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meganbeckk's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nishaali's review against another edition
2.0
I read Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls not long ago and was disappointed by the portrayal of female friendships so I had high hopes for Beautiful Broken Things especially as it seemed to be receiving rave reviews.
Caddy and Rosie have been best friends since forever, and whilst Rosie is the confident one and Caddy the shy and “uninteresting” one, their friendship is comfortable and stable. Enter Suzanne, the exciting but mysterious new girl and before long, Caddy finds herself overcoming her jealousy of this intruder and thirsting after the freedom and rebellion that Suzanne brings. But Suzanne is running from her own demons and Caddy soon finds herself swept up in a tumultuous friendship.
Sounds great doesn’t it? Sadly, I was very disappointed with this book, and I'm aware I’m in the minority! It took me a while to get through Beautiful Broken Things and honestly? It was a slog. My biggest issue with the book was that for the first 75% we have a ridiculous amount of repetition. Nothing seemed to happen that hadn’t happened once twice multiple times already. Let me explain. Essentially, we had a Groundhog Day-esque loop of situations:
Step 1: Suzanne does something reckless
Step 2: Rosie gets annoyed and calls her out on it
Step 3: Caddy would stand up feebly for Suzanne whilst rejoice in feeling needed
Step 4: Suzanne would apologise (I am not even kidding, “sorry” appears a grand total of 88 times in the book!)
Step 5: Rosie and Suzanne would make up
Step 6: Repeat ad infinitum
And I’m sorry to say but that gets tiresome really quickly. The same can be said for the characters but special shout out to Caddy here (just as an aside, I really couldn’t get over this name, I actually took to calling her Cadence in my head because seriously Cadnam). So the idea is that Caddy, through Suzanne, will finally stop being “uninteresting”. Unfortunately, I felt like Caddy exploited Suzanne’s recklessness to make herself feel needed and validated which was so dangerous for Suzanne who was essentially spiralling out of control and needed support and stability more than anything. Also, I didn’t see any character development in Caddy, she was just as insecure, naive and selfish in the last chapter as the first, and especially at times when her friends needed her. There was one point where I wanted to throw the book across the room because of her sheer idiocy but Rosie’s reply stayed my hand:
Caddy: "How could we know this was going to happen?"
Rosie: "But the thing is, you should have known that something like this could happen. Like, that’s pretty much exactly why people don’t do things like this."
There were a couple of redeeming features hence the two star rating. First, I appreciated that Barnard portrayed the complexity of female friendships with all of its obsessions, jealousy and conflict without having to rely on any romantic subtext. Teenage female relationships are messy and passionate and sometimes authors seem to feel the need to justify it by weaving in romantic subtext – honestly there’s enough drama in platonic female friendships that you don’t need to amplify it! Secondly, I liked that Barnard was original in looking at the aftermath of abuse in Beautiful Broken Things and how the trauma doesn’t magically just go away once a victim is removed from an abusive situation.
Despite those few positives, the best way I can sum up this book is that I felt like a rubbernecker. You know when there’s been a car crash on the side of the road and drivers slow down to stare as they drive by? Well with Beautiful Broken Things, I was the driver and the book was unfortunately the car crash. Beautiful Broken Things was interesting enough, in a morbid “I know something bad will happen” kind way and that’s why I stuck around (I wanna know how it ends dammit!) And to continue the analogy, exactly as you would with a car crash you’d rubberneck for a minute, maybe two, and then be on your merry way, the whole thing forgotten and filed away as insignificant in the grand scheme of your life. This pretty much sums up my feelings about Beautiful Broken Things – it was just about interesting enough to pique my curiosity but totally forgettable once put down.
Caddy and Rosie have been best friends since forever, and whilst Rosie is the confident one and Caddy the shy and “uninteresting” one, their friendship is comfortable and stable. Enter Suzanne, the exciting but mysterious new girl and before long, Caddy finds herself overcoming her jealousy of this intruder and thirsting after the freedom and rebellion that Suzanne brings. But Suzanne is running from her own demons and Caddy soon finds herself swept up in a tumultuous friendship.
Sounds great doesn’t it? Sadly, I was very disappointed with this book, and I'm aware I’m in the minority! It took me a while to get through Beautiful Broken Things and honestly? It was a slog. My biggest issue with the book was that for the first 75% we have a ridiculous amount of repetition. Nothing seemed to happen that hadn’t happened once twice multiple times already. Let me explain. Essentially, we had a Groundhog Day-esque loop of situations:
Step 1: Suzanne does something reckless
Step 2: Rosie gets annoyed and calls her out on it
Step 3: Caddy would stand up feebly for Suzanne whilst rejoice in feeling needed
Step 4: Suzanne would apologise (I am not even kidding, “sorry” appears a grand total of 88 times in the book!)
Step 5: Rosie and Suzanne would make up
Step 6: Repeat ad infinitum
And I’m sorry to say but that gets tiresome really quickly. The same can be said for the characters but special shout out to Caddy here (just as an aside, I really couldn’t get over this name, I actually took to calling her Cadence in my head because seriously Cadnam). So the idea is that Caddy, through Suzanne, will finally stop being “uninteresting”. Unfortunately, I felt like Caddy exploited Suzanne’s recklessness to make herself feel needed and validated which was so dangerous for Suzanne who was essentially spiralling out of control and needed support and stability more than anything. Also, I didn’t see any character development in Caddy, she was just as insecure, naive and selfish in the last chapter as the first, and especially at times when her friends needed her. There was one point where I wanted to throw the book across the room because of her sheer idiocy but Rosie’s reply stayed my hand:
Caddy: "How could we know this was going to happen?"
