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Broken
Critically injured in a motorbike accident, Zara Wilson lies in a coma. She is caught between many worlds: the world of her hospital room and anxious family, and that of her memories and a dream-like fantasy where she searches for her brother Jem. Jem proves elusive but Zara s adventures in her subconscious unlock dark secrets of a troubled childhood. Zara must face up to her past in order to accept her future.
256 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
June 15, 2012
I totally get where the author was trying to go with this and had it succeeded it had the potential to be really awesome but alas, for me, it fell short.
The two "big" incidents of the book were completely unrelated yet the author felt like she was trying to combine them as if one naturally led to the other. I say this because books usually follow the cause and effect formula where one does not introduce something unless it has importance in what will happen later, even if you don't know it at the time (see Harry potter and the order of the phoenix where they're cleaning out old cupboards and they chuck out a locket that nobody can open). It felt like ole Elizabeth simply found it convenient to use Jem's death (don't get outraged, we're told this on page one) to get Zara's (our leading lady) problems out in the air.
What could have been a really effective combination of story and graphics didn't do anything for me and once again I'm left cursing my inability to put down a book ("but what if it gets better!").
Also, Hoodman and Dark Eagle? Surely you can come up with better comic book heroes.
The two "big" incidents of the book were completely unrelated yet the author felt like she was trying to combine them as if one naturally led to the other. I say this because books usually follow the cause and effect formula where one does not introduce something unless it has importance in what will happen later, even if you don't know it at the time (see Harry potter and the order of the phoenix where they're cleaning out old cupboards and they chuck out a locket that nobody can open). It felt like ole Elizabeth simply found it convenient to use Jem's death (don't get outraged, we're told this on page one) to get Zara's (our leading lady) problems out in the air.
What could have been a really effective combination of story and graphics didn't do anything for me and once again I'm left cursing my inability to put down a book ("but what if it gets better!").
Also, Hoodman and Dark Eagle? Surely you can come up with better comic book heroes.
August 13, 2013
One of my main arguments for YA books is that it’s much more innovative and genre-busting than what a lot of literary critics would deem it to be. For example, consider the wide appeal of comics/graphic novels/manga with YA readers and teens; it’s not a surprise that there are a lot of authors incorporating artwork into their books as part of the story-telling (see for instance, Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan trilogy.) However, the problem comes when the artwork doesn’t hold up to the work of the story-telling and can feel more like a popularity grab instead of being part of the story.
It’s a glaring problem in Broken—the artwork manages to highlight how weak the story is in general and it comes off as gimmicky. Instead of naturally flowing into the story and highlighting minor details to add to the broken innerscape of Zara’s mind, we get a handful of panels randomly interspersed throughout the text that don’t add much to the story. There’s very few panels that let the moment speak for itself, and it feels more like padding at times. The art itself isn’t horrible (it’s passable with the idea that Zara is ‘drawing’ the art), but it’s very pedestrian and standard. Nothing about the artwork speaks for itself or can stand alone from the story. (It should also be mentioned that the in-universe comic book hero Hoodman and Dark Eagle read like what people think high concept comic books are like. The concept sounds interesting sure, but Pulford and Gomes fail at pulling off the effectiveness of the artwork.)
The art wouldn’t have been as much of an issue with me if it also wasn’t for the fact that the story here is incredibly weak. Pulford takes two separate events in Zara’s life—her abduction and captivity by a stranger when she was seven and her brother Jem’s death and her being in a coma as the main story—and tries to force them together without drawing a strong enough connection between the two plotlines. There’s several issues surrounding the larger problem. The timeline and plot moves around randomly, without any clear indication of how Zara’s remembering things. More time is spent on Zara’s friends and why Jem loves a particular comic instead of developing the relationship between him and Zara. Whenever Zara talks about being abducted, so much of what happened is obscured to the point that the eventual reveal of what she confessed to Jem is not only a letdown, but doesn’t make any sense! Her captor wanted to be a “mommy?” Great. What does that have to do with anything? It’s repeatedly stated that Zara needs to face the truth, but this isn’t that big of a reveal.
The abduction plotline makes absolutely no sense. I understand that Zara has tried to move on from it and that she’s outwardly presenting being okay nowadays, but…There’s no underlying sense that Zara’s broken in the first place. Is her inner journey about accepting the fact that Jem’s gone and she doesn’t have anyone she could trust that implicitly? But even then there’s no real understanding on Zara’s part that Jem’s gone. And I get that Zara needs to talk about what happened to other people, but again, there’s no real pay-off. We don’t even find out who her captor was! The last page of the book is just telling us that he’s been captured, but no revelation of who it is. We don’t even know if Zara’s seen the guy in years, it’s just “Nope, we need to kinda resolve this!” If there had been stronger build-up with the abduction and more of an impact—maybe Zara being more distressed and wild after the report of a similar abduction—that would have made more sense to me. It’s also very disconcerting that her captor doesn’t read as a monster who sexually abused Zara, at least to me. I’m not ignoring that he’s very sick and disturbed, but the implication that her captor has mental illness is somewhat insulting. (Plus the implication that he’s genderqueer …*sigh*)
The characters are…bland. They’re not terrible, and I definitely was expecting worse from this. But there’s nothing that says to me that Zara’s an engaging heroine who’s going to confront her dark past with the power of ARTWORK! She reads like a teenager who says she likes art. Except there’s nothing there. There’s nothing endearing Zara to the reader. As I mentioned above, her relationship with Jem doesn’t even make that huge of an impact on the story. There’s no real weight to Jem’s death either—it feels emotionally convenient to force the plot in motion. Jem never feels like a character in his own right, therefore losing half of the book’s weight and meaning. But even outside of Zara and Jem, none of the other characters ever get fleshed out beyond what Zara thinks of them. Trace is the most rounded character of the supporting cast, but even then I don’t think her character is fully fleshed and realized. A lot of characterization is given to us via Zara infodumping and so none of them ever get a chance to grow in the reader’s head.
