Sara Barnard

Beautiful Broken Things

Izza

5 stars | I was going to give this book 4.5 stars until the last paragraph (ngl, I shed a few tears), perfect ending. Reading this book was like going through a rollercoster of emotions: happiness, major frustration, pain/sadness, hope and love. Sara Barnard sure knows how to write beautiful, complicated and realistic friendships.

I highly recommend it!

Emelie

Lee Yi Hsean

Honestly, 'Beautiful Broken Things' was only a decent read for me. It did convey an important message; that people aren't always what they seem, but it was hardly memorable. A few months down and I can barely remember the plot of this story. There wasn't much to remember, but it did keep me interested enough to keep flipping the pages. 

I think Sara Barnard's 'Destination to Anywhere' and 'A Quiet Kind of Thunder' were much better, and I would recommend those books to this one.

rida

this book was eh. it did have some nice writing and a few interesting scenes i guess

A heart-stoppingly beautiful debut novel about what it means to be a friend when your whole world is falling apart. I was brave. She was reckless. We were trouble. Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie - confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne's past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realises, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own.

Heidi Lowe 

Loved the story and the way you slowly discover information. At times a little frustrating and predictable 

Selly Thakkar

Minor spoilers for book! 

So the start of the book is boring and the narrator isn’t much interesting. Surely would have been a better book from Suzanne POV but overall a nice and interesting read. 
I could relate sometimes to caddy and her want to be popular but then I didn’t just understand her immense desire to defend Suzanne at all possible points. It was too much exaggeration even when Suzanne was clearly toxic for her. 
Caddy and Suzanne walking around alone every night is wrong for so many reasons yet stupid caddy just doesn’t get it. 
She misused her parent’s trust in her to a huge extend. Not the most inspiring or useful protagonist. 
Rosie was the only understanding character with common sense but caddy brushed her off as unhelpful or selfish. 
But the one good thing about the book is addressing victim blaming themselves. Still it was just a convo where you still can’t conclude that victim understands it wasn’t their fault  and just at the end of the book, victim was all like yea it wasn’t my fault. 

But nice ending and alright book. 
Check for trigger warnings before reading. 

Eleanor Luhar

I would like to give a massive thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel. In return, I am writing a review with my honest opinions on the book.

Wow. The title was perfect to me - I personally suffer from mental health issues and have known lots of other people who do, too. There are loads of books about this issue now, but I like how this isn't about her suffering, but instead her friend.

If you're struggling with any mental illness, you'll understand how "broken" is such a perfect word for describing your state. Using "beautiful" alongside this is nice, making you feel that maybe being broken isn't always such a bad thing.

Caddy is ordinary, boring, plain - until her best friend introduces her to Suzanne. At first, she just seems like a fun, reckless kind of girl. But it soon becomes apparent that she has some serious issues beneath the surface.

Barnard creates Suzanne as a character before introducing her issues. She does hint at something going on, but she doesn't make it her only identity. This is so important in books. We are not just our mental illnesses! I wish more people could see that.

The relationships are very realistic, too. I can't say I know much about abuse, but I can say that the friendship issues caused by Suzanne's depression are portrayed very realistically. And when she is admitted to treatment, she realises that maybe she has dragged her friends down without intending to do so - something that is incredibly common.

Suzanne is very relatable, but that may just be personal. The way she talks about her issues and emotions, and the way she copes with things, are very similar to my own. And again, her being a "bad influence" is something I have experienced to some extent. But even if you don't personally fit in her shoes by any measure, I think anyone can appreciate Suzanne's struggles and her relationship and impact on Caddy.

As for Caddy, who is the protagonist of the novel, I think she is a greatly accurate representation of many teenage girls. She wants something impressive to happen - she's never had a boyfriend, she still has her virginity, she's never even been in any serious situations. Everyone has that phase of wanting something that sets them apart, that makes them unique and interesting. Of course, Caddy never could have anticipated what would happen when she befriended Suzanne...

And Rosie, Caddy's original bestie, is sort of the other kind of typical teen. She has more of a social life but is still loyal to her old friend, and although she may not be entirely "boring" she also isn't incredibly special, either. 

This may possibly be a slightly romanticised portrayal of depression and suicide, but not like many others. Honestly, the reckless and thrilling adventures Suzanne takes Caddy on aren't all that out-there. When you're in that dark place, you do crazy things sometimes. And although Caddy had fun and loved Suzanne, it was still part of the issue. Caddy's parents take the events as Suzanne being a bad influence, though, which (as I said before) is something I have experienced. Caddy doesn't see it that way, and although Suzanne isn't intending to influence Caddy in any way, she isn't a great help either. What's that phrase about cutting yourself when trying to fix someone who's broken?

I do admit that I'm maybe emotionally attached to this for personal reasons, but I can honestly say that this is a fantastic book anyway. The character development is superb, the writing is easy to follow and the plot is realistic yet interesting. I can't say I'd change it at all. 5 stars.

Ruth Parker 

What I loved most about this book was that it wasn’t from Suzanne’s point of view. I’ve read reviews which suggest it would be better if it was - about her overcoming her trauma etc.
But surely the people most neglected in these hard times are those on the sidelines? The ones that have to watch their friends or loved ones going through hell, destroying themselves and being unable to help.
That’s my perspective anyway; giving the people like Caddy a voice as a platform for their stories as well.

That being said, I didn’t like the character of Caddy much at all. She says her life is boring, she is boring, nothing interesting ever happens to her. So she befriends someone clearly damaged and traumatised about her past so she can garner some of that interest for herself. It’s pretty awful. 

The book was really easy to read, very well written and I stormed through it, not really wanting to put it down. It didn’t put me off that from the second page you basically know what’s going to happen - for me it was the journey and damn that was a rollercoaster! 

I totally recommend this book... just try not to get annoyed with Caddy!!

Jinte

For me this book was hard to get into. I couldn’t really feel the characters and was confused and sometimes annoyed with their decisions and how they behaved. Either way it is how some people think and react and it is life. No one is perfect and this book really shows that! In the end the book grabbed me much more and I got dragged in the problems of the characters. 
Personally this isn’t my favorite book of all time but I’m glad I read it!

this was a honest cover buy. as you can see by my rating and the time it took me to read.

Beautiful Broken Things

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