The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers #1

by Lynn Weingarten

If there’s an upside to having your heart broken, it’s this: A broken heart makes you brave.

The first day of sophomore year doesn’t go the way Lucy planned. After a summer apart from her boyfriend, she’s ready to greet him with a special surprise and instead gets a shocking one in return: He’s breaking up with her. Beyond devastated, Lucy has no idea how she’s going to make it through homeroom, let alone the rest of her life.

Enter three stunning girls with the unnatural ability to attract boys and an offer Lucy can’t refuse: They can heal her heart in an instant. And then she’ll be one of them—a member of a sisterhood that is impervious to heartbreak and has access to magic distilled from the tears of brokenhearted boys. But to gain their power, Lucy must get a guy to fall in love with her the old-fashioned way, and then break his heart in the next seven days.

While the sisterhood may need another Heartbreaker, Lucy’s only desire is to get her ex back. But how far is she willing to go, and who is she willing to cross to get what she wants?

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary, Paranormal, Magic, Fiction

357 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 27, 2011

About the author

Lynn Weingarten is a New York Times bestselling author living in Brooklyn. Her fifth young adult novel, BAD GIRLS WITH PERFECT FACES, was released in the US on Halloween 2017. It will be out in the UK on January 11th, 2018.

Her previous books include SUICIDE NOTES FROM BEAUTIFUL GIRLS (a NY Times bestseller, a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten book for 2016, one of Vanity Fair’s list of Best Books for July, and on The Guardian’s list of 5 of the Best in Young Adult Fiction), and WHEREVER NINA LIES (an ALA Top Ten Popular Paperback for Young Adults, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, a YALSA Teen’s Top Ten Nominee and a Sequoyah Book Award Nominee)

In the past, Lynn edited books and developed ideas for Alloy Entertainment. She is currently Creative Director of Dovetail Fiction, a new sister company from the book packager Working Partners.

She can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @lynnweingarten

Reviews

[Tatiana]

There is only so much silly obsessing over a boy I can take.

[Wendy Darling · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars Well, I should have listened to Cillian. So infuriatingly pointless and lame.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I'd read a couple of descriptions on book blogs and it sounded like a light fun guilty pleasure sort of read (and hey, there's nothing wrong with that!) I wasn't prepared to love it and actually find parts of it really smart and wise and meaningful in a I-feel-like-I-learned-something-about-life sort of way.

The book starts off on the first day of Lucy's sophomore year. She's standing out front of her school waiting for her boyfriend who's been away all summer and she is bouncing around crazy excited (in a way that felt very real to me because, well, I might have been in a similar situation once or twice!). Anyway, he dumps her and she's heartbroken. I liked the writing at this point and felt like it felt very "real" (as a person who has had her heart broken it is definitely like this) but I sort of thought the story might turn boring and cliche then (I mean, how many breakup books can a person read! Sometimes they're fun if *you've* just gotten dumped, or else they can just be depressing. Anyway). Instead, she meets The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers (referred to as the SSH throughout the book, which I somehow did not realize is supposed to sound like the shushing sound until the very end. Ha ha. Oops). They tell her that they can mend her broken heart and make it so it'll never be broken again, all she has to do is this -- break a boy's heart within the next 7 days. Lucy is like, HUH? That's not possible. And they're like, YUP. And they can help her. Oh, and by the way, they're magical.

So Lucy agrees to try to learn how to win a boy ostensibly to find one and break his heart and become one of them. What she's *really* doing is trying to learn their boy-getting tricks to win back her ex. Anyway...I won't tell you too much of the rest of the plot because you should just read it. What I will say is that it is a good mix of fun, sweet, and actually sort of informative in the how-to-win-boys department (I thought all the "tips" Lucy learns would be typical corny "girl" magazine stuff but it wasn't).

As for stuff about the characters -- I'd like to say that I can't relate to Lucy at all because of how sooooo in love with her boyfriend she is. Like, whatever he says she'll do (this is all told in flashbacks by the way). Like, I consider myself a feminist and think you should be your own person when you're dating someone, but there have definitely been times when I've been as crazy-fawny-will-do-anything-for-him about a guy as Lucy is for Alex and I'm not proud of that but it is true. And I think this is sort of one of those things that everyone has gone through at some point and no one wants to admit it. (At least I hope so, or else I'm just weird ;p) And that part of the book was especially well done. So, yeah, Lucy was relatable and likeable and I felt for the girl. But I was also very glad when she learned things from the SSH and she started to change. (And I guess that's sort of the point -- that she's kind of silly in the beginning and then she learns some things). Lots of fun stuff happens in this book and I won't give it away but there is definitely some damn-I-wish-I-could-do-that-stuff in here. (I think my main criticism of the book is that I wish there'd been maybe a little bit more cool magicy stuff...although I guess the non-magicy stuff was sometimes cooler since it can be applied to real life).

I like the rest of the characters, some more than others. I wish there'd been a bit more of Tristan because he was my favorite. The ending is fun and the way it ends there is obviously going to be a book 2. A couple chapters before the ending I kind of guessed what was going to happen (or, well, it was one of a few things I thought might happen anyway).

[Emma M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

My Thoughts: I have a confession to make. . . I judged a book by its cover and I ended up disappointed. I had such crazy high hopes based just off of this cover and boy oh boy was I wrong. First off, what is with the language Lynn? For such a juvenile story this contains some pretty strong verbage which really indicates to me that the author doesn't quite know how to develop characters. If you want your character to appear tough or heartless yada, yada, yada then be creative! SHOW me through their actions that they are a certain way or that their actions are cruel. I just thought that was really weak writing. (Hey, that gives me hope that maybe I too can someday be published.)

Similar to other reviews I have read, I too found Lucy to be incredibly weak. However, that didn't bother me all that much because I thought it added humour to the story. I highly doubt we were supposed to take the stringing each glass bead in the moonlight while whispering 'I love you' seriously. I really think it was supposed to add an element to laugh at and you know what? It worked. I laughed my butt off at how ridiculous Lucy was. The girl is seriously off her rocker.