I can see a through line with what Pulford wanted to do with this. But the catalyst for Zara’s journey and the truth she has to face doesn’t fit together and the lack of payoff is not only frustrating, but somewhat insulting and narrow-minded. The characterization doesn’t help with an already-crippled story and what may have worked as a strong character study ultimately reaches short of its goal. While the artwork could have given Broken a leg up, it’s frankly pedestrian and doesn’t add anything to the story. It’s not a horrible story, but extremely lacking. Honestly, I would say to skip this, because while there’s nothing to outright condemn the book, there’s also nothing for me to recommend reading any part of it.
It’s a glaring problem in Broken—the artwork manages to highlight how weak the story is in general and it comes off as gimmicky. Instead of naturally flowing into the story and highlighting minor details to add to the broken innerscape of Zara’s mind, we get a handful of panels randomly interspersed throughout the text that don’t add much to the story. There’s very few panels that let the moment speak for itself, and it feels more like padding at times. The art itself isn’t horrible (it’s passable with the idea that Zara is ‘drawing’ the art), but it’s very pedestrian and standard. Nothing about the artwork speaks for itself or can stand alone from the story. (It should also be mentioned that the in-universe comic book hero Hoodman and Dark Eagle read like what people think high concept comic books are like. The concept sounds interesting sure, but Pulford and Gomes fail at pulling off the effectiveness of the artwork.)
The art wouldn’t have been as much of an issue with me if it also wasn’t for the fact that the story here is incredibly weak. Pulford takes two separate events in Zara’s life—her abduction and captivity by a stranger when she was seven and her brother Jem’s death and her being in a coma as the main story—and tries to force them together without drawing a strong enough connection between the two plotlines. There’s several issues surrounding the larger problem. The timeline and plot moves around randomly, without any clear indication of how Zara’s remembering things. More time is spent on Zara’s friends and why Jem loves a particular comic instead of developing the relationship between him and Zara. Whenever Zara talks about being abducted, so much of what happened is obscured to the point that the eventual reveal of what she confessed to Jem is not only a letdown, but doesn’t make any sense! Her captor wanted to be a “mommy?” Great. What does that have to do with anything? It’s repeatedly stated that Zara needs to face the truth, but this isn’t that big of a reveal.
The abduction plotline makes absolutely no sense. I understand that Zara has tried to move on from it and that she’s outwardly presenting being okay nowadays, but…There’s no underlying sense that Zara’s broken in the first place. Is her inner journey about accepting the fact that Jem’s gone and she doesn’t have anyone she could trust that implicitly? But even then there’s no real understanding on Zara’s part that Jem’s gone. And I get that Zara needs to talk about what happened to other people, but again, there’s no real pay-off. We don’t even find out who her captor was! The last page of the book is just telling us that he’s been captured, but no revelation of who it is. We don’t even know if Zara’s seen the guy in years, it’s just “Nope, we need to kinda resolve this!” If there had been stronger build-up with the abduction and more of an impact—maybe Zara being more distressed and wild after the report of a similar abduction—that would have made more sense to me. It’s also very disconcerting that her captor doesn’t read as a monster who sexually abused Zara, at least to me. I’m not ignoring that he’s very sick and disturbed, but the implication that her captor has mental illness is somewhat insulting. (Plus the implication that he’s genderqueer …*sigh*)
The characters are…bland. They’re not terrible, and I definitely was expecting worse from this. But there’s nothing that says to me that Zara’s an engaging heroine who’s going to confront her dark past with the power of ARTWORK! She reads like a teenager who says she likes art. Except there’s nothing there. There’s nothing endearing Zara to the reader. As I mentioned above, her relationship with Jem doesn’t even make that huge of an impact on the story. There’s no real weight to Jem’s death either—it feels emotionally convenient to force the plot in motion. Jem never feels like a character in his own right, therefore losing half of the book’s weight and meaning. But even outside of Zara and Jem, none of the other characters ever get fleshed out beyond what Zara thinks of them. Trace is the most rounded character of the supporting cast, but even then I don’t think her character is fully fleshed and realized. A lot of characterization is given to us via Zara infodumping and so none of them ever get a chance to grow in the reader’s head.
