Author: Melissa C. Walker
Release Date: May 2012
Published By: Bloomsbury Childrens
Pages: 240
Goodreads Rating: 3.83 stars
Review: Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?
UNBREAK MY HEART was the perfect feel-good book to read during Hurricane Sandy. While I was curled up on my couch freezing under mountains of blankets, this adorable summer story kept me warm with its numerous references to sunshine and of course, the cute romance. Of course, this is definitely more than just a stereotypical chick flick because the characters do truly have dimension, and Clem's growth from beginning to end was certainly well-written.
Starting with the good, the romance was just what you would expect - which is, by no means, a bad thing. It was sweet, slow-paced, and while maybe not totally swoon-worthy, I'm sure none of us would protest having a James or the female equivalent in our lives. I did feel that it was the slightest bit cliche because, let's be honest, we've all seen this kind of storyline quite a bit in our YA fiction experiences, but it was far from being irritatingly so. Predictable, yes, but still good? Yes!
While I really did enjoy this book, there was one aspect that did kind of annoy me, and that was, well, the drama. Of course Clem was going through a heck of a lot of trouble and I sympathized with her, but she was oftentimes so melodramatic that for much of the beginning, I thought she did something truly horrible. What she did was bad and she should've known better, sure, but it wasn't this horrendous crime that she should have to spend her entire summer moping around for. It just seemed like the entire time what she did was being spun into something much larger than it actually was.
All in all, UNBREAK MY HEART was just what you look for in a feel-good book: lots of sun, a cute boy, and a girl who heals just in time for a happy ending. The romance was sweet and lovely, and while I did wish the story was perhaps not quite so melodramatic, I still enjoyed it and recommend this to fans of contemporary fiction.
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2 comments:
Sounds like it doesn't reinvent the mold but is a solid read if you're in the mood for a sweet love story. Good to know!
I really loved this book-it was one of my favorite reads of the year. I actually liked that she was so melodramatic over her lost friendship even if a boy was also involved.
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