The moment that should have made my heart break just didn't. I think it would have worked had Alex been a character the reader could like at least slightly. This kid was a little punk though! How could anyone root for Alex and Lucy to be together when he says such demeaning things to her. Example?

“You’ll need something to do while I’m gone."

I wanted to smack him! As if she wouldn't know what to do with herself. Okay sure, she was obsessed but good heavens give her a little credit that maybe she can have fun on her own!

Overall, I am sorry to say that I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone and I hope it never becomes a movie.

Rating: 1/5 Weak writing, weak characters, good premise and a smidge of humour do not a good book make.

[Jamie (Books and Ladders) · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was so much I did not like about this book. The magic was very out of place and felt forced. And the whole concept of this Magical Heartbreaking Club is weird and I did not like it. It seems ridiculous to think that these girls got their hearts so broken (some by guys that they weren't dating, just were in love with from afar) that they were like "NOPE EFF IT LET'S BREAK EVERYONE'S HEARTS SO THEY KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE". What a ridiculous concept. When you get your heart broken you typically don't want to hurt someone that way so you do everything you can to protect the next person you are with from ever feeling that way.

The trio was ridiculous. They are ridiculously hot girls because they use magic to break boy's hearts and oh yeah now that they have vowed to never love again they are just super awesome at everything. I rolled my eyes while typing that out. The parties that they host and go to are ridiculously extravagant and the fact that Olivia just happens to own a house and no one questions it is probably the largest part of the "fantasy" aspect of this novel.

And the ending. Like the whole book was "Tristan doesn't fall in love" so like let's just keep it that way. And if the next book is like, oh now Tristan is in love with someone, I might actually stab my eyes out.

Overall: 1.5/5 stars but rounded up to 2 for the star counter. Honestly, I only finished reading this because I was at work and had nothing else to do. Not really worth the read.

Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'

[Dark Faerie Tales · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: I really struggled to get through this one and in the end it just wasn’t for me.

Opening Sentence: In the beginning, there she was, sweet, little Lucy Wrenn, standing all alone out in front of her school on the first day of sophomore year, with a seductive little message written on her stomach in Sharpie marker.

The Review:

It is the first day of Lucy’s sophomore year in high school and she can’t wait to finally see her boyfriend, Alex. He has been gone all summer and this will be the first time they have seen each other in months. She is expecting quite a reunion but instead Alex ends up breaking up with her. Lucy is completely devastated and her heart literally feels like it is breaking inside her chest. While she is bawling in the bathroom a girl she barely knows offers her a solution to her fix her broken heart. Olivia, Liza, and Gil are all members of the secret sisterhood of heartbreakers and they want Lucy to join them. Not only can they fix Lucy’s heart, they also are offering her a place in their world which is full of hot guys, amazing magic, and the promise of never having your heart broken ever again. The only thing Lucy has to do is make a boy fall in love with her and break his heart within the next seven days. But all Lucy really wants is to get Alex back; maybe if she plays along with the girls they will be able to teach her how. But as things progress and she learns more about the secret society, Lucy’s not so sure it is something she wants any part of.

Lucy was a really hard character to connect with. I thought that she had a really whinny voice most of the time. It seemed that all she cared about was getting her jerk of a boyfriend back and it was really annoying. First of all, the guy was a total loser and for some reason Lucy thought he could do no wrong. Next, she treats the few good people in her life, like her best friend, terrible because she is so set on getting this guy back. For most of the book I felt like she was complaining about everything when in all honesty she had things pretty good. She is a cute girl with great friends and for the most part she is fairly intelligent, except for when it comes to boys. She is socially awkward, but I thought that was cute and went with her quirky personality. Overall, I ended up not really being a big fan of Lucy.

This was a really hard book for me to get through. From the first chapter, I predicted exactly what was going to happen and I was 100% correct on everything I predicted. Going into the book I was expecting a fun cute love story and instead I got a rather boring story that pretty much had no romance in it. This would have been fine if it had a great message or some other significant reason as to why the story was written, but in all honesty, I just thought it was a pointless book. For a large portion of the book you learn all about the society and how they break boy’s hearts. They claim that heartbreak is good for everyone so it is their job to break as many hearts as possible. Then there was a weird twist with magical elements added that didn’t go with the story and for the most part made no sense. I really struggled throughout the whole book with multiple things and in the end this was just not a book for me. I do have a copy of the second book I need to read and review, so hopefully it is better. I think there is potential that it could be a better read then this one, but I’m not holding my breath.

Notable Scene:

“We are not indiscriminate when choosing hearts to break,” Olivia said. “We only break the hearts of those who deserve it, and those who could benefit from it.”

“Benefit?” Lucy said. “How?”

“Pain softens us and opens us up. To have one’s heart broken is to be connected more deeply with the earth, it is to experience life. To be more fully human.”

“Well, if it’s so great, then why would I even want an unbreakable heart?” Lucy’s voice cracked. “Why would anyone?”

FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[Alisha Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Itty Bitty Shallow Alert: I totally picked up The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers because I loved the cover (I know, I know... But it's purty). That being said, I didn't have high expectations for The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers. The premise of the book just made it seem very shallow (like the Gossip Girl books) that had the cover not been so mystifying (and sparkly), I would've just kept scrolling down my Amazon Vine Newsletter. But the cover was mystifying and sparkly and therefore, I read The Secret Sistherhood of Heartbreakers and I'm so very glad I did.

In the full interest of disclosure, I'm going to say that the main character, Lucy, is the type of girl I despise. You know, the type who's always hung up on her boyfriend and is clingy, whiny, and a tad bit obsessive (Yeah chicks, deal. It's not cute nor attractive in the least)? Well, that was Lucy. But for some really strange reason, she didn't annoy me the way a character (or real life person) like that usually annoys me. For some reason, I understood where she was coming from and why she was acting the way she was. Not because of her boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend) cause God knows he was no prize and was a total tool, but mostly because she was being clingy due to massive insecurity which, let's face it, we girls are almost always plagued with at one time or another. Now, I'm not saying that Lucy was endearing by any means because she wasn't, but I felt that there was more to her than the typical clingy, whiny girl that can't stop talking about her boyfriend because she loves that attention.

