometown sends her spiraling, she decides to go back and find out what happened to her mom, her family, the town she left behind. A deep dive into family dynamics, Break This House shines a vital light on gentrification.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Grief, and Death of parent
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