Rosie: "But the thing is, you should have known that something like this could happen. Like, that’s pretty much exactly why people don’t do things like this."
There were a couple of redeeming features hence the two star rating. First, I appreciated that Barnard portrayed the complexity of female friendships with all of its obsessions, jealousy and conflict without having to rely on any romantic subtext. Teenage female relationships are messy and passionate and sometimes authors seem to feel the need to justify it by weaving in romantic subtext – honestly there’s enough drama in platonic female friendships that you don’t need to amplify it! Secondly, I liked that Barnard was original in looking at the aftermath of abuse in Beautiful Broken Things and how the trauma doesn’t magically just go away once a victim is removed from an abusive situation.
Despite those few positives, the best way I can sum up this book is that I felt like a rubbernecker. You know when there’s been a car crash on the side of the road and drivers slow down to stare as they drive by? Well with Beautiful Broken Things, I was the driver and the book was unfortunately the car crash. Beautiful Broken Things was interesting enough, in a morbid “I know something bad will happen” kind way and that’s why I stuck around (I wanna know how it ends dammit!) And to continue the analogy, exactly as you would with a car crash you’d rubberneck for a minute, maybe two, and then be on your merry way, the whole thing forgotten and filed away as insignificant in the grand scheme of your life. This pretty much sums up my feelings about Beautiful Broken Things – it was just about interesting enough to pique my curiosity but totally forgettable once put down.
m00plays's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like this book is true to real life. I haven't been through any of this stuff so I don't know but this book feels real. There isn't a happy ending like a fairytale but there's a true ending.
I love Rosie as a straight and to the point character who is most definitely THE best friend. Caddy is a great character too, kind and caring but at parts she annoyed me slightly, like how far she was up Suzanne's bum! With Suzanne's personality being very fiery and hot and cold, I really liked her, she is like no other character I've ever read about!
I love Rosie as a straight and to the point character who is most definitely THE best friend. Caddy is a great character too, kind and caring but at parts she annoyed me slightly, like how far she was up Suzanne's bum! With Suzanne's personality being very fiery and hot and cold, I really liked her, she is like no other character I've ever read about!
dunder_mifflin's review against another edition
5.0
SUZANNE HAS BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER OKAY, GOOD.
Now that's out of the way, it was a great book, and I loved that she had bpd because you know, it's good to have characters you love sharing your mental illness, even if they aren't diagnosed.
Now that's out of the way, it was a great book, and I loved that she had bpd because you know, it's good to have characters you love sharing your mental illness, even if they aren't diagnosed.
deepower7's review against another edition
3.0
This book is fine, just a little in love with itself.
egraciec's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
maddyoxley's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this since it's about female friendships and set in Britain but the characters were just so meh to me.
Caddy- what the hell?? I can't believe she was jealous of her sister for having a mental illness and her best friend for having a dead sister because it made them more 'interesting' than her. Caddy had a stable home situation, good friends and a good education but apparently that's too boring for her.
Rosie- nice...boring.. also a slut shamer so
Suzanne- manipulative but understandably why. I felt sympathetic towards her in some situations but thought her actions were downright stupid in others.
Overall the main characters stopped me from enjoying this book as much as I wanted to but there were parts I liked and the writing style was easy to read and get into
Caddy- what the hell?? I can't believe she was jealous of her sister for having a mental illness and her best friend for having a dead sister because it made them more 'interesting' than her. Caddy had a stable home situation, good friends and a good education but apparently that's too boring for her.
Rosie- nice...boring.. also a slut shamer so
Suzanne- manipulative but understandably why. I felt sympathetic towards her in some situations but thought her actions were downright stupid in others.
Overall the main characters stopped me from enjoying this book as much as I wanted to but there were parts I liked and the writing style was easy to read and get into
emilymens's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Trigger warning - abuse
lindaleva's review against another edition
3.0
★★★/☆☆☆☆☆
I tried to like this book, I really did but the deeper I got into the story the more I started hating it. When I bought this book I had no idea that it would be about such a complicated story because the cover description literally gave us nothing lol. All the characters were incredibly annoying, especially the main character, whose only personal trait was complaining, selfishness, and literally just being dumb. I couldn't name a single character I would genuinely like or that I wouldn't despise.
The entire story pretty much had no plot. The storyline was boring and later on I honestly stopped caring about Suzanna or her annoying-ass repetitive actions. A lot of moments in the book gave me a literal secondhand embarrassment and were cringe as fuck. The ending was absolutely terrible and cringe and I honestly hated the friendship between Cady and Suzanna so I pretty much skipped most of their scenes in the end lol.
3/5 starts, a pretty shitty book, would not recommend.
I tried to like this book, I really did but the deeper I got into the story the more I started hating it. When I bought this book I had no idea that it would be about such a complicated story because the cover description literally gave us nothing lol. All the characters were incredibly annoying, especially the main character, whose only personal trait was complaining, selfishness, and literally just being dumb. I couldn't name a single character I would genuinely like or that I wouldn't despise.
The entire story pretty much had no plot. The storyline was boring and later on I honestly stopped caring about Suzanna or her annoying-ass repetitive actions. A lot of moments in the book gave me a literal secondhand embarrassment and were cringe as fuck. The ending was absolutely terrible and cringe and I honestly hated the friendship between Cady and Suzanna so I pretty much skipped most of their scenes in the end lol.
3/5 starts, a pretty shitty book, would not recommend.