Now, again, the reason The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers was such a massive surprise was because I thought it was going to be all fluffy (and again shallow) and a bit on the juvenile side (moreso than your typical YA novel), but that wasn't the case. Don't get me wrong, the book did have it's fluffy and light-hearted parts, but it was also a bit on the deep side. There was an underlying message that girls should be who they are and be confident about who they are because who they are has the potential to be great. This book is sort of "YAY us girls" and I liked that about it. That's not saying that it's all "Screw guys!" because it's not. I just felt that there was a small sense of empowerment in The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers that you don't tend to see in the fluffy YA novels (but are all the rage in the post-apocalyptic/dystopian YA novels).

The magic in The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers was a bit understated. I mean, it's no Charmed (which is my favorite show ever so everything I ever talk about will eventually come full circle to talking about Charmed again) with magic looming left and right, but again, this is something I liked about it because it still gave the book an air of mystery even when I was reaching the end. I felt that there are still many unanswered questions about the Heartbreakers, but not an annoying "this book seems unfinshed way", but rather in a "I can't WAIT to find out more about them in the next book" kind of way.

Speaking of the Heartbreakers, another thing I loved about this book was that all of the initial Heartbreakers were so different from one another. Eli is the sweet one (which is sort of baffling when you consider she is a heartbreaker), Liza is the one you love to hate, and Olivia is the one you don't know crap about, so that makes her immediately a bit scary cause you don't know what makes her snap. And before you get all "Dude, they're heartbreakers. That's so NOT cool", let me say this: these Heartbreakers only break the hearts of the guys who truly deserve it (i.e. the tools of the world). So, that makes you root for the Heartbreakers even more.

Long story, short: Pick up The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers in 2012. Make it the last book you will ever read if those rumors of the world ending are true. It's dazzling, mystifying, funny, fluffy with shadings of deep attached to it (the book, not the world that may be ending). Plus, it's an incredibly quick read (read it in one sitting) and that makes it THAT much better.

[kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it's the message here that perhaps bothers me the most. The idea that having a heartbreak is so awful that one would then choose to never love again, to instead go around doing exactly what was done to you, seems assinine, childish and mean.
At first I thought this was going to be about finding her own power and seeing that anyone can be beautiful if they think they are and feel love for others, that it is the emotion going out that really matters and I thought, wow, that is a powerful thought. But then it gets lost as Lucy gets a makeover and starts toying with a boy's emotions just because she can.
There are side bits about Lucy singing, which I didn't feel actually connected in any way with the rest of the story. Maybe if she hadn't had all the focus on Alex, I'd have thought that singing was more important to her. As it was, I just thought it was all aimed at him and didn't really matter to her since she didn't ever even sing for him. I thought all the singing stuff was odd and put in to show that there was depth to her, that she had her own interests, but I didn't buy it.
There's also the message that for someone to love you that you need to be what they need, whether that's someone to share their interests or someone to cheer them on or someone to challenge them. Hey, what about simply being yourself and letting someone who finds you intersting come to you? But then again, none of these girls are actually intersted in finding love, but only in damaging boys who don't much deserve it. I didn't like Lucy and I didn't like her new friends. And I got very tired of reading about her mangled heart. Yuck.
Also, at the end, Lucy feels so sorry for her parents that their relationship is the way it is, like she is so much smarter than they are, becoming a heartbreaker. Who is she, at the age of fifteen and one ex-boyfriend, to judge them?
I don't know if there will be more to the story at some point in which Lucy will realize she has become a nasty little hot all-the-boys-want-me mess. I guess I hope so because the ending here was just terrible or perhaps I should say the lack of ending. Lucy hurts someone who doesn't deserve it and then she has the nerve, the unfeeling audacity to smile at him and say, "hey, let's find you a girlfriend." Does she not remember a week ago when her heart was broken over her boyfriend? Did she want to go find someone new? What the heck is wrong with her?
I don't think Lucy actually did find out anything about love. I know that's what we're supposed to think, that now she is this wise, sassy girl that understands love. I don't think so. When faced with real love, not the nonsense infatuation she had with Alex and not the manufactured love she's been taught by the heartbreakers, she turns it down without even pausing to consider whether it could be the real deal. She doesn't even think about it, whether love from someone who actually knows you, with all your faults and fears, that this person might be someone you'd want to love instead of shutting up your hard little heart forever. This felt very wrong. I hoped that maybe when offered love, she just might realize that heartbreaking isn't going to make her happy. Can you imagine living your life without loving anyone? Ever? I guess she can.
Last, but certainly not least, the only character I liked ends up being treated the worst. I'll leave it at that.
Even as a nonsensical piece of fluff this isn't good. Don't bother with this one.

[Saniya]

Muwahhaha xD
*OK. I don't know why I laughed like that* =DD
buh this book looks interesting!!! =]

[Kan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was lukewarm for me. Mainly because I didn’t care much for Lucy. She was the annoying girl who was obsessed with her boyfriend at the start of the story, then she becomes a pliable girl that I can’t really know. Each time I thought she would become a character I could like she quickly fell back into line with the other heartbreakers. I really didn’t have a clear picture of Lucy in my head. One of the other characters described her as blank, saying she could be anyone. I felt much the same, I had no idea what she looked like, whether she was average sized, tall or short or curvy or slim. It’s hard to care about a blank character.

I really liked the guys in this story much more than the girls. Tristan, Colin, and Paisley are the characters I liked the most, and they were all secondary at best. They were all likeable in their own ways and characters I would have loved to read about, while Lucy and the girls were less so. Of the girls Lucy was less likeable to me than the others because they knew where they stood and weren’t being pushed and pulled by others, even though we never really got to know the other heartbreakers either.