I can see a through line with what Pulford wanted to do with this. But the catalyst for Zara’s journey and the truth she has to face doesn’t fit together and the lack of payoff is not only frustrating, but somewhat insulting and narrow-minded. The characterization doesn’t help with an already-crippled story and what may have worked as a strong character study ultimately reaches short of its goal. While the artwork could have given Broken a leg up, it’s frankly pedestrian and doesn’t add anything to the story. It’s not a horrible story, but extremely lacking. Honestly, I would say to skip this, because while there’s nothing to outright condemn the book, there’s also nothing for me to recommend reading any part of it.
January 23, 2024
I enjoyed the premise of ‘Broken’, the author’s writing style and found the book difficult to put down, however it ultimately fell short.
‘Broken’ is told from Zara’s perspective based on things she hears from loved ones who visit her while she’s in a coma, her memories and her imaginary world where she draw’s herself into one of her brother’s comics. Some reviewers don’t like the sudden narrative shifts, but I think it keeps the reader in suspense and didn’t find it hard to follow. I enjoyed unravelling the connection between the accident and Zara’s traumatic past. I don’t mind a bit of make believe, but the book would be improved if the comic world was used less or made more interesting.
The use of graphics was disappointing. They were surprisingly boring. Pictures should be used to highlight the most important or exciting parts of the text.
Towards the end, I felt that we were gearing up to something exciting, but the ending was quite abrupt. I turned the final page in shock, expecting to see more pages.
I would rate ‘Broken’ 2.5 if possible.
‘Broken’ is told from Zara’s perspective based on things she hears from loved ones who visit her while she’s in a coma, her memories and her imaginary world where she draw’s herself into one of her brother’s comics. Some reviewers don’t like the sudden narrative shifts, but I think it keeps the reader in suspense and didn’t find it hard to follow. I enjoyed unravelling the connection between the accident and Zara’s traumatic past. I don’t mind a bit of make believe, but the book would be improved if the comic world was used less or made more interesting.
The use of graphics was disappointing. They were surprisingly boring. Pictures should be used to highlight the most important or exciting parts of the text.
Towards the end, I felt that we were gearing up to something exciting, but the ending was quite abrupt. I turned the final page in shock, expecting to see more pages.
I would rate ‘Broken’ 2.5 if possible.
January 9, 2014
"Broken" by Elizabeth Pulford, is an emotional as well as action packed novel about a young girl named Zara who is in the mist of many things. She is on a mission to find her brother Jem, who apparently is in one of her comic books. She battled hard to find him and nothing could get in her way of doing so. The only thing is that Zara is in a coma from a bad accident that happened.She has a talent of being able "to draw her own present and erase the past." Her going to find her brother dream isn't reality. It is just a dream. A dream where she hears the voices of many of her family members guiding her along the way on her journey to finding Jem. Even though Zara has this great ability, she'll have to deal confront her past to handle the present and future.
Overall, this is a good novel. It had various of good things . One of the things that I liked about the novel was that it was different and weird. This is not the average book that I would read any other time. It was full of unnatural things such as a character being able to draw her present and erase her past. That's something that is completely unrealistic, which is interesting to me. Another thing that I liked about the novel was that there were pictures to help me see what was happening instead of me trying to visualize everything myself. There was nothing I didn't like about it.
"Broken" is a good book that I would recommend to anyone who loves to dream about things that only happens in fantasies. It is a really good book full of excitement and if anyone is looking for something different to read, this is the book to choose.
Overall, this is a good novel. It had various of good things . One of the things that I liked about the novel was that it was different and weird. This is not the average book that I would read any other time. It was full of unnatural things such as a character being able to draw her present and erase her past. That's something that is completely unrealistic, which is interesting to me. Another thing that I liked about the novel was that there were pictures to help me see what was happening instead of me trying to visualize everything myself. There was nothing I didn't like about it.
"Broken" is a good book that I would recommend to anyone who loves to dream about things that only happens in fantasies. It is a really good book full of excitement and if anyone is looking for something different to read, this is the book to choose.
October 17, 2016
Zara Wilson is in a coma after a motorcycle accident in which her brother swerved to miss a toddler and crashed. Zara can hear everyone around her but cannot react in anyway. But she does see Jem and has to find him although he seems to be eluding her. Zara seeks Jem in a comic book like world of Hoodman and Dark Eagle. But Zara also has to deal with a kidnapping when she was seven years old. She never has officially deal with it beyond talking to Jem.
Zara has a broken mind and she has to get everything together if she plans on coming out of her coma. This was an interesting story as we follow Zara trying to find Jem although we know that he is dead. She navigates a standard comic strip that wasn’t really memorable. At the same time you follow along as Zara remembers being kidnapped. The problem is the story is not linear and doesn’t really have a mention of when each part of the story is so I was a bit confused.
This story meandered around and didn’t really catch my attention. Hoodman and Dark Eagle were bland and even the kidnapping didn’t flesh out. I didn’t really see any resolution to the kidnapping and was confused about the kidnapper. In the end I would say that Broken was not a book for me.
I received Broken a long time ago free of charge. This has not influenced my opinion of this book.
Zara has a broken mind and she has to get everything together if she plans on coming out of her coma. This was an interesting story as we follow Zara trying to find Jem although we know that he is dead. She navigates a standard comic strip that wasn’t really memorable. At the same time you follow along as Zara remembers being kidnapped. The problem is the story is not linear and doesn’t really have a mention of when each part of the story is so I was a bit confused.
