Name: Laura Wilson's review of Heartbroke by Chelsea Bieker
Item: Heartbroke
Rating: 2.5
Author: Laura Wilson

Chelsea Bieker

From the acclaimed author of Godshot and “a pitch-perfect ventriloquist of extraordinary talent and ferocity” (T Kira Madden) comes a defining book of Californian stories where everyone is seeking or sabotaging love United by the stark and sprawling landscapes of California’s Central Valley, the characters of Heartbroke boil with reckless desire. A woman steals a baby from a shelter in an attempt to recoup her own lost motherhood. A phone-sex operator sees divine opportunity when a lavender-eyed cowboy walks into her life. A mother and a son selling dream catchers along a highway that leads to a toxic beach manifest two young documentary filmmakers into their realm. And two teenage girls play a dangerous online game with destiny. Heartbroke brims over with each character’s attempt to salvage grace where they can find it. Told in bright, snapping prose that reveals a world of loss and love underneath, Chelsea Bieker brilliantly illuminates a golden yet gothic world of longing and abandonment under an unrelenting California sun.

Heartbroke

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Honestly, 2.5. I really wanted to get into these stories and some of them I liked more than others. Writing felt clunky and like they were trying really hard to be profound but just fell flat in the end.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Heartbroke by Chelsea Bieker

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &Heartbroke by Chelsea Bieker

Reviews

Join the club

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Heartbroke by Chelsea Bieker