I like that there are some good lessons in the book if you look for them. The girls talk a lot about the perceptions of attractiveness and that the way you see yourself is self taught. I like that they go in depth about how a girl believing she’s unattractive stems from her own ideas about herself, and that she won’t really Know what others see and hear when they are with her. If they let go of all of the hang-ups comparing themselves to others and start to simply be their best self and recognize that they are beautiful they will be seen as beautiful as well. I think that more young girls need to hear that it’s not about comparing themselves to others and being More or Less than anyone else, so I love that this book put a lot of focus on that.

I really did not like the end of this one at all. I won’t say whether she became part of the sisterhood or not, but the book ended on a flat note. I felt that Lucy’s decision and what happened to her should have mattered more to her than it did. Somehow it was almost an afterthought that oh, ya, and this happened so there you go.

I’m split on this story, since it is a great concept and I love the way the author talks about beauty not being about comparisons. Yet there were the issues I had with Lucy and the end of the story. Overall… I liked it but it wasn’t a Must Read. I liked her other book, Wherever Nina Lies, much better actually.

[Heidi McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Welcome to THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS

Ever had your heartbroken and tried to do whatever you could to win that special guy back? When Lucy’s boyfriend, Alex, breaks up with her on the first day of school, she’s in tears. She doesn’t understand why, and he’s not talking. Hiding in the bathroom with tears streaming down her face, Lucy encounters the beautiful Olivia. Olivia loans Lucy her scarf and when Lucy wipes her tears, a message appears telling Lucy to meet at midnight.

Lucy does what any normal teenager does – she goes and meets Olivia and her friends. When she arrives at the spooky mansion, she’s told of an ancient witch craft that Olivia, Liza and Gil practice and all Lucy has to do to join is break a guy’s heart within seven days. Lucy balks at the idea but quickly decides to turn the tables around; her plan – to get Alex to fall in love with her again.

Here’s the thing, Lucy is very shy and Olivia and Co. take upon themselves to bring Lucy out of her shell. They challenge her to do things she’d never think about doing, like get up and improv a song in front of thousands of people. Lucy’s convinced that there is magic behind all the attention she’s receiving when in fact, people are just falling in love with who she is.

Lucy is doing everything she can to win Alex back, but when she finally figures out why he’s broken up with her, she lets him go only to have her best guy friend, Tristan tell her that he loves her. Now faced with the ultimate dilemma, Lucy must decide if she’s going to cross the “friend” line or let Tristan down gently. Either way, someone is going to get hurt.

All is not roses for Lucy as she doubts the Sisterhoods intentions. She finds herself questioning their actions and motives for the hurt that they cause a lot of boys. Lucy has to dig deep within herself to find the true meaning of love and what it means to be part of the Sisterhood.

[ILoveBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is memorable and fast-paced. I was never bored while reading. Lucy Wrenn’s boyfriend breaks her heart on the first day of her sophomore year of high school. Later, crying in the bathroom, a mysterious senior girl approaches her and invites her to a party later that night. There, the senior and her two friends invite her to join their magical society of heartbreakers. Hoping to learn how to win back her boyfriend’s heart, Lucy accepts their invitation and begins the exhilarating adventure of becoming a heartbreaker. Though enjoying her transformation, Lucy does struggle with a moral issue. To save her heart and complete the process of becoming a heartbreaker, she will have to break someone’s heart.

Lucy Wrenn is sweet and easy to relate to. Any girl can imagine themselves as Lucy, desiring love and approval. Following her through her transformations is fun and exciting. Lucy’s realizations become the reader’s realizations. Weingarten created a memorable, likable character that can be admired by a teenage girl. High school girls will love and benefit from The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers. The author wrote this book to be an easy read. The language is clear and enjoyable. A reader does not need a degree in literature or a dictionary to understand Weingarten’s book.

This book earns five out of five stars. I read it in a day because I could not put it down. This is a book worthy of an all-night reading session.

*Review by Kristin

[Jasmine Hawamdeh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was dieing to start another teen fiction book but I thought "If I was going to read a teen fiction book, I want it to be mixed with another genre to mix it up a little." When I read the book jacket of this book I read "witches" I thought this would be perfect. So, I started this book and it's totally way to far fetched and confusing and I hated it. The book starts with how much the main character (Lucy) described how much she loves her boyfriend, who she hasn't seen all summer. She describes him in the most creepy way, it's scary. e.g. "when he put's his eye to the camera, I see the sparkle in his eyes to take that perfect shot". UM OK? Lucy just gets dumped, on the first day of school. Her heart is ripped in two, and she "feels" it. But popular classmates Olivia, Gil, and Liza come to her with an offer. If she can make a guy fall in love with her in a week and then break his heart, then she can have magic. In this process she goes through a whole adventure figuring out how to flirt, how to break a heart and how to use the magic IF she becomes one of the secret sisters. I finished this book because well, I started the update on Goodreads and I was like I have nothing else to read so whatever! I think nobody should read this book because, it is boring and to detailed and way to far fetched.

[Alexa (Alexa Loves Books) · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Review originally posted on Alexa Loves Books)

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers had an extremely promising premise, but it fell flat in its execution. I did finish the book, but it didn’t really strike a chord with me since the story and the characters are kind of bland.

I’m all for girl power and banding together over something as traumatic as a broken heart, so the idea of the sisterhood appealed to me. I wasn’t enamored with the idea of breaking hearts (even if some of those people deserved it), but it was interesting to see the magic at work. I liked the huge closet though, as well as the makeover.

The characters weren’t memorable, and I had problems with some of their actions and attitudes. This is probably the main reason I didn’t like this book.

All in all, while it was interesting to read, The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers was not a stand out read.

[Ally · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book. I really don't have many words for it other than "WHY?"
It seriously had one of the worst premises of any book I've ever read. The whole thing was stupid. The main character, Lucy was an idiot. She was a creepy, clingy, obsessed, little girl, who would not leave her poor ex boyfriend alone.

