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.
…
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.
…
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.
…
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.
…
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.
…
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!

Could have been better

Brynn and Mia are falsely accused, then cleared, of murdering their best friend Summer. Five years later Brynn, just out of rehab for an addiction she faked, comes back to town. Mia drowns in her mother’s hoarding as she tries to put her life back together. Together, with Owen, another innocent victim of the rush to judgment, they try to solve Summer’s murder.

BROKEN THINGS, a take off from the real life Slenderman attempted murder does so many things right with wonderful complex characters and an intriguing plot. Unfortunately, Lauren Oliver’s writing lacked tension and didn’t engage me one bit. I so wanted to love BROKEN THINGS but felt no reluctance to put down the story and take breaks. I didn’t consider staying up late to finish. My heart never pulsed. Told in Then and Now alternating from Brynn’s and Mia’s points of view, I had difficult remembering the narrator and time frame.

If I was rating on storytelling I’d be pressed to give two stars. The five star characters, plot and reveal brought the rating up to three, but I’m hard pressed to recommend.

ETA: the audiobook was well done

Hard to follow

It took a wild to get into, but all in all wasn’t bad. Hard to follow at times with the “then” and “now” back-and-forth, and the reading of the story that was in the book... I wasn’t sure who’s perspective I was listening to. It wasn’t the worst book I’ve ever read/listen to and it was not great either.

Like a news story pulled apart and relived

such a good story from beginning to end. switching narrators adds to the story by making it feel like you really are in the mind of that character when in their perspective. Lauren Oliver does it again!