Broken, Beautiful Hearts – Kami Garcia

Honestly?

Kami Garcia gave me a pleasant surprise when she delivered this poignant, heartwarming, and sweet story! I was seriously hooked from the start and there were so many things that seriously pulled at me in a good way- especially since the last book I read from her was Beautiful Creatures, a book she co-wrote with Margaret Stohl.

Back to this book:

Once again, I had come across a novel that had me suffering the consequences today of staying up past midnight as I needed to finish reading the book before I went to sleep. I could not (and would not) put it down and this book was read in essentially one sitting (maybe two).

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The story started off strong; however I had a small problem with Peyton throughout a couple of the parts in the novel. While I liked how she could be strong and independent – she tried a little too hard to be that way. There are times when you can ask for help; it doesn’t make you weak. While Peyton may have thought she was determined and independent; it came off as slightly pretentious and it would’ve been absolutely fine for her to ask for help – though I don’t think she might have felt that way, considering the fact that her own boyfriend doing things behind her back that would make her utterly confused and conflicted.

Even though we had the ups and downs, Peyton was, hands down, my favorite part of Broken Beautiful Hearts. From the moment she was first introduced (well not really) I was able to feel her perspective. She was smart as well as ambitious, and more importantly, I’d give her major credit for standing up for herself and for speaking the truth no matter how many people told her she was lying or wrong. She was much braver than she gave herself credit for, and I also was incredibly proud of her for continuing to live her life, no matter the obstacles she faced. Even though it wasn’t always smooth, Peyton was able to take the wheel and spin it to her own pace, despite the fact that mean girls and new boys were around every corner.

‘”So this thing between us was a mistake?”

His eyes search mine.

“Because the way I feel when I’m with you feels like the opposite of every mistake I’ve ever made.”‘

Broken Beautiful Hearts, Kami Garcia

Along with Peyton, I loved her family. Her twin cousins were so lovable yet immensely disastrous, because they couldn’t keep a secret on whisper level – it made the book humorous at many instances and I found myself smiling at almost every one of them. Some of the things they did/said were hilarious in a “I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening” kind of way but one thing was clear: they’d do anything for their cousin. Her mother and uncle Hawk were both extremely supportive of almost every choice Peyton made, and they made sure to not let anyone come across her the wrong way.
A small note I’d like to add (twins related): I found it very cliche that there were all these types of redneck, farm loving, country living southerner stereotypes which were weaved into the story complete with the mean, popular girls who have it out for Peyton. Apparently Peyton was beautiful and skinny so almost every guy who wasn’t her cousins tried to hit on her at first glance and all the girls were jealous of her because of her looks and how she was related to the beautiful, godlike twins who were placed on a popularity monarchy pedestal at their high school.

Apart from that…

The writing in this novel just flowed and in no matter of time, I was flying through. I could picture everything within my mind and felt that it was unfolding before my eyes, because there was absolutely no difficulty to read. I could not put this novel down. Even once I was finished, I sat there emotional because all of the thoughts and feelings this novel brought out. Although there is such complex content, the novel felt real; it felt raw. I could see how this could be similar to many people’s high school experience and that truly is terrifying, specifically because of how absolutely real this was.

This novel blew away any and all expectations that I had before picking it up. Also, who designed this cover, because I absolutely loved the neon heart that was on the front. However it may be the cover is beautiful, but the novel’s depth is way more than that. This is my second read written by Kami Garcia and I cannot wait to read more. I know I will be recommending this book to many and I will go out on a limb and say this was one of the best reads that I would’ve read in a long time.

BBH was complicated, emotional, all consuming, and beautiful, and was a true page turner from the very first one. It encompassed all the emotions and struggles that teenagers, especially ones with a sport sub-career could face in high school whether it be the pressures from a peer group, different relationships and the high school “hierarchy”. It also incorporated and addressed difficult and complex topics regarding manipulation, physical/emotional/verbal abuse, and parental deaths, which really only mentioned the surface of some of the difficult situations because overall, there was a lot of heavy and complex content.