After waiting for the entire summer, Lucy's boyfriend of 5 months is finally coming back from his summer long vacation. On the first day of her sophomore year, Lucy waits at the front of the school with a hangman game drawn out on her stomach. When she sees her gorgeous boyfriend, Alex, walk up, she takes his hand and leads him to the back of the school where she lifts her shirt and tries to get him to play hangman. He completely ignores the game and stares at her. (As would any male, because why the heck would you draw a hangman game on your stomach, you idiot girl. It's fucking weird.) She fills in the words I-M-R-E-A-D-Y. She tells him she is finally ready to lose their virginities together. AND BAM. He breaks up with her. Surprise, surprise.

Devastated, Lucy skips all of her classes, crying in the bathroom and in the nurses office. While attempting to make herself look presentable in the bathroom, a senior girl walks into the bathroom and hands her a handkerchief. Lucy dabs at her eyes and offers the handkerchief back to the girl who replies with a snarky, 'You keep it, I don't cry over boys," as she saunters out of the bathroom.

The premise of this book is that the girl from the bathroom belongs to a secret organization called "The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers." This is a group of girls who use magic to go around and break hearts. The only way to get into the group is to have your heartbroken. Once it's really, for real, absolutely broken, they come to you and you can go through a series of tests in order to join. The tests include anything from facing your fears, to getting a serious makeover. You also have lessons that you learn, like how to be a mega bitch and make boys cry.

In order to join the Sisterhood, Lucy has to make a boy fall in love with her in 7 days, break his heart, and collect his heartbroken tears so they can perform a spell so that Lucy can never have her heartbroken again.

Rather than agreeing to join the group because she doesn't ever want to have her heart broken again, Lucy decides to join so that she can use the magic to get Alex to love her again.


The whole time I read this book, I was shaking my head and thinking, My god, you're an idiot. Lucy is a stupid girl. Normally, I'm not really one of those people that thinks, "ALL BOOK SHOULD PORTRAY WOMEN AS STRONG INDIVIDUALS, BLAH BLAH BLAH," but god, Lucy makes women look bad. All she can think about is Alex and how much she loves him and how much he must still love her. After all, she sent him a million care packages and letters and SHE WROTE HIM A SONG FOR GOODNESS SAKES. I've been heartbroken before, but just because I was heartbroken didn't mean I was suddenly an idiot.

There was one scene in the book that I though, Oh, that was cool.
After Lucy succeeds and joins the Sisterhood, she is branded with a tattoo over her heart that only members of the Sisterhood can see. She had previously found a picture that Alex had taken during the summer of a girl laying naked in a bed wrapped up in sheets. He had obviously cheated on her over the summer and lost his virginity to someone else (BIG SURPRISE THERE, AMIRIGHT?). When Lucy sees this picture BEFORE she joins the Sisterhood, she is devastated. How could he doing this to her?! Didn't he love her at all?! OH WOE IS FREAKING ME. After joining the Sisterhood, with her new found confidence, Lucy strides over to Alex at school and slams the picture on the desk. She tells him that its the best picture he's ever taken and yada yada, never really being mean to him. He is mortified that Lucy knows his deepest secret. But as Lucy looks closer at the picture, she sees that the girl has the same tattoo over her heart. So, Alex will have his heart broken soon enough, and that's all the payback Lucy needs.

Other than that one little part, this book was a waste of time. Unfortunately, I have to read the second one for a group that I'm in, but hopefully, Lucy grows the heck up and the author learns how to write.

I'm sure this is what the author is thinking:

[Aulia Lodge · Rating 1 out of 5]

(SIGHS....)...Have you guys ever been possessed by a book cover that it just put you under it's spell and pretty much forced you to pick it up?? Ah...seems that this situation has happened to me. HMM....The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers. Sounds rather alluring and charming doesn't it? How couldn't you resist the image of sparkly cute silver stars being blown away to the air? Simply how could you resist??! Lets see...having read this book, what do I make of it...

TICK TICK TICK.

We start out with a girl named Lucy. Now before getting into it I should remind you that this book is indeed narrated in 3rd person, since a lot of people I know normally prefer 1st person instead of 3rd person. Well that could be disregarded anyways. Lucy is about to meet with her boyfriend for the first time since he left her during the summer. She is so excited to see him because she is ready to tell him something important. When she finally meets him, it turns out that he had something to tell Lucy himself, and it wasn't good news. He breaks up with her and Lucy is devastated. Woah, it doesn't end there though (◑‿◐). An anonymous girl gives Lucy something to wipe her tears with that happens to have a note in it telling her to meet the stranger somewhere at midnight. When Lucy meets the girl, it turns out she is offering Lucy something. Pretty much an offer to train Lucy to become a heartbreaker. In the beginning Lucy is confused, but after thinking about Alex and how she might have another chance with him if she becomes a heartbreaker, she takes the offer.

Let's see....Magic...magic to get whatever you want...breaking boys' hearts..going out with every boy you see. Yeah, there isn't alot of messages that I like from this book. The only message I actually understand and is probably the only good message of this story is to be confident about yourself to actually look beautiful. The girls don't boast about themselves and they also tell Lucy that all girls are beautiful and the only way they aren't is if they do not think they are. The girls also teach Lucy that there isn't any magic to being beautiful (since Lucy is very insecure about herself), and while most of the time Lucy thinks that everything is working her way because of magic, it is actually because she is believing in herself.

Ok..now about the bad parts. Number 1: Who the hell is Lucy!?? We don't even get a proper description about how she looks like and I'm just sitting here thinking she's a blank person throughout the whole story. How tall is she? What's her hair color (If i missed it)???? Number 2: Can I just be plain honest here and say that I completely hate these so called sisters. If believing that you can pretty much go out with any guy and break their hearts, saying that it's a 'good thing' is completely bull. And Lucy just flat out believes them and does everything they say as if they are controlling her like a puppet. Even my little cousin (whose only 11 by the way) has more of a back bone than Lucy and can tell for herself that these girls are out to trick her. Who believes things a stranger says!? Oh, maybe Peter from Family Guy (¬_¬).

