ARC Review--Broken Things by Lauren Oliver

It’s been five years since Summer Marks was brutally murdered in the woods.

Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend. That driven by their obsession with a novel called The Way into Lovelorn the three girls had imagined themselves into the magical world where their fantasies became twisted, even deadly.

The only thing is: they didn’t do it.

On the anniversary of Summer’s death, a seemingly insignificant discovery resurrects the mystery and pulls Mia and Brynn back together once again. But as the lines begin to blur between past and present and fiction and reality, the girls must confront what really happened in the woods all those years ago—no matter how monstrous.

I received this ARC from a fellow blogger in a fair trade. My review is completely honest and voluntary; I was in no way compensated for this review.

I was excited to see that Lauren Oliver had a new thriller coming out this year, Broken Things was a most memorizing and spellbinding kind of tale! Things were twisted and messy and unclear, which pretty much made for an excellent murder mystery!

Five years ago, Summer, Mia, and Brynn were the best of friends. They were an unlikely trio that came together because Summer was a force to be reckoned with. She was a bold and fierce girl and Brynn and Mia just sort of gravitated to her one day. Summer was in love with a particular book called “The Way into Lovelorn” that was basically a modern day fairy tale of sorts that sounded positively amazing! Summer was always upset that the author, ended the book in a way that left room for a sequel, yet one never came. So she and her friends decided to write one themselves. Then the unthinkable happens, Summer is murdered in a most brutal and cruel way…a way that mimics exactly what happened to a character in their fanfic.

Mia and Brynn were accused of murder but the charges never suck because of a lack of evidence. Both girls have tried to move on with their lives in the best ways that they could, but it was nearly impossible to do so. And then one day when cleaning, Mia finds Summer’s copy of her beloved book and inside was a note, one that led her to believe that Summer may have been keeping secrets from her and Brynn. And soon, the two friends find themselves coming together again and trying to figure out what really happened to Summer that fateful night so long ago.

This was a most excellent mystery! It was a very different kind of story in some ways too. We alternated between Mia and Brynn’s point of view and we also alternated between the present and five years ago leading up to Summer’s death. It made for interesting storytelling to say the least. Though at times, I couldn’t quite figure out if the “flashbacks” were happening in chronological order or not. They would seem to, but then it felt like it jumped around a bit. It was hard to tell at times to be honest, but the story from the past was still understandable. I just can’t help but wonder though, if the memories weren’t totally organized.

The mystery itself was fairly decent too. Though I honestly felt like it took a while for to get some suspects. The pacing was a tad slow in a few places, but I tend to take that in stride when it comes to mysteries. It seemed odd to be investigating a murder from years ago as well, especially for teenagers and that they really had very little to go on as well. It worked though. I try not to look for the logic in most books because sometimes that’s only something the author can see and plus you know, the whole fiction thing! Lol.

There was an added touch of romance, for both Brynn and Mia with their respective peoples. I was glad that the romance didn’t really take over the story. It wouldn’t seem natural had there been a lot of kissing and whatnot going on when there’s a mystery to solve! And kudos to Lauren for throwing in a Scooby Doo reference! I’ll love you forever for that!

The only thing that bothered me about the ending was that we only got one of the girl’s perspectives. Having alternated the entire book, I thought it would’ve been nice to get both of their input/thoughts on what happened and everything. Alas, it was only one of them. But I must say I enjoyed how Lauren ended it ended it. I kind of saw that coming based on the way things played out with the trio of friends. It was kind of fun…if still a touch aggravating! Lol!

Broken Things was a mystery with heart. There were a lot of social issues that came up that felt very relatable to our current time. It was a book with edge and shadows and a pretty twisted mystery! I can only hope that Lauren is not done with this genre yet!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars


Broken Things releases October 2, 2018