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A review by catmgal
Break by Hannah Moskowitz
5.0
My review:
This book was absolutely perfect. Heartbreaking. Gut-wrenching. Relatable. Such a beautiful debut from an author I'll definitely be stocking up on, I don't even know where to begin with this review, it's so.... epically.... amazing. But amazing isn't even the right adjective for it, there's no right adjective for this book; it's every emotion we're too afraid to talk about -- even to ourselves. I'm speechless. Literally and figuratively.
Synopsis:
"Break a bone, grow a better body. The worse you're hurt, the stronger you get." That's seventeen-year-old Jonah's mentality on life; he thinks that if you're strong enough to go through the pain, then you're even stronger to survive through the aftermath. Because once "You're broken, and you're fixed ... you're better." Right?
Wrong. Jonah's world is literally tearing itself apart at the seams -- the oldest in the family, Jonah has taken over his younger brother Jesse's life, who is so allergic to almost anything he can break out in hives and die within minutes from a reaction to spilt milk. Meanwhile, the new baby, eight-month-old Will, just doesn't know when to stop crying -- Jonah's gotten used to the wails, from Will and his parents' arguing, who never cuss and think that Faith will save Them all.
Pain is the only thing that will save Jonah from the inevitable: helpless and overwhelmed with guilt for not being able to save Jesse from himself and his reactions and his parents' marriage-that-should've-been-a-divorce, each new bone he breaks doing stunts on his skateboard leads him closer to the goal. The edge. The exhilaration. Why? Because "You only get so many chances to be destroyed. Got to make the most of them."
This book was absolutely perfect. Heartbreaking. Gut-wrenching. Relatable. Such a beautiful debut from an author I'll definitely be stocking up on, I don't even know where to begin with this review, it's so.... epically.... amazing. But amazing isn't even the right adjective for it, there's no right adjective for this book; it's every emotion we're too afraid to talk about -- even to ourselves. I'm speechless. Literally and figuratively.
Synopsis:
"Break a bone, grow a better body. The worse you're hurt, the stronger you get." That's seventeen-year-old Jonah's mentality on life; he thinks that if you're strong enough to go through the pain, then you're even stronger to survive through the aftermath. Because once "You're broken, and you're fixed ... you're better." Right?
Wrong. Jonah's world is literally tearing itself apart at the seams -- the oldest in the family, Jonah has taken over his younger brother Jesse's life, who is so allergic to almost anything he can break out in hives and die within minutes from a reaction to spilt milk. Meanwhile, the new baby, eight-month-old Will, just doesn't know when to stop crying -- Jonah's gotten used to the wails, from Will and his parents' arguing, who never cuss and think that Faith will save Them all.
Pain is the only thing that will save Jonah from the inevitable: helpless and overwhelmed with guilt for not being able to save Jesse from himself and his reactions and his parents' marriage-that-should've-been-a-divorce, each new bone he breaks doing stunts on his skateboard leads him closer to the goal. The edge. The exhilaration. Why? Because "You only get so many chances to be destroyed. Got to make the most of them."