Oh and I'm not finished. The story ends in a catastrophe and would be the worst script if ever turned into a movie or tv show (Not that it could possibly happen). At the end Lucy becomes this 'whole new person' with a tattoo that only girls of the heartbreakers sisterhood could see. She breaks her friend's heart and has the nerve to tell him that she needs to find him a girlfriend. Geez, Lucy...are you that dense (maybe you are)?? Did YOU feel like getting a new boyfriend when your freaking Alex broke up with you. Nope, didn't think so. Okay, to make this ranting short...the whole story to me was a mess and it was poorly written. I had no idea what any of the characters looked like and couldn't relate to any of them.

Maybe the story ended too short or whateves, it was still a disaster (using Esteban's voice from Suite Life)(≧ω≦)!!! Lucy is the weirdest person I've ever read about. Look, the dude's a jerk for dumping you...just get over it. You have an awesome cute friend named Tristan who really likes you if you weren't too dense to notice. Stop acting like your life is over and move on! You don't need any ounce of magic or witchcraft to make your life any perfect than how it already is (WORDS OF WISDOM) lol...

I can't even give you any imagery that I had of this book..since I had none!!! What, maybe a dark room!!?? The dark room that Alex used to do whatever to his photos. The bus with the happy seat?? You know, the one where it only took a freaking minute to read about and get nothing off of it besides tears from the broken heart of poor ol' Tristan?

[Duchess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so DISAPPOINTING. I know I have a tendency of picking books based on their covers and I’ve been really lucky.
My luck seemed to run out here though. Cover looked great and so was the synopsis.

I almost did not finish this book. It was unread for years and I finally decided to finish it.

Fast paced. Lucy is obsessed with Alex even though there are clear signs that he doesn’t want her. It was tragic reading how obsessed she is with him and he doesn’t really care for her.
If you pay attention, you can figure out whose heart she’s going to break. That was quite sad and predictable.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE FAERYS VIEW

I absolutely loved The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynn Weingarten; I loved everything about it-the mysticism, the unknown, the circle of friends that seem to have everything. It’s fun, light-hearted and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Lucy is 15 and starting sophomore year with a boyfriend, the dreamiest perfect boyfriend ever. He’s been away at camp all summer and sure, he hasn’t really kept in touch much but she’s done more than her share and she realizes he must be so very busy with all the activities that the camp offers. Waiting for him in front of the school in eager anticipation is almost more then she can bear! She just knows when he sees her after that long summer break he’s going to sweep her up in his arms and tell her just how much he missed her. When he comes into view he doesn’t even look at her until she grabs his attention. He dumps her in a pretty cruel way, no reason-just I don’t want to be with you anymore and that’s the end of it. The reason I’m setting all this up is to get a point across-Lucy has built her entire world around this guy who turns around and treats her like dirty gum on the bottom of his Vans. Lucy is understandably heartbroken and weeps in the girl’s bathroom when a strange girl enters and gives her a silk hankie to ‘dry her tears’ with. She tells her to use this hankie and that she can help her and then she’s gone.

Thus starts the story of The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers. The characters that Lynn creates to help Lucy are amazing and I loved them all: Olivia-Gorgeous, Chic and the head of the Sisterhood, Gil-Adored, Sweet and loved by all and Liza-Vixen, Snarky and takes no prisoners. These girls have taken Lucy under their wing provided she passes all their tests. Yes, there’s magic involved and it’s pretty cool I must say!

The plot is exceptional, unlike many of the books in the genre right now. It has the requisite twists and turns but not what I thought they'd be. I was surprised at many of the events in the book and that's what kept me turning the pages. The story is told purely in Lucy's POV and Lynn does such an exceptional job of describing her feelings and thought processes. There's one disappointment, though, and that is Lucy's descriptive.

I was disappointed in the lack of descriptive in Lucy, the other characters are so vividly described but I hadn’t a clue how to picture Lucy. When I'm reading a book, it's important for me to get a good visual on the characters. Every character, aside from Lucy, is vividly described. Sure, I got a first hand look at her thought process and personality but not really what she looked like, so I never really had that visual in my mind. Lucy's personality is a bit pathetic and sad to begin with but that’s what makes this book so awesome. Watching the changes occur as Lucy grows and experiences all kinds of new adventures with her new friends; pondering which path she’s going to take while still making clumsy attempts at trying to get her ex back kept me wondering what was going to happen.

The ending is amazing and I won’t go into any more detail than I already have. I don’t want to ruin this book for anyone else. It's too good and I want to keep this as spoiler free as possible.

THE FAERY SAYS READ THIS, IT’S GUARENTEED TO ENTERTAIN!

Thanks to ATWT and the publisher for allowing me to review this book for my honest review!

[Jennifer Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rate this a 2.5

It took me a few days to think of how to write this review. I didn’t want to come off as being harsh and only talk about the things I didn’t like. I wanted to bring light to the things I liked and didn’t like and why you might enjoy this book. Most YA books I have read can be enjoyable for adults because they come off as more mature. This book was clearly written for a younger audience. I am sure young adult readers would enjoy this book. The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers was just okay for me. The first 70 pages drove me nuts. I was seriously thinking of putting the book down, but decided to just finish it. I think the ending helped me like the story more than I did.

Our main character Lucy is very immature in the beginning of the story. She can’t understand why her boyfriend would break up with her the first day back to school. I know it is the premise of how the story is told and how they bring in the sisterhood, but it was very off putting. Lucy being naïve to everything, even things that made common sense, was slightly annoying. I can understand loving someone so much you would do anything to get them back, but Lucy sounded borderline crazy about Alex. I mean they were in class and she sniffed him, really?

One thing I didn’t like about this book and really any book that does this, is not giving characters a name. They would be called things like “bathrobe” and when they were eventually given a name it would get confusing of who they were. Most of the characters seemed one dimensional to me. The only characters that seemed to have any depth were Tristan and Gil.

Gil was probably my favorite character. She just seemed like that happy go lucky girl that wanted happiness for everyone. Her friendship to Lucy was a very pure thing to see in a book like this. She was always encouraging and helpful to Lucy. Even when she finds out what Lucy’s true intentions were Gil was still by her side. I like also that they give a reason for Liza mean ways. It made me like Liza knowing why she had this mean girl front with people. I wanted to see more of Tristan and Colin though. I adored how nerdy Colin was and what a crazy sweetheart Tristan is.

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers was a good book it just seemed to be lacking something for me. The storyline was creative, but I just wanted more details, more depth, and more character evolvement. The whole idea of the secret sisterhood was completely fascinating. I wish that there had been more about it in the book. You only get tidbits about it and I wanted to learn so much more. To have a way to cure a broken heart forever and have magic to know the truth about things was remarkable.

The ending was sad, but it was really good. I was hoping for some kind of happy ending. It was wonderful to finally see Lucy have some maturity growth. I wish she would have developed throughout the whole book, but it was just at the ending. I think if you can look past her naïve ways, you might enjoy this book. I thought the cover was just something ordinary, but it does have something to do with the book. I can see the sparkle, can you?

[All Things Urban Fantasy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS isn’t the first paranormal YA release this year to feature a trio of beautiful but magically dangerous girls who prey on those they deem deserving, but it is the best.

There is a lot to like in this book, most notably the character of Tristan. He was just plain cool as Lucy’s blues playing, lollipop loving, insomniac best friend. I could have read an entire book just about him (which I hope to do since Weingarten confirmed ‘he’ll play an even bigger role in the next book’). Lucy was a slightly harder sell since she came across as very young. Her obsession with her ex-boyfriend Alex, while realistic, was a little uncomfortable at times. She was completely consumed with him, and for very little reason apart from that fact that he paid attention to her at a time when no one else did.

Then there are the Heartbreakers, sort of a cross between the girls from Heathers, The Craft, and Mean Girls. There were extremely interesting if not exactly likable. I had some issues with their very mature behavior and experience with guys given that they were supposed to still be in high school. I think it would have worked much better if they were in college, or even fresh out. Aside from that, they worked, and the mythology for the Heartbreakers worked even better. I wasn’t expecting there to be a whole lot of explanation for what they did, which is why I enjoyed the very intricate breakdown and history behind the Heartbreakers all the more.

Overall, THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS is a fun and thought provoking read that was anything but predictable, and will leave you wondering if it’s ever okay to break a heart. The ending did catch me completely off guard, and to be honest, I’m still trying to decide what I think about it. It’s very unconventional, and it will very clearly polarize readers, but if you’re looking for an atypical read full of surprises, you might enjoy being a heartbreaker too.

Sexual Content:
Kissing

[andie z (amzreads)]

I really don't like not finishing books, but to be honest I could tell after only two paragraphs that this wasn't going to be a book for me. And I did keep trying; I managed to read 60 pages before I finally gave up. There were two main issues with the book that made it impossible for me to get through. Maybe if only one of these had been present things would have been different, I don't know.

First, the writing. It felt very immature and cheesy, and I just couldn't take it seriously. I stopped reading soon after this sentence: "She watches him and feels the love chemicals pumping through her." Really? Love chemicals? Pumping through her? No. I just can't.

Secondly, Lucy is an incredibly pathetic and naive character. Yes, she is heartbroken, I get that, but it's no excuse. I don't even understand why she likes Alex, because even in her flashbacks from when they were together, he doesn't treat her well or really seem to care about her. Also, Lucy's life completely revolves around this boy. When he leaves to spend the summer on a ranch in Colorado, she actually spends her entire summer break doing the following things:

1. Watching videos online to learn how to make pop-up cards to send to him
2. Stringing a necklace of shells and beads for him, working on the porch by moonlight because it's more romantic that way
3. Whispering "I love you" to each of the aforementioned shells and beads before stringing them so that he will sense it when he wears the necklace
4. Sending him emails every day, and hand-written letters every few days
5. Custom making a printed t-shirt to send him
6. Baking him banana bread
7. Sending him one of her bras
8. Writing him a song (don't even ask me to repeat the song)
And my favorite:
9. Laying in bed at night and missing him so much that she holds her own hand and tries to pretend that she's holding his.

I just couldn't keep going after that. Strong female characters are hugely important for me to enjoy a novel, and I wasn't relating to Lucy at all.

I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't do it for me.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I'm conflicted about this book. I've never read this author before but I will tell you that her writing is GOOD. Her understanding of the art of love, flirting, playing on heartstrings, and the deeper issue of fear is EXCELLENT! Honestly, there were some incredibly good nuggets of wisdom within the pages. The writing style is clear, humor written well, heartbreak and other feelings very well described, and the objectivity in describing matters of the heart is absolutely phenomenal.

Why the conflict? I just didn't like the story. I can't pinpoint why. Maybe it's the idea of an exclusive club that offers promises with nothing to show they have the goods. Maybe it's the social hierarchy that made me a little tired. Lucy, the protagonist, was fine. I liked Gil and didn't hate Liza and Olivia. I found Alex uninteresting and a waste of time. I wanted to get to know Tristan better but he was peripheral yet became central. Every dialogue with him made him more likeable. Which then proved to me that Lucy was kind of an idiot. On the other hand, what 16 year old isn't, at least at times?

The ending indicates it will be a trilogy or some kind of series. It didn't necessarily leave the reader hanging, although the power of the Heartbreakers is not yet known to the reader. The power of four is significant and it is intimated that there is more that Lucy doesn't know.

Bottom line is that I loved the author's writing. I loved her ideas and perspective. I just didn't completely love the story.

Clean-o-meter

Swearing - strong. "F" words used
Sex - Peripheral and implied; Lucy starts the book announcing to Alex she is ready to lose her virginity. She does not and nothing is described.
Underage drinking - present

Worth reading? Yes.

[Savannah (Books With Bite) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book definitely took my by surprise. I did not expect what I've read and was totally thrown off. I admit, that I was skeptical and felt it a bit cheesy. As I continued to read on, the plot unfolded to magic that intrigued me. I sat up straighter, diving in the book faster than I thought I would. And in the end, I smiled.




So, what got me off about this book? Well for starters, the synopsis is not what I thought. And now that I think about it, I liked that. I like that as the reader, I was thrown off. When I got deeper in the plot line, it all come to sense. The plot definitely kept the reader on their toes with every new chapters. Heart breaks, rules and magic really gave the reader something new to see.




The characters of this book had some major changing to do with the magic. At first you play be rules, then your conscious gave way. It was like they were testing you or Lucy was testing herself. I liked that Lucy is really seeing who she is. She is so insecure of who she is that she needs this adjustment. It gave her strength to do things she never do but also gave the reader hope that Lucy will make it.




Magic. I loved it. So when it came into the book, into the characters I read on. The magic factor is not witchy but not low either. The magic is used differently in a way I didn't think. Not only was the magic taught, but it was learned. In order to gain magic, you must really know it.




Overall, this book really swept me off my feet. I hadn't expected to understand it all, but indeed I did. I loved the way Ms.Weingarten surprised her readers with elements we did not see. She gave her readers a new sight to love that they never seen.

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy's life changes dramatically and her character's growth is magnificent throughout the novel. She goes from heartbroken and uncertain of herself in every way to dealing with her problems in a manner that strengthens her emotionally. Lucy did have the help of magic, but there actually isn't much of that at all. The most powerful magic is the one Lucy believes she has inside of her. The message of this book is having confidence and self-esteem and as corny as I make it sound, this book is amazing at convincing me of that argument unlike no other.

I was kind of expecting a cute read. Lucy is sweet in nature, but this book is actually a bit more raw than what I thought it was going to be. I felt for Lucy. Although she was full of flaws and clung too long to the wrong person, her struggle was very realistic. The heartbreak was painful for all the characters involved and the book was really intriguing because of the subject matter.

I read this book in one sitting, so I would say it had a strong plot. Lucy definitely made some bad choices throughout the novel, but I think that only made her growth as a person more real. Nobody changes from one day to the other. I loved the way the writing was descriptive and made the book colorful (there is also some colorful language) which gave it the whole magic aspect of it a stronger presence. All of the characters were fairly well developed and although I wasn't surprised by the ending at all, it was still an enjoyable read that left me wanting more and a tidier resolution.

[Reading Vacation · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited about reading The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers because I wanted to see how the sisterhood helped Lucy get over Alex, the boyfriend who breaks up with her. I wondered how the brokenhearted tear would play a magical part in helping Lucy.

Lucy drove me CRAZY. She was so hung up on Alex. I know Lucy was devastated that Alex broke up with her, but he was such a narcissist and he never seemed all that interested in her. Lucy came off as being an air-head to me and she was wishy-washy when it came to making a decision. Make a choice and stick with it Lucy!

I would describe the actual sisterhood as mean-spirited. I couldn’t shake the feeling that their reason for being was to hurt the feelings of the guys. And I really liked all the guys! The sweet best friend, the guy who gets strung along, and even the light-hearted party boy. They all get their hearts broken in one way or another.

I will admit that some of the sisterhood’s advice was good. They said that you should find beauty within. They also gave some simple dating advice that may come in handy when I am older. Otherwise though, I felt like they were being sneaky and taking advantage of all the sweet guys.

[Gizem Ceylan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The thing about this book is it will make you want to read it because it has a cute cover and has a quirky title. Anf if you think this will be a fun read ı've got some news for you: It won't.

1.Lucy is a stereotypical girl who doesn't think she is beautiful but she is.

2.Lucy is obsessing over one guy way too much. Even people on fandoms don't obsess over one thing that much (and I would know since I'm in multiple fandoms).

3.Where in the earth it is acceptable for a girl to become a heartbreaker when she is heartbroken? Is that really the kind of a message that we want teenage girls to embrace?

4. I actually thought that Lucy would find the power the heal her own heart within herself, but no, that did not happen because the normal thing for a heartbroken girl to do is not keep loving herself but being a bitch and breaking her best friends heart.

5. The only agreeable point is that brokenhearted people tend to stick to each other, they understand each other more than the others, ı'll just give it that.

In conclusion: Hell no! Don't waste your time and money for this book. Sorry Lynn but you should try harder.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lucy is so excited to see her boyfriend Alex the first day of sophomore year. She hasn't seen him all summer and she has something very important to tell him. Except he breaks up with her. Heartbroken, she goes to the bathroom where she meets Olivia, who tells her she can help with the heartbreak. After going to a spooky old house later that night, Lucy learns that all she has to do is break a boy's heart in the next six days. She's have the help of some magic, of course, and the three hot other girls. If she succeeds, she'll be in the Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers. Lucy goes along with this because she has a hidden agenda - if she can make a boy love her, why can't she get Alex to fall in love with her again and NOT break his heart.

I'm sorry to say that I wasn't impressed at all. None of the characters were very likeable, except for Lucy's best friend Tristan.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay, and I really liked the ending and how the whole thing came together afterward. The writing was written OKAY in my opinion. It felt like the narrator was someone who talked really fast and jumped subjects frequently. I would have preferred it to be in first person pov. There were also too many small characters to keep up with and when their name was thrown into a sentence, I had a hard time remembering who they were. The main characters I found, were too cliche and not real enough for me. BUT I really liked the idea and the story. I recommend it only to people who like girly easy reads.

[Beatriz Lins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm actually kind of depressed. I thought I'd love this book, but nope, I couldn't even finish it. Lucy's worse than Bella Swan. She's obsessed with her boyfriend, can't sleep when he's away, and says things like "I'm ready to lose our virginities together" (really?). Not to mention how jealous she is of everything he takes a picture of. Hello, he's a photographer!

So, yeah. The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers is not for me :(

[Melannie :)]

... the description had me at hello

Need this now!