Broken Things

By: Lauren Oliver

Narrated by: Sarah Drew, Erin Spencer, Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

With all the intensity and whiplash turns of Sharp Objects and One of Us Is Lying, this engrossing psychological thriller by New York Times best-selling author Lauren Oliver is an unforgettable, mesmerizing tale of exquisite obsession, spoiled innocence, and impossible friendships.

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.

©2018 Laura Schechter (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

draws you into the story

Very good, once I figured out the past/present and character/story switching. It draws you in, written with details so you can picture it.

The night Summer remained thirteen forever

The magic that lived in the friendship is stored between the pages of a children’s book. The answer to those questions rest within Summers journal.
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Summer was obsessed by the children’s book The Way into Lovelorn by Georgia C. Wells, 1963. In this book were three young girls: Ashleigh, Ava, and Audrey. Mia, Brynn, and Summer often took on the persona of these characters in real life.
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Mia Ferguson and Brynn McNally were the two surviving girls. On the five year anniversary of Summer’s death marks her forever 13. It’s at this point when Mia and Brynn decide to play amateur detectives revisiting the events leading up to Summer’s murder.
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Broken Things is a young adult murder mystery about the secrets these characters held. This book will appeal to young readers based on the age of these characters and the dialogue in which they were written. Readers might find this book easier to read than listen. The audiobook is hard to follow without my eyes following passages of words where I have the ability to highlight along the way.
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Narrators:
Sarah Drew
Erin Spencer
Saskia Maarleveld
This is the type of story where listening to the audiobook isn’t enough. I need my eyes on the words to keep track of this character driven story. The most confusing part was keeping track of the girls names especially when they referred to each other by the character names in the story. I remedied this by downloading the sample just to get my barring on these characters.
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I wasn’t able to distinguish any one of these narrators. They sounded very similar and I’m unfamiliar with their wo

🔪

“When it comes to the heart, there is no right and wrong,” the Shadow told Summer. “Only what it needs to keep beating.”

Captivating

This book was fabulous and kept you on your toes . Very engaging and fascinating . Loved it

Fine but not the best

This isn’t the best in this genre. The story was fine, pretty predictable, i casually listened while doing house projects and had to keep replaying parts because I kept zoning out of the story. If definitely didn’t capture my attention. The “twist” was meh.

Amazing

I loved this book so much. I love when a book has different narrators because it makes it easier to follow. The entire time i listened I kept wanting to know more. It’s a great mystery and the ending surprised me!

Loved it but...

I absolutely loved this book... I love everything by her though. I do wish there was a little more back story on Mrs. Gray though. my only complaint is that even though I had guess how she was going to end it I still hated it. I am still angry about it haha. totally worth it though!

Only ok

I kept hoping for more... and hoping for more... and it never got there. Definite teen fiction. The narration was not good. Some of the characters were so overdone it was painful to listen to. One of those books I finished because I wanted it to prove me wrong. Sadly- no such luck.

loved it!

Sarah Drew is my favorite narrator & Lauren Oliver hits it outa the park once again!

It's an epic journey to find the truth!

I couldn't stop listening to this story unfold. I finished it in 2 days and felt it was wonderfully written and performed. There is sensitive subject matter but nothing too disturbing.