ARC Review: Beautiful Broken Things (Beautiful Broken Things #1) by Sara Barnard
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Series: Beautiful Broken Things #1
Author: Sara Barnard
Published February 25th 2016 by Macmillan Children's Books
Goodreads Synopsis
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.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Even though they go to separate schools, Caddy and Rosie are best friends, and just about inseparable. Everything has always been fine between them, but as Year 11 starts, a new girl appears at Rosie's school, and soon Suzanne is brought into everything the girls do. Suzanne seems so much more than Caddy ever could've imagined, but it quickly becomes clear that she has a complicated past, and may be the catalyst that destroys Caddy and Rosie's friendships.
This is a book I've had on my TBR for years now. I've read two of Sara's books before hand, and had mixed feelings about the two, but I'm on a NetGalley kick at the minute, and want to clear some of my older review copies to improve my ratio. Caddy is a character who is naive, and slightly insecure, and being at an all girls private school, an average student, doesn't help. Turning 16, she wants to be more like Rosie, and have something significant happen to her, and, honestly, she's extremely jealous when Suzanne appears on the scene. Suzanne seems to be the polar opposite of Caddy, and Caddy is wary of her, but learning about why she is now in Brighton, living with her Aunt Sarah, she opens up to her, and quickly wants to be in Suzanne's life. I really cared for Suzanne, and felt so sorry for everything she had faced in her past. She was troubled, and needed care, and Caddy was one of the only people to really be there for her. I didn't like, however, the way she dragged Caddy into her spiral, going so far that Caddy ended up hurt. For Rosie, if I'm honest, she's a really small part of the book. We hardly see much of her once Suzanne appears, and it's obvious that Caddy is dropping her more and more to be with her new interesting friend, which I really disliked. The inclusivity and frank discussions of mental health and abuse was something I was in awe to see, and think would be perfect to open the conversation with students these days. I will be reading the sequel/companion book, and hope that Caddy grows on me.
Dates Read:
January 19-20, 2021
Rating
3 Stars
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