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A review by eatingwords
The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
4.0
After reading Bittersweet, I wanted to read more by Sarah Ockler. Her writing is just plain beautiful and since The Book of Broken Hearts came out this year I wanted to see if I would like this contemporary romance as well.
What I liked very much:
1. The Argentinian family. I just loved how Jude and her family and actually almost everyone that they associated with had a South American background. I also enjoyed reading the scattered Spanish phrases and words that were embedded into conversations. Also reading about all of the food..thinking about it makes me hungry again :D
2. The non-existent love triangle. There just was no love triangle. I enjoyed that there was just one love interest. There was no need to put in a second guy to complicate things. It was complicated as it was.
3. The bond between the sisters. I loved their relationship and although Jude and the 'Hole Trinity' were quite a few years apart they still were the Hernandez sisters that had each others back no matter what.
4. Jude's love and fight for her father. It was so affectionate to read about how Jude wanted her father to get better although that was not possible. Her project rebuilding his motorcycle with him was great and I loved how much Jude wanted to do this for her father.
5. The romance. It was subtle and more in the background, which I liked. It didn't overtake the whole story. I liked that there were more important things than the romance.
6. The writing. As already mentioned, I really love Sarah Ockler's writing style. It is just so beautiful and once you have started reading, you don't want to stop.
7. Dealing with Alzheimer's. It's not like I would know how people cope with this kind of situation. How their relationships with the affected person changes and how people still try to hold everything together despite the disease. But everything about it seemed authentic and real to me. I didn't doubt that Sarah Ockler didn't know what she was writing about.
8. The motorcycles. Engines, cars and motorcycles are not really my thing. They are my boyfriends' thing. It's not that I'm passionate about them, but I enjoyed reading about them. Since the actual technical parts were not that long, I thought that it was cool to bring something so untypical for a contemporary romance up.
What I didn't like too much:
1. Mari's bossiness. I didn't like how she came around for a few weeks and then decided that everything should work like she wanted it. I also didn't like how Jude just stood there, let it happen and waited for her next order.
2. The Book of Broken Hearts. Like, really?! How could Jude be so naive and try not to break some oath that was ridiculous from the beginning.
Overall I really loved this story and I hope to read more of Sarah Ockler in the future!
What I liked very much:
1. The Argentinian family. I just loved how Jude and her family and actually almost everyone that they associated with had a South American background. I also enjoyed reading the scattered Spanish phrases and words that were embedded into conversations. Also reading about all of the food..thinking about it makes me hungry again :D
2. The non-existent love triangle. There just was no love triangle. I enjoyed that there was just one love interest. There was no need to put in a second guy to complicate things. It was complicated as it was.
3. The bond between the sisters. I loved their relationship and although Jude and the 'Hole Trinity' were quite a few years apart they still were the Hernandez sisters that had each others back no matter what.
4. Jude's love and fight for her father. It was so affectionate to read about how Jude wanted her father to get better although that was not possible. Her project rebuilding his motorcycle with him was great and I loved how much Jude wanted to do this for her father.
5. The romance. It was subtle and more in the background, which I liked. It didn't overtake the whole story. I liked that there were more important things than the romance.
6. The writing. As already mentioned, I really love Sarah Ockler's writing style. It is just so beautiful and once you have started reading, you don't want to stop.
7. Dealing with Alzheimer's. It's not like I would know how people cope with this kind of situation. How their relationships with the affected person changes and how people still try to hold everything together despite the disease. But everything about it seemed authentic and real to me. I didn't doubt that Sarah Ockler didn't know what she was writing about.
8. The motorcycles. Engines, cars and motorcycles are not really my thing. They are my boyfriends' thing. It's not that I'm passionate about them, but I enjoyed reading about them. Since the actual technical parts were not that long, I thought that it was cool to bring something so untypical for a contemporary romance up.
What I didn't like too much:
1. Mari's bossiness. I didn't like how she came around for a few weeks and then decided that everything should work like she wanted it. I also didn't like how Jude just stood there, let it happen and waited for her next order.
2. The Book of Broken Hearts. Like, really?! How could Jude be so naive and try not to break some oath that was ridiculous from the beginning
Spoiler
(even if Johnny Vargas did cheat on Celi, it does not mean that Emilio Vargas will cheat on Jude..I don't really understand why Jude spoke so mighty of this oath because it seemed just absurd to me. Also, she was only twelve when taking that oath, so that makes it doesn't even count..)Overall I really loved this story and I hope to read more of Sarah Ockler in the future!