April 20, 2012

Review: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker



Unbreak My Heart
By Melissa Walker
Hardcover, 272 pages
Expected publication: May 22nd 2012
By Bloomsbury USA Children
eARC received via NetGalley
Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.

Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?

Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

What an emotional story! My heart went out to Clem the entire book. She made one simple mistake and it cost her big time.

The story is told from Clem’s point of view, and alternates from present to past. At first I was a bit confused because whenever the story would jump into the past, there really wasn’t any warning, but eventually I caught on and realized when the story would jump in to the past. Each time the story would change to Clem’s memories, I wanted to cry. The chapter would begin with a note she is trying to write to her best friend Amanda, and each time it was heart breaking. She really doesn’t know what to say or how to fix things between them. As I continued reading I could see how Clem fell for Ethan (Amanda’s boyfriend) and how strong her friendship with Amanda was. Clem struggles with herself throughout the whole book, and constantly puts herself down because of what she did to Amanda. It was so sad to read the things running through her head. Walker did an excellent job describing her emotions because I felt it with each word. That is what I loved the most. It was so easy to put myself in Clem’s shoes.

When her family takes her away on their sailboat for the summer, she meets a boy named James. James to me was an okay character. He didn’t really do anything for me, but he did help Clem deal with some issues and realize that things aren’t as bad as they seem. He was sweet and really nice, but the connection wasn't there for me. I looked at him as more of a friend than a love interest.

The only issues I had with this story is that I felt it took a while to get into specific details of how exactly everything happened between Clem and Amanda. Also, the ending left me with a lot of questions. Not sure if there is going to be a sequel or not, but I sure hope there is.

I recommend this book and think anyone of all ages can enjoy it. It can easily be read in one sitting. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to any of Walker’s future books.

3.5 Stars out of 5!




11 comments:

  1. sounds sweet -- and I love the cover. May have to check this one out!

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  2. I'm looking forward to this book. I've been liking a lot of the Bloomsbury catalog in the past year.

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  3. Well I have hopes this will be a sweet read from the synopsis and your fine review. I sometimes have difficulty with switching my brain back and forth and am glad I know about this in advance, makes it easier to understand when it happens LOL Thank you for sharing about Unbreak My Heart today :)

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  4. I enjoyed Melissa Walker's first novel. I've definitely had my eye on this one since first hearing about it. I do hope that there's a sequel!

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    1. Me too. I enjoyed it a lot and would love a sequel. Why not? Everything else is a series lol.

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  5. It bothers me to go back in forth in time. More so on an ereader cause you can't easily turn the pages back to try to figure out where you are!! It sounds like an ok book. But I don't think I will have it on my tbr list. Thanks for the review.

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    1. Aw Kelly, its only confusing in the beginning. Because she jumps right into the past, but the more I kept reading it became obvious when she jumps. I think it's worth reading. :-)

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  6. I enjoyed your honest review, especially about the writing and story. The book sounds good.

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  7. Great review! I am really excited to read this book. I've been LOVING contemporary lately, and especially the ones that really make me feel :) Also, as a teenage girl, I know what it's like to have best friend issues, so I feel I could probably relate.

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    1. I think all of us have had best friend issues as a teen lol. It was just really sad watching her put herself down over everything. It really does happen. :-/

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  8. I'm really looking forward to this; I think Walker is a talented writer and this book has a lot of promise. Fingers crossed!

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