This story meandered around and didn’t really catch my attention. Hoodman and Dark Eagle were bland and even the kidnapping didn’t flesh out. I didn’t really see any resolution to the kidnapping and was confused about the kidnapper. In the end I would say that Broken was not a book for me.
I received Broken a long time ago free of charge. This has not influenced my opinion of this book.
September 7, 2013
This rating is more in the 3.5-4 star range. The handling of the sensitive subject matter and the attempt to show Zara's journey through it is something that continued to hold my attention throughout this book. However, there were many times I was a bit confused or frustrated with the choppy transitions. Pulford attempts a difficult task here of moving you through Zara's uncouncsiousness. Zara is in a coma after a motorcycle accident and the reader is taken along on Zara's journey to find her brother whom she does not know died in the accident. Through three settings, Zara's memories of a horrible incident in her past, the Hoodman comic books her brother lived for, and her semi conscious present where she hears the conversations in her hospital room, we watch Zara come to terms with grief, exceptence, and ownership of her experiences.
There is value in this story and the way it's told, I just hope the readers can see the hidden beauty in the symbolism Pulford uses. It's tucked in there, sometimes obvious, sometimes not. This was well worth the read for me.
There is value in this story and the way it's told, I just hope the readers can see the hidden beauty in the symbolism Pulford uses. It's tucked in there, sometimes obvious, sometimes not. This was well worth the read for me.
June 7, 2012
This was a fascinating story. It's built on an interesting premise and the comic book style pictures add well to the overall effect. I also enjoyed finding out the secret the main character was hiding. interesting stuff.
My only real problem with the story unfortunately is something that's impossible to ignore: it's really hard to have an interesting coma patient. the secret about the fate of her brother is revealed to the reader on the first page, making her mental quest to find him a fruitless, frustrating affair. The rest of the story is either flashback or her listening to people talking to her and being unable to respond. Call me hard to please, but I enjoy it when main characters have the ability to act rather than sit passively aside while the plot carries on without them.
Overall, a good read and a fascinating premise but making the main character comatose leads to a lot of frustration.
My only real problem with the story unfortunately is something that's impossible to ignore: it's really hard to have an interesting coma patient. the secret about the fate of her brother is revealed to the reader on the first page, making her mental quest to find him a fruitless, frustrating affair. The rest of the story is either flashback or her listening to people talking to her and being unable to respond. Call me hard to please, but I enjoy it when main characters have the ability to act rather than sit passively aside while the plot carries on without them.
Overall, a good read and a fascinating premise but making the main character comatose leads to a lot of frustration.
June 20, 2015
Zara is in a coma in intensive care after a motorbike accident. Her beloved brother Jem is dead – swerving to avoid a toddler, and hitting a tree.
Broken is the story of Zara struggling back to the surface. Back to her grieving, worried parents, back to her best friend Trace and back to Paul – a boy from her past.
But while she is unconscious she is looking for Jem – in a world of heroes and villains, just like Jem’s comic books. And there is the other business. The woman who asked for directions and turned into a man. A man who abducted her.
This is very cleverly written – with Zara hearing everything happening and spoken around her hospital bed, but not being able to respond. Part graphic novel, the story is a tumble of dreams, nightmares and memories.
July 16, 2012
2.5
I really don't know whether I liked this. It's different, thought-provoking and interesting, which is good, but...I'm not sure it works.
Girl is in a coma after a motorbike accident. She shifts between states of consciousness. One state involves her search for her brother through the world of his favorite comic, all the while being pursued by a menacing individual from her past. The next involves her family and friends' vigil at her bedside. Before she can come back she must face her demons, which all sounds okay. Yet...somehow it felt patchy and disjointed to me. Also, the italicised dialogue drove me nuts.
June 13, 2019
Notice the writing on the cover page, fused interestingly on the hair. The book is as creative as it's cover page. I loved this one, for it was a new kind of a reading experience- inside the mind of a person.
Accompanied with illustration, the book covers the feeling of being trapped wonderfully!
The ending however felt incomplete but then that's another style authors prefer. To end a story abruptly, projecting the continuity of the life of its characters...
Accompanied with illustration, the book covers the feeling of being trapped wonderfully!
The ending however felt incomplete but then that's another style authors prefer. To end a story abruptly, projecting the continuity of the life of its characters...
September 26, 2012
Goodness, this nearly broke me.
Heart-wrenching and confronting. Interesting inclusion of graphic images that not only enrich the narrative, but actually help tell the tale.
Highly recommended.
Heart-wrenching and confronting. Interesting inclusion of graphic images that not only enrich the narrative, but actually help tell the tale.
Highly recommended.
September 11, 2016
Terrible book, the writing was horrible and there were multiple grammar mistakes. It still did make me cry though so it gets an extra star for that.
July 7, 2018
Normally, I am one of those people that cannot stop half way through a book. I have to find out what happens, no matter how terrible the storyline. I think I only read half the book, but I could manage to make myself read the rest!
