Broken Things

Book Name

Broken Things

Author

Lauren Oliver

Book Description

It’s been five years since the murder of Summer died. More specifically, it’s been five years since Brynn and Mia were accused of killing their best friend, Summer. The town that the girls live in hates them, and so does the rest of the world, as they have been featured on various news sites. But Brynn and Mia didn’t kill Summer. Something else happened, something much deeper and worse. Brynn and Mia are determined to figure out the truth, not only to clear their names but also to be at rest with the truth. Will they succeed in finding the true killer? Or will they live the rest of their lives known as murderers? Read the book to find out!

Age Rating

15+

This book is appropriate for readers aged 15 and above. There are a couple of reasons why. Firstly, this book is centered around a murder. That itself may be scary to some younger readers. The description of the way Summer was murdered is quite graphic as well, which can be scary as well. The way the story is tied in with another, Lovelorn, is a little twisted and quite strange. The girls make sacrifices and are completely devoted to the characters in the story. They let the story consume them, in a way. There are also a lot of adult topics (details below).

Good Messages

2/10

There are very few, and extremely subtle good messages in this novel. Some of them include the importance of speaking up (seen through what happens when Brynn and Mia don’t speak up against Summer) and teamwork (seen through the characters’ teamwork to solve the mystery).

Violence

5/10

There is a fair amount of violence in this book. Firstly, this book revolves around a murder, and there are mentions of stab wounds, knives, and guns. An animal is murdered, and there is a mention of a child being abused.

Language

Intensity: 9/10

Usage: 5/10

There is quite a lot bad language in this novel. Words such as the f-word, sh*t, bullsh*t, d*ck, a**, d*mn, and a lot of homophobic slurs are used throughout the novel.

Romance

4/10

There is a little bit of romance in this novel. There is mention of sex and crushes, along with kisses. Mia has a huge crush on one of the characters. Love is mentioned as well.

Adult Topics

There are a lot of adult topics in this novel. Firstly, suicide is mentioned. Brynn is in rehab for supposedly recovering from overdoses. Throughout the novel, alcohol and drugs are mentioned. LGBTQ is mentioned as well, as Brynn is a lesbian. Summer manipulates her friends a lot in bad ways.

Tvix’s Take

Alrighty. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this book. One side of me says ‘WOW WAIT WHAT THAT WAS SO CREEPY AND AWESOME’ and the other side of me says ‘hmm that was a very interesting novel did I really like it?’ The whole time I was reading it, I was thinking just how weird it was but in a good way. The whole story plot and connection and the persona of Summer were all so, so twisted. I loved it. I do have to say though – I didn’t really like how the book ended. The tie in with this other story, Lovelorn, was super cool as well. I definitely didn’t like the way they told us who the killer was. Honestly, it didn’t even really make sense to me. But oh well, the book was still super great. Would I recommend this to people? Hm. Probably only if they really didn’t have anything else to read. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t a spectacular read either.