Beautiful Broken Girls
In a town like Bismuth, tragedy seems to be a constant. But when Mira and Francesca, 2 sisters of a prominent family, drown in the quarry, no one understands how this could happen.Ben's been having a tough time accepting that Mira, his neighbor and the girl he loved is gone. But then he gets a letter, mailed by Mira before her death, and suddenly he has a purpose-- to find out why Mira and Francesca did what they did.
Mira left notes in 7 places that her and Ben had encounters. They are places Ben would not forget-- but as he tracks down the notes, the story that starts to take shape is complicated, bizarre, and disturbing.
I'm beyond sad to say that I didn't love this book. I REALLY REALLY wanted to, but I just couldn't make that happen. I read After the Woods last year and thought it was phenomenal. Such a strong debut full of interesting characters, a twisty twist, and a smartness that blew me away.
Beautiful Broken Girls is not cut from the same cloth. This book is about an obsession that a town has with these girls-- the reason?? It's anyone's guess. The next door neighbor, Ben, has a particular fascination with the older sister, Mira. And when they take their lives by jumping off the quarry cliff and drowning, it's all a big mystery as to why.
Mira wants Ben to know because she's mailed him a letter sending him on a scavenger hunt for 7 other vague notes. Eager to find these notes (and relive the moments he and Mira shared in the hiding spots), Ben goes on the hunt.
Are you with me so far?? I was mildly on board with the story up to this point too. I mean, I thought it was creepy that she would send him on a scavenger hunt to places where he "touched" her. I get it that you love the girl, but are you really getting a boner over touching a girls hand or cheek??
But THEN-- the book takes this crazy U-Turn into Religious town. It's all Catholic rituals and Saints and Martyrs. It was hard for me to take it seriously, but when the characters in the book were taking it so seriously-- that's when I got confused.
There were times while reading the book that I did fall into the mystery of wanting to know WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON. And I did like that it veered into some theories that were promising, but ultimately wrong. I definitely thought at least 2 other things were going to be the suicide reason, and I was totally wrong-- and I love when I'm wrong.
The second biggest problem was Ben. He wasn't a strong enough character to carry the book. And we didn't get to delve into his issues enough. I still don't know what exactly happened to him as a kid-- and clearly he needed help, but never got it. I felt like the mental health issue wasn't handled as well as it could've been. There's nothing wrong with therapy and/or medication when you've been through something like *I think* he has.
His only characteristic is-- unhealthy Mira obsession. I mean, who imagines the insides of someone's organs as a turn-on?? ("He imagined glistening blood cells, villi waving like sea anemone, velvety mucosa. Turn Mira inside out, smear his hand inside." If that's not grounds for a restraining order, I don't know what is). I wish he (and the other dudes in his friend group) had more going on than 2 manic-pixie-dream-girls.
Did I like this book?? Meh. I wanted to and at times I did, but there was just a little too much weirdness, unexplained happenings, and lack of leading characters for me to say it was a recommendable book.
AND THAT ENDING. Just no.
OVERALL: I wanted to love this because of After the Woods, but it didn't live up to my expectations. I didn't like the religious/mystical place that the book went, and I didn't feel the main character was developed enough to lead the book. It's interesting in that it tries to do something different, but ultimately it wasn't for me.
Date Published: 2//21/2017
How I got this book: Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for allowing me to read and honestly review this book
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Macmillan)
Add it to your To-Read List!!
Rating: 2/5
Character: Francesca Cillo
Book: Blessed by Tonya Hurley
- This seems like the PERFECT book for her. Saints and Martyrs?? Lost girls searching for something? Totally Francesca.
Oh no! I had been looking forward to review of this one and I'm glad I read it before getting my own copy. I had initially been interested since it has Virgin Suicides vibes but it doesn't sound like it would be my cup of tea either :-/
ReplyDeleteIt definitely does have a Virgin Suicides vibe-- with the dad isolating the girls and the community curiosity with them. You might like it, I just wanted more explanation. Plus, the religious stuff was a little too much for me.
DeleteReligious/mystical vibe? Ugh, best steer clear for me.
ReplyDeleteYeah it was odd. I didn't get what the point of it was really.
DeleteYep, same. Sadly, I may have even liked it less than you did, because I was pretty salty about the mental health bit. But I share your feelings overall for sure. I didn't "get" Ben either- or why EVERYONE was so obsessed with these girls. Or the religious stuff. Oh hell, I didn't get any of it, which was why I didn't like it ;) Sorry this didn't work out for you either, but great review!!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!! I'm glad I wasn't the only one to not get this book. I think the ending really sealed my feelings of the book-- just WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING BOYS??
DeleteYeah I am pretty sure I will steer clear of this one now!! Sorry it wasn't good for you like her last book. Great review!!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! It really hurts when I love one book by an author and the next one isn't my fave.
DeleteOMG, that quote from Ben is super creepy! Yeah, I don't think I would be into this one either. I originally thought about adding this to my TBR list but I haven't seen too many good reviews about it. Great review!
ReplyDeleteRight?? I was completely Icked out by that. I think this is a book for a very specific type of reader, and I'm not that person :(
DeleteTotal grounds for a restraining order, no question. I have this one and was pretty keen on reading it, but then I think I saw your reading progress somewhere and I moved it to the nope stack. This TOTALLY sounds like your kind of book, and if YOU didn't enjoy it, there's no hope for me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought it would be my kind of book too!!! I really wish it was though, because it has potential-- cool setting, semi-cool backstory, mystery... but sighhhhhh.
DeleteWow. This has a cool premise with the mystery of why they committed suicide, but the MC sounds creepy! And that organ part- weird!! What's going on there? Geez...
ReplyDeleteSo GROSS. Who wants to see the inside of people's organs??? Serial killers, that's who!! It was a cool mystery until it veered off into weirdville.
DeleteWow! That quote is just...wow! Disturbing? Yes, I think that's the word I'm looking for. I'm definitely skipping this one! I hate when books take an unexpected religious turn. Warn me about that up front!
ReplyDeleteRight?? I had no idea there would be stigmata and Catholic rituals!! That's something I want to know about ahead of time. I mean-- I can now see how the cover is MILDLY a nod to that, but definitely not completely-- they should add a rosary or something.
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