It was just terrible! I mean I had no idea what was going on. At times it was written in Zara's (the main character) perpective in her comatose state; at other times it was told through her memories or flashbacks of the past; and other times it was told when she was in a dream-like state where she "lived" inside one of her brother's comic books.
When she was inside that comic-book world, she could draw and erase things whenever she felt like it, as if she was drawing a comic book in real life, and these things would come to life. She drew things such as windows and doors to get out of rooms for a faster escape and other things like that. It kind of reminded me of a television program I watched as a child but it made little sense and was pointlessly confusing.
Broken contained a few comic-style drawings at random intervals during the book which would contain snippets of the plotline that would, then the story continued in normal word format. It just made the book seem even more disconnected, jolty and made it harder to follow the storyline.
Overall, this book disappointed me to no end. I would not recommend it to anyone.
It was just terrible! I mean I had no idea what was going on. At times it was written in Zara's (the main character) perpective in her comatose state; at other times it was told through her memories or flashbacks of the past; and other times it was told when she was in a dream-like state where she "lived" inside one of her brother's comic books.
When she was inside that comic-book world, she could draw and erase things whenever she felt like it, as if she was drawing a comic book in real life, and these things would come to life. She drew things such as windows and doors to get out of rooms for a faster escape and other things like that. It kind of reminded me of a television program I watched as a child but it made little sense and was pointlessly confusing.
Broken contained a few comic-style drawings at random intervals during the book which would contain snippets of the plotline that would, then the story continued in normal word format. It just made the book seem even more disconnected, jolty and made it harder to follow the storyline.
Overall, this book disappointed me to no end. I would not recommend it to anyone.
June 19, 2017
First off the book was an intriguing idea but I was put off by a couple things. Firstly the illustrations. It was a cool idea to put a comic into a story kind of like Malice (which I really love) but sometimes the illustrations didn't match what was going on in the story like she says she drew herself in a hoodie but the actual illustration had her in a t-shirt. Secondly she is supposed to be an amazing artist but the drawings I felt were kind of average. And thirdly I felt like there weren't a whole lot of the illustration and just kind of random like the author was given a set of pictures and told to make a story around them.
While I wasn't bored to tears the only parts of the book I enjoyed were the parts about Trace her loyal goth best friend who always has a bag of onion chips. I really enjoyed reading about her journey doing pop idol and her loyalty to her best friend and malls. She was a really interesting character and I honestly might have enjoyed the story more if she was the main character and the story dealt with her dealing with her friend in a coma.
While I wasn't bored to tears the only parts of the book I enjoyed were the parts about Trace her loyal goth best friend who always has a bag of onion chips. I really enjoyed reading about her journey doing pop idol and her loyalty to her best friend and malls. She was a really interesting character and I honestly might have enjoyed the story more if she was the main character and the story dealt with her dealing with her friend in a coma.
January 23, 2019
I was given this copy by a friend who got permission from the author to share her Advanced Reader Copy several years ago.
The story moves between text in the real world and drawings (comics) in the fantasy world.
There is reference to a serious vehicular accident and to a child kidnapping.
It took a while to get used to the different mediums the story is told in, but once I got into it I really enjoyed this book.
The story moves between text in the real world and drawings (comics) in the fantasy world.
There is reference to a serious vehicular accident and to a child kidnapping.
It took a while to get used to the different mediums the story is told in, but once I got into it I really enjoyed this book.
October 23, 2023
I've had this proof copy on my tbr pile for a very long time (when was the last time I was at a library conference?). It's very very good; I wish I'd read it sooner. It's an interesting mix of few graphic novel concepts and text book, about a girl who is an artist with a sad past. The reader soon understands that she is also currently in a coma where she is searching for her beloved brother Jem, a dedicated comic reader and secret-keeper. Really good.
February 4, 2021
Zara struggles to work out what’s going on? Why is Mum crying? Why can’t her parents hear her? Where’s Jem? She must find him. They’ve been best mates since they were kids.
Jem loves comics. He’s collected his favourite series from number one. A comic lays open on the floor of Jem’s room. Zara notices the curtain is flapping in the comic illustration. How can that be? She climbs into the picture desperate to find Jem. Jem knows her secret. It’s special only between them.
Where is Jem? How can Zara travel inside the comic book? What is her secret?
I enjoyed the fantasy and mystery of this story. The unusual setting and circumstance of the story adds to its interest.
Recommended for tweens 10-12+
Jem loves comics. He’s collected his favourite series from number one. A comic lays open on the floor of Jem’s room. Zara notices the curtain is flapping in the comic illustration. How can that be? She climbs into the picture desperate to find Jem. Jem knows her secret. It’s special only between them.
Where is Jem? How can Zara travel inside the comic book? What is her secret?
I enjoyed the fantasy and mystery of this story. The unusual setting and circumstance of the story adds to its interest.
Recommended for tweens 10-12+
July 2, 2013
Zara is looking for her brother Jem, because she's lost him to his favorite comic book hero. But unknown to herself, Zara's brother is dead and she's in a coma from the motorcycle accident that killed him. Sorting through the traumatic events of her childhood and the recent mistakes of her life, Zara must wade through everything to get to the truth. But inside the world of comics there are villains, who always do everything they can to stop the 'good guys' from winning. Can her family and friends drawn her back into the land of the living, where she'll be forced to face the truth? Or will Zara choose to keep looking for her brother and leave the land of the living for good?
