The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
2/5 stars
Simon Pulse, 2013
357 pages
YA Contemporary Romance
Scheduled to release May 21
Source: Received an e-ARC through the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I must say that I adore this cover! Before I started this book, I was telling my coworker about it as my next read and I mentioned that I couldn't remember what the plot was supposed to be about; however the cover was beautiful. If you do bookish manicures, I think it would be really cute to have eight nails purple and then two orange.
Unfortunately that is probably the element about which I can be most positive as this book irked me in a similar way as Bittersweet did. My strongest memory of Bittersweet, after almost two months, is that main character Hudson pushed aside her friend ostensibly in pursuit of a larger goal but mostly because of some cute guys who ran hot and cold. Similarly in this book, Jude pushes aside her friends, justifying it to herself as wanting to spend more time with her father who is suffering from early onset Alzheimer's disease but moreso because of the cute boy who has entered her life. I found Jude fairly insufferable due to this and as she is the narrator, that made reading this book difficult.
In a weird way though, I felt like the romance wasn't that front and center despite what the summary seemed to suggest with family taking up more space on the page but with nothing sinking into my consciousness and heart. I also found Jude a bit naive. She has just graduated high school and is all set for a great summer before heading off to college. But her father's loss of facilities (diagnosed by the doctors) dominates her thoughts instead and for some reason, she seems to think she can reverse it if she can just restore his old motorcycle (with the aid of Emilio Vargas, youngest brother of the boy who broke the heart of one of Jude's sisters). I understand not wanting to accept the negative prognosis from a doctor but I thought Jude just seemed really stupid not to recognize what was happening. Her dad was not going to magically get better because of this ill-conceived plan. I think that added to my frustration along with how Jude pushed aside her friends while grabbing every opportunity to hang out with this new boy.
As I continue to think about this book, I recollect that it is not only the cover I liked. I loved the cultural heritage of the characters. Jude's family is of Argentine descent and Emilio's is from Puerto Rico with food, music, and language references to these heritages. I don't know how much that added to the story but it was a unique element.
Overall: This contemporary did not wow me at all-it felt pretty familiar although the diversity of the characters is new and appreciated.
Other Opinions:
Angieville
Anna Reads
Jen Ryland/YA Romantics
Rather Be Reading
I'm sorry you didn't like this one! I haven't read it yet but I hope I will still like it. I do admit that I never finished Bittersweet.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to know more about the story going into it. I love the cover too. That really draws me to the book so they did a good job picking the artwork :)
It just reminded very unpleasantly of Bittersweet but hopefully you'll have a better experience. I know a lot of people loved it.
DeleteI was a little curious about it. I am thinking now that I might not enjoy it so much. Sorry you didn't enjoy it all that much either. Thanks for sharing your thought on it..
ReplyDeleteJenea @ Books Live Forever
Well most people seem to like it-I guess it just depends on what you're expecting and what kind of stories you like.
DeleteI liked this one! I still need to write my review. The plot with Jude's dad made me so sad. I didn't think about that way, as her pushing away her friends, but I can understand how it would seem that way, definitely. Nice review!
ReplyDeleteHave a fab day!
Molli | Once Upon a Prologue
That's how it felt to me and it made me so sad because of all the YA books where the MC doesn't even have friends-I like stories with lots of girl friends!
DeleteI liked this one more than you did, but I do agree that the blurb is misleading -- this is more of a family drama with romantic elements.
ReplyDeleteYou can find me here: Jen @ YA Romantics
I found the blurb quite misleading and thought it was going to be much more romantic-maybe that helps account for some of my bitterness?
DeleteHm, it's a shame you didn't enjoy it, but thanks for the review. We liked TWENTY BOY SUMMER by Ockler, in part *because* the romance was a side story compared to the protagonist's friendship and family issues. So perhaps it's mostly about expectations and preferences in that regard?
ReplyDeleteI'd really like to check out Twenty Boy Summer because I've heard so many good things about it and I know that friendship and family are more prevalent than boy drama in that story.
DeleteI have this one, but haven't read it yet. I saw Jen's (YA Romantics) review too. Hmmm. I'll have to see what I think when I read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my WOW today!
Tressa @ Tressa's Wishful Endings
I'd be interested in seeing your thoughts-I had complicated feelings as you can see.
DeleteI'm sorry that you didn't love it. It looks okay, but... :( I hate when books follow a formula, it basically kills all of my fun. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI had such high hopes and they were just brutally crushed with so much stuff I didn't like.
DeleteI originally had no plans to read this, but I've read a few good reviews and thought I might give it a shot after all. It's a shame this didn't blow you away, but I do like that there's such a focus on the characters' culture and heritage. I think I'll probably still give it a read, I'll just keep my expectations in check. Thanks for your thoughtful review!
ReplyDeleteI was just expecting a really different story but I do want to applaud the multi-culturalism (more of that please!)
DeleteI am so sad that you didn't like this one very much. I find a ton of YA summaries misleading and I've just stopped reading them. I didn't think Jude actually believed she could cure her dad. I also think it came down to making some kind of memory with him, exclusively without her sisters.
ReplyDeleteI really believe Ockler has grown in her writing so much here.
I wonder if it would have been better for me if I hadn't read the summary...I also really felt like Jude thought she could cure her dad-I will see if I can find supporting evidence in the finished copy when it is released.
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