Book Review: Broken Things

Broken Things

By: Lauren Oliver

Published By: HarperCollins

Publication Date: October 2, 2018

Page Count: 408

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound

Source: ARC Kindly Provided by Publisher via Edelweiss

Young Adult - Mystery

I have been a fan of Lauren Oliver for some time now, but my favorite of her novels is her first one, Before I Fall. I love to see her pushing beyond genres and trying out so many different things. She is truly a versatile writer who weaves words in a way that leaves a mark on the reader's mind. I wasn't sure I was in the right place to read a mystery - it being the holiday season and all - but I had put this one off long enough due to the stresses of real life, so I took the plunge. What I found was remiscient of The Magicians by Lev Grossman mixed with a heavy dose of murder mystery. It made for an intriguing if disturbing read.

Summer, Brynn, and Mia were the best of friends. They were constantly seen together and the girls had a way of bringing the others out of their shell. Summer was the beautiful, vivacious one that was full of life while Brynn was a little rough around the edges and Mia was a shy ballerina who preferred to exist on the edges of the school social hierarchy. Despite their differences the girls find they can be themselves together and they embark on an imaginative journey into their favorite novel. The novel ends in an odd way as if the author walked away and never returned to finish her sentence, so the trio makes it their mission to finish the story. They spend their time writing fanfiction and exploring the woods as they role-play their way through the trees.

Eventually the story takes a deadly turn when Summer is murdered in a gruesome way that is taken straight from the story. The town is horrified and all fingers point towards Brynn and Mia. The pair staunchly claim they had nothing to do with anything, but while the courts find them innocent of a crime, society doesn't forget a scandal. Brynn and Mia's entire lives are changed as they try to outrun the whispers and hard stares of their fellow townsfolk. Mia becomes a recluse who attends homeschool and Brynn fakes additions to stay in rehab. Neither of them has ever truly moved on from the day Summer was killed, but when Mia finds a forgotten copy of the story that started it all, she is compelled to reach out to Brynn and put the mystery of Summer's death to rest, once and for all.

Summer's death horrified me as did the way the innocent teens were treated after the event. As I worked to piece together the clues, I found myself stumped at every possible killer. The big reveal was a shock for me, but I found that it made a lot of sense once everything was out in the open. If you are okay with a darker plot and enjoy a "who-dun-it", I highly recommend giving Broken Things a read.

One Last Gripe: I preferred the chapters when Mia was the narrator.

Favorite Thing About This Book: Tone and Mood

First Sentence: Before we were the Monsters of Brickhouse Lane - before everyone from Connecticut to California knew us by that tagline, and blogs ran pictures of our faces, and searching our names led to sites that crashed from all the traffic - we were just girls, and there were only two of us.

Favorite Character: Mia

Least Favorite Character: Brynn's Older Sister

Summary:

It’s been five years since Summer Marks was brutally murdered in the woods. 

 Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend. That driven by their obsession with a novel called The Way into Lovelorn the three girls had imagined themselves into the magical world where their fantasies became twisted, even deadly. 

 The only thing is: they didn’t do it. 

 On the anniversary of Summer’s death, a seemingly insignificant discovery resurrects the mystery and pulls Mia and Brynn back together once again. But as the lines begin to blur between past and present and fiction and reality, the girls must confront what really happened in the woods all those years ago—no matter how monstrous.