This book sounded a bit like an Australian version of If I Stay, only with a darker edge. Even though I normally steer clear of Aussie YA lit because I just never seem to connect to it that well. But being who I am, I dove right into it regardless of my initial misgivings. I felt that this was a great premise, but it suffered from extremely poor execution. The combination of the childhood kidnapping and it's total disconnect from the main plot about the accident that leaves Zara comatose was really confusing. I felt like the author was trying to link the two, but they had NOTHING to do with each other so it made zero sense and was distracting. The idea of Jem being lost in a comic book world was an interesting segue into illustration and allowed for a platform for Zara to work out her issues. But it was jarring going back and forth between the fictional exploits in the comic world (mixed with her memories/subconscious), and the visits of her friends and family as they try to bring her out of the coma.
And I agree with another reviewer that I've seen who said they were frustrated with Zara's mission to find her brother. It's not like we didn't know what happened to him since the beginning of the book and it makes her 'quest' seem that much more childish and annoying. Also, the entire book is in flashbacks/one way dialogue. It makes it kind of hard to build any real semblances of relationships between Zara and the other characters based on the present and not past events/interactions. Overall, I felt like something was missing from the story that was crucial to me becoming invested in it. I spent the majority skimming through disinterestedly. This was not the book for me, but I'm sure there is someone out there who will love it. I just wouldn't recommend it personally unless you feel some kind of unflagging desire to read it.
VERDICT: 2/5 Stars
**I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is August 27th, 2013.**
This book sounded a bit like an Australian version of If I Stay, only with a darker edge. Even though I normally steer clear of Aussie YA lit because I just never seem to connect to it that well. But being who I am, I dove right into it regardless of my initial misgivings. I felt that this was a great premise, but it suffered from extremely poor execution. The combination of the childhood kidnapping and it's total disconnect from the main plot about the accident that leaves Zara comatose was really confusing. I felt like the author was trying to link the two, but they had NOTHING to do with each other so it made zero sense and was distracting. The idea of Jem being lost in a comic book world was an interesting segue into illustration and allowed for a platform for Zara to work out her issues. But it was jarring going back and forth between the fictional exploits in the comic world (mixed with her memories/subconscious), and the visits of her friends and family as they try to bring her out of the coma.
And I agree with another reviewer that I've seen who said they were frustrated with Zara's mission to find her brother. It's not like we didn't know what happened to him since the beginning of the book and it makes her 'quest' seem that much more childish and annoying. Also, the entire book is in flashbacks/one way dialogue. It makes it kind of hard to build any real semblances of relationships between Zara and the other characters based on the present and not past events/interactions. Overall, I felt like something was missing from the story that was crucial to me becoming invested in it. I spent the majority skimming through disinterestedly. This was not the book for me, but I'm sure there is someone out there who will love it. I just wouldn't recommend it personally unless you feel some kind of unflagging desire to read it.
VERDICT: 2/5 Stars
**I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is August 27th, 2013.**
October 21, 2012
Dieses Buch ist ganz nett, die Grundidee interessant und das Konzept sogar recht originell, aber alles geht viel zu schnell und teilweise langweilig vorbei.
Die Protagonistin liegt nach einem Unfall im Koma, kann aber hören, was um sie herum geschieht, z.B. wer sie besucht und ihr was erzählt (Familie, Freunde). Diese Szenen fand ich interessant, aber auch ein wenig frustrierend, weil Zara nie begreift, warum ihr Besuch nicht auf ihre Erwiderungen reagiert.
Dazwischen gibt es Erinnerungen an Zaras Vergangenheit, innere Monologe und eine Comicwelt, in der Zara umherirrt. Diese Mischung war mir zu wirr. Es wird zwar versucht durch Kursivschreibung und verschiedene Schriftarten etwas Übersichtlichkeit in den Text zu bringen, aber ich musste trotzdem oft überlegen, ob sie jetzt gerade jemandem zuhört oder sich an etwas erinnert.
Die Comickapitel werden durch Zeichnungen im typischen Comicformat aufgelockert. Der Zeichenstil hat mir leider nicht so sehr gefallen, ich hätte mir da eher etwas gewünscht, das mehr dem Cover entspricht. Außerdem hätte man das ruhig mehr durchziehen können. Zara beschreibt ständig, was sie im Comic tut und ab und zu wird das ganze durch zwei Bilder illustriert. Es wäre aber viel cooler gewesen, wenn diese Kapitel komplett als Comic dargestellt worden wären.
Während ich Zaras Hintergrundgeschichte und ihr soziales Umfeld ziemlich spannend fand, hat mich ihre Reise durch den Comic eher gelangweilt. Ständig wiederholt sich alles und sie irrt ziemlich ziellos durch die gezeichnete Welt. In Zaras Vergangenheit hingegen ist etwas erschreckendes und ungewöhnliches passiert , das sie traumatisiert hat. Eigentlich wird auf das ganze Thema viel zu wenig eingegangen, man hätte dem ganzen viel mehr Spielfläche geben sollen, um alle möglichen Auswirkungen austesten zu können.
