Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Blog Tour Review: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker

Synopsis:
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.


Publication Date: May 22, 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction
Source: Thanks so much to Bloomsbury and Walker for letting me be a part of this tour!


Review:
Contemporary greatness strikes again. I always think of myself as a 'paranormal' type of gal, but these contemp books just strike at my heart. This one is no exception. The emotions hit and then keep piling up as you read further into the pages. Whether or not you can relate to this exact situation, I think the feelings that saturate the MC are so relatable.

Clementine is a girl stuck on a boat with her family for the summer. She's been blacklisted from her best friend and bad-mouthed by the entire school. Her family boating trip comes at the perfect time to let her figure out who she really is and separate it from what everyone says she is. She's a girl with a lot of baggage and it has crushed her self-worth. I was railing at the injustice of how she was made to shoulder the full blame for what happened, especially the more I knew about it.

Surrounded by her family and senior citizens it is most fortunate that she meets James. He helps her see past her sadness and guilt to what is REAL. He is a sweet, flame-haired love interest for Clem . . . even if she doesn't want him to be :)

This is a poignant story with a beautiful message about love and forgiveness. A perfect summer read!

2 comments:

Precious said...

Hi Jackie! Thank you for the great review! I consider myself a paranormal/dystopian girl. But like you, I enjoy reading contemporary too. This sounds so emotional and so real. Adding it to my wishlist!

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Vegan YA Nerds said...

Great review, Jackie! I am a contemp fan so this has been on my list for a while but you've just reminded me that I really should try to get a copy soon!

Thanks for following us on twitter, we're not following your blog :)