Little Broken Things

By: Nicole Baart

Narrated by: Susan Bennett

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

"If you liked Big Little Lies, you'll want to crack open this new novel by Nicole Baart." (Southern Living)

An engrossing and suspenseful novel for fans of Liane Moriarty and Amy Hatvany about an affluent suburban family whose carefully constructed facade starts to come apart with the unexpected arrival of an endangered young girl.

I have something for you. When Quinn Cruz receives that cryptic text message from her older sister Nora, she doesn't think much of it. They haven't seen each other in nearly a year and thanks to Nora's fierce aloofness, their relationship consists mostly of infrequent phone calls and an occasional email or text.

But when a haunted Nora shows up at the lake near Quinn's house just hours later, a chain reaction is set into motion that will change both of their lives forever. Nora's "something" is more shocking than Quinn could have ever imagined: a little girl, cowering, wide-eyed, and tight-lipped. Nora hands her over to Quinn with instructions to keep her safe, and not to utter a word about the child to anyone, especially not their buttoned-up mother who seems determined to pretend everything is perfect.

But before Quinn can ask even one of the million questions swirling around her head, Nora disappears, and Quinn finds herself the unlikely caretaker of a girl introduced simply as Lucy. While Quinn struggles to honor her sister's desperate request and care for the lost, scared Lucy, she fears that Nora may have gotten involved in something way over her head-something that will threaten them all. But Quinn's worries are nothing compared to the firestorm that Nora is facing. It's a matter of life and death, of family and freedom, and ultimately, about the lengths a woman will go to protect the ones she loves.

©2017 Nicole Baart (P)2017 Recorded Books

Lovely & Captivating

A solidly good read about a family, love, and loyalty. Hard to put down. Divine!

Interesting but long winded

The story was great but needed to be edited. It could have been told in half the pages but I enjoyed the story. Too much detail about the setting and secondary and tertiary characters that was unnecessary but the main characters were broad brush strokes. Interesting approach to suspense writing. Though I felt the suspense and climax were flat.

Exceptional!

I couldn't put this down. It's about love, redemption, sorrow turned into joy. A family that was fractured and was made whole in an extraordinary way.

Sigh, unconsciously racist plus convoluted

This book has an interesting premise and moments of excellent writing. However, it is a tangled mess, plot-wise, with semi-developed characters who are often perplexingly obtuse. It is also quite unconsciously racist with wincingly painful hints that one character is... latinx? News flash: a latin last name and brown curls doesn’t identify someone! Of course this exotic guy from a stereotypically warm and open family (yet still clueless to obvious plot points, and he acts very wasp-y) is the only one described particularly, in a way that calls attention to his skin color, while never spelling it out. Everyone else is just “tall, brown hair.” Presumably it goes without saying that they are white? Yearrrgggh. Enough!

Loved this book

The story keeps you guessing until the end. Narrator does a great job of pulling all the characters together.