Title: Beautiful Broken Things
Author: Sara Barnard
First published February 11, 2016
322 pages, Paperback
ISBN: 9781509803538 (ISBN10: 150980353X)
Rating: 3.76
Overview
Two best friends, Celia and Isabel, share everything with each other. Celia admires Isabel’s bold and daring personality, wishing she could be more like her.
When a new girl named Laura joins their school, their dynamic changes. Laura is artistic, beautiful, and troubled.
As they become closer to Laura, Celia realizes that she’s getting tangled up in a web of secrets and lies. As Laura’s past becomes clearer, Celia learns how much friendship and recovery can be tricky.
Meanwhile, Isabel is on a path of self-destruction, and Celia is left to pick up the pieces. With the girls’ friendship on the line, Celia must navigate through her own struggles and help her friends before it’s too late.
Editoral Review
Sara Barnard’s young adult novel, Beautiful Broken Things, is a devastatingly beautiful exploration of friendship, mental illness, and the struggles of growing up. First published on February 11, 2016, this book has gained a dedicated following among young adult readers, thanks to its poignant writing, nuanced characters, and thoughtful exploration of complex issues.
The novel follows the story of three teenage girls: Caddy, Rosie, and Suzanne. Caddy is the quiet, anxious one, struggling to make sense of her place in the world.
Rosie, her longtime best friend, is confident and outgoing, seemingly unfazed by the many trials of adolescence. And Suzanne, the new girl in town, is complicated, mysterious, and harboring some dark secrets.
Over the course of the novel, their friendship deepens and fractures in unexpected ways, as they navigate the challenges of growing up in a world that can be cruel and unforgiving. What sets Beautiful Broken Things apart from other young adult novels is Barnard’s stunning writing.
Her prose is lyrical and poetic, suffused with emotion and depth. She captures the inner lives of her characters with startling clarity and honesty, exploring the complexities of mental illness and the ways in which it can both bind and separate us.
Throughout the novel, Barnard weaves together themes of love, loss, and the quest for self-discovery, resulting in a truly unforgettable story. However, despite its many strengths, Beautiful Broken Things is not without flaws.
The pacing can be slow at times, and some readers may feel frustrated by the lack of resolution in certain plot threads. Additionally, while the novel does an admirable job of exploring mental illness, some may argue that the treatment feels superficial and reductive.
Nevertheless, these criticisms do little to detract from the book’s overall impact and emotional resonance. In conclusion, Beautiful Broken Things is a must-read for fans of young adult fiction who appreciate complex, character-driven storytelling.
It is a book that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure, and that will stay with you long after you turn the final page. I highly recommend this book, with a rating of 4.5 out of 5, to anyone who loves beautiful writing, thought-provoking themes, and unforgettable characters.
