Search This Blog
April Reviews Link-Up
May Reviews Link-Up
June Reviews Link-Up
July Reviews Link-Up
August Reviews Link-Up
September Reviews Link-Up
October Reviews Link-Up
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (1)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia (1)
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (5)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Saturday, January 25, 2014
As You Might Suspect, I've Got Some Issues ...
1:00 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Scarlet Killian lives in fear of her own heart. With a rare, genetic defect that makes the organ pump with abnormal rhythms, she must be careful to stay calm, breathe evenly, and always—always—keep her defibrillator handy. She's done alright so far, but that's because she hasn't actually done anything. Homeschooling has kept her safe, away from the drama and insecurities of the outside world. Now that she's 15, though, Scarlet wants a chance at living like a normal teenager. She wants to go to school, even if it means constant check-ins with the nurse (who happens to be her stepmom), lugging around heavy medical equipment, and enduring all the whispers that come with being the girl whose heart could stop at any moment.
High school turns out to be a little more traumatic than Scarlet thought it would be, but she refuses to give up her dream of attending. Even if it means pushing her heart to pump at dangerously high levels. It's worth it to have real, live friends who make her feel blissfully normal. Sure, they're all from her peer mentoring group, meaning they've all got problems. And yet, the more she gets to know them, the more she likes them. Jordan Summers, a hot but haunted junior, is especially intriguing.
Scarlet's new-found independence brings a fresh awareness into her life, changing her perspective on everything. With that clarity comes some shocking revelations—not just about Scarlet's own self, but also about her family and the helpless vulnerability with which she's always lived her life. As she starts to see the truth, Scarlet must find the strength to cope, to persevere, and to fight for herself like she never has before.
Reviewing Broken, the first teen book from C.J. Lyons, a prolific writer of adult thrillers, is going to be difficult. Why? Because the majority of Broken feels like your typical YA issue novel. It's set mostly in a high school and seems to revolve around Scarlet's burgeoning friendships, her growing crush on Jordan, and her fear of dying before she's even begun to live. Then, the story takes a weird turn. And pretty much switches genres altogether. With little warning, we're thrown into the middle of a medical thriller. The latter part of the novel moves much faster than the former, making for an exciting, edge-of-your-seat conclusion to a story that starts out pretty humdrum. Which was great. I definitely enjoyed the faster pace, but the abrupt transition threw me off. It surprised me a little too much, if you know what I mean. Maybe I just missed all the foreshadowing, but the big plot twist felt, to me, like it came totally out of the blue. Because of that and a couple other issues, the novel struck me as bumpy, forced and melodramatic. So, while Broken kept me entertained on a long airplane ride, it didn't quite come together enough to really satisfy me.
(Readalikes: Reminded me a little of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated: I'm not sure. I read this while on an airplane and, apparently, neglected to make careful notes like I usually do. I don't remember any strong language, sex or violence, and Laura over at Library of Clean Reads rated the book Clean (read her review of Broken here), so I'm going with a cautious:
To the FTC, with love: I received an e-ARC of Broken from the generous folks at Sourcebooks via those at NetGalley.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(Atom)
Reading
Listening
Followin' with Bloglovin'
-
The Last Word by Gerri Lewis57 minutes ago
-
-
Top 5 Tuesday ~ Green Books3 hours ago
-
-
Top Ten Tuesday-Spring Into Books4 hours ago
-
Top Ten Tuesday6 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR | 20249 hours ago
-
TTT – Books On My Spring 2024 TBR9 hours ago
-
Daily Prompt 18 March monday13 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
Books from the Backlog #81 day ago
-
-
Don’t Foget Me by Rea Frey2 days ago
-
-
-
Sunday Post3 days ago
-
-
Timeline by Michael Crichton4 days ago
-
33. Ferris4 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
Witch Hat Atelier: Kitchen, Volume 11 week ago
-
Catching up1 week ago
-
Review: Dating Dr. Dil1 week ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?5 months ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra8 months ago
-
-
-
Sundays with Sam – The Sunday Post11 months ago
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ▼ 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)