Insgesamt kann man das zwischendurch ruhig mal lesen, aber viel hängen geblieben ist bei mir nicht.
Die Protagonistin liegt nach einem Unfall im Koma, kann aber hören, was um sie herum geschieht, z.B. wer sie besucht und ihr was erzählt (Familie, Freunde). Diese Szenen fand ich interessant, aber auch ein wenig frustrierend, weil Zara nie begreift, warum ihr Besuch nicht auf ihre Erwiderungen reagiert.
Dazwischen gibt es Erinnerungen an Zaras Vergangenheit, innere Monologe und eine Comicwelt, in der Zara umherirrt. Diese Mischung war mir zu wirr. Es wird zwar versucht durch Kursivschreibung und verschiedene Schriftarten etwas Übersichtlichkeit in den Text zu bringen, aber ich musste trotzdem oft überlegen, ob sie jetzt gerade jemandem zuhört oder sich an etwas erinnert.
Die Comickapitel werden durch Zeichnungen im typischen Comicformat aufgelockert. Der Zeichenstil hat mir leider nicht so sehr gefallen, ich hätte mir da eher etwas gewünscht, das mehr dem Cover entspricht. Außerdem hätte man das ruhig mehr durchziehen können. Zara beschreibt ständig, was sie im Comic tut und ab und zu wird das ganze durch zwei Bilder illustriert. Es wäre aber viel cooler gewesen, wenn diese Kapitel komplett als Comic dargestellt worden wären.
Während ich Zaras Hintergrundgeschichte und ihr soziales Umfeld ziemlich spannend fand, hat mich ihre Reise durch den Comic eher gelangweilt. Ständig wiederholt sich alles und sie irrt ziemlich ziellos durch die gezeichnete Welt. In Zaras Vergangenheit hingegen ist etwas erschreckendes und ungewöhnliches passiert , das sie traumatisiert hat. Eigentlich wird auf das ganze Thema viel zu wenig eingegangen, man hätte dem ganzen viel mehr Spielfläche geben sollen, um alle möglichen Auswirkungen austesten zu können.
Insgesamt kann man das zwischendurch ruhig mal lesen, aber viel hängen geblieben ist bei mir nicht.
January 5, 2014
Broken is the story of a girl who is in a coma after being in an accident. While Zara lays in the hospital unaware of what has happened her only desire is to find her older brother. Unknowing to Zara, who was riding with her brother on his bike when the accident occurred, her brother died.
Broken takes its readers on the desperate journey into Zara's brothers, Jem, favourite comic book. Outwitting villins, fighting past dark memories and out running death Zara needs to confront her darkest thoughts to find Jem and wake up.
I picked up Broken mainly because of the title. I only read the back as I was walking back to the car and planned to read it that night. However, I didn't read it until yesterday, almost 2 weeks after getting it.
Dreams don't make any sense. Last night I had a dream that half the world was safely kept inside a great Goddess Monster's stomach.
So the fact that Zara, who is unknowingly in a coma, goes into a comic to find her brother is really just following the logic of dreams.
While laying in the hospital bed Zara's friends and family visit, telling her stories, reading to her and pleading with her to wake up. But Zara just wants to find her brother Jem. Slowly making her way through the dangers of the comic book, facing villains and battling giant scorpions Zara also faces something worse. Much worse.
Dark memories from when she was 7 keep trying to resurface, her fear drives her further away from the living world. But soon she learns she needs to face her greatest fear and let her memories in not only to find Jem but to wake up.
Broken takes its readers on the desperate journey into Zara's brothers, Jem, favourite comic book. Outwitting villins, fighting past dark memories and out running death Zara needs to confront her darkest thoughts to find Jem and wake up.
I picked up Broken mainly because of the title. I only read the back as I was walking back to the car and planned to read it that night. However, I didn't read it until yesterday, almost 2 weeks after getting it.
Dreams don't make any sense. Last night I had a dream that half the world was safely kept inside a great Goddess Monster's stomach.
So the fact that Zara, who is unknowingly in a coma, goes into a comic to find her brother is really just following the logic of dreams.
While laying in the hospital bed Zara's friends and family visit, telling her stories, reading to her and pleading with her to wake up. But Zara just wants to find her brother Jem. Slowly making her way through the dangers of the comic book, facing villains and battling giant scorpions Zara also faces something worse. Much worse.
Dark memories from when she was 7 keep trying to resurface, her fear drives her further away from the living world. But soon she learns she needs to face her greatest fear and let her memories in not only to find Jem but to wake up.
October 8, 2013
The first word that comes to mind when I think of Broken by Elizabeth Pulford: Weird. Gosh dang, this was a weird book. But here's the thing: Weird in no way means bad. The truth is that this book is intensely powerful, incredibly emotional, extremely creative, and strangely poetic. Elizabeth Pulford takes a tragic situation, a teen girl in a coma after a terrible accident, and turns it into a gripping and entirely original plot. I can honestly say that I've never read anything even remotely similar to Broken. In the book Zara is in a coma, all the while having extremely vivid dreams while simultaneously being aware of what is going on in the world around her. She can hear it when her parents are talking to her; in her mind, she talks back to them, carrying on the conversation. It seems like a completely horrifying situation to be in. Usually, I don't like to read this type of book. I don't enjoy books that make me sad. But this plot has much, much more to it than just a girl in a coma; in Zara's dream-state, she is in a comic book world. This is where it gets weird. She meets heroes and villains from this popular comic series, all the while searching for her brother, Jem. This is a powerful book, make no mistake about it. Not only is Zara searching for her brother, but she is also sorting out her inner demons. So while going through this fantasy of a comic book, get ready to be punched in the feelings. I enjoyed this book. It was written very well. The pacing, while taking some getting used to, is absolutely superb. If you are prepared to go through a roller coaster of emotions while reading a book that will often having asking yourself, "Wait... What?" then this is definitely a book for you.
-Austin
ReadingTeen.net
November 10, 2023
Representation: N/A?
Trigger warnings: Grief and loss depiction, death of a grandmother and a brother, motorbike crash
Read this review for context. This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.
Score: Four points out of ten.
After reading an underwhelming realistic book I was hoping that I would enjoy this one, I didn't and turns out as you've guessed by the rating of this, it's even worse than the last one, I had so many issues and could not like this book at all, where do I even begin. It starts off with the main character Zara Wilson who was on a motorbike with her brother Jem when he crashed into a tree to avoid a toddler, killing him and knocking Zara out and there's the first problems: the beginning of this is similar to the last book and it suffers from the same issues, "sighs". Soon enough I find myself inside Zara's subconscious and then she goes into a comic??? I don't get it since this would be a more fantasy aspect but the library put this wrongly I might add into the realistic section. In the comic, she is all alone at first but then there are some other characters like Trace, Jem, Dark Eagle and the antagonist Morven and all of them I just couldn't connect to which was tantamount to the last book. She is in this world for quite a while when the story just confuses me, it switches between not one, not two, but three points of view which are Zara's, Zara in the past and the outside world which was hard to wrap my head around. In the end, I think Zara leaves the comic and recovers ending this on a high note.
Trigger warnings: Grief and loss depiction, death of a grandmother and a brother, motorbike crash
Read this review for context. This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.
Score: Four points out of ten.
After reading an underwhelming realistic book I was hoping that I would enjoy this one, I didn't and turns out as you've guessed by the rating of this, it's even worse than the last one, I had so many issues and could not like this book at all, where do I even begin. It starts off with the main character Zara Wilson who was on a motorbike with her brother Jem when he crashed into a tree to avoid a toddler, killing him and knocking Zara out and there's the first problems: the beginning of this is similar to the last book and it suffers from the same issues, "sighs". Soon enough I find myself inside Zara's subconscious and then she goes into a comic??? I don't get it since this would be a more fantasy aspect but the library put this wrongly I might add into the realistic section. In the comic, she is all alone at first but then there are some other characters like Trace, Jem, Dark Eagle and the antagonist Morven and all of them I just couldn't connect to which was tantamount to the last book. She is in this world for quite a while when the story just confuses me, it switches between not one, not two, but three points of view which are Zara's, Zara in the past and the outside world which was hard to wrap my head around. In the end, I think Zara leaves the comic and recovers ending this on a high note.
October 14, 2013
The motorcycle accident that killed her brother Jem left Zara in a coma. Lying in her hospital bed she struggles with understanding why people she knows and loves talk to her as though she can’t hear them. At the same time, her dreams tell her she is trapped inside a comic, drawing her own way out of danger while she searches for her brother.
Zara’s frustration is evident, because everything she seeks seems just beyond her reach. She can’t communicate with her parents and friends, and she can’t find her brother. As she goes back and forth between awareness and dream states, she also gets closer to the truth of a terrifying incident that occurred when she was quite young. Facing the truth of painful events, both past and present, may be the only way Zara finds a way to her future.
Broken by Elizabeth Pulford is a combination of prose and graphic novel. Illustrated by Angus Gomes, graphic moments resemble comic books. It’s an inventive way to tell a story, and it works because Jem was passionate about comic books and Zara is an artist. She is sure she can find him among the pages of his favorite series, Hoodman.
While the action advanced more slowly than I would have liked and some of the graphic scenes were confusing (as dreams sometimes are), Broken brings up several issues worth thinking about and discussing. In what ways do we hide our true selves to keep from being hurt? Are we responsible when something bad happens to us? Can facing the things we fear bring us more peace?
The publisher gave me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Zara’s frustration is evident, because everything she seeks seems just beyond her reach. She can’t communicate with her parents and friends, and she can’t find her brother. As she goes back and forth between awareness and dream states, she also gets closer to the truth of a terrifying incident that occurred when she was quite young. Facing the truth of painful events, both past and present, may be the only way Zara finds a way to her future.
Broken by Elizabeth Pulford is a combination of prose and graphic novel. Illustrated by Angus Gomes, graphic moments resemble comic books. It’s an inventive way to tell a story, and it works because Jem was passionate about comic books and Zara is an artist. She is sure she can find him among the pages of his favorite series, Hoodman.
While the action advanced more slowly than I would have liked and some of the graphic scenes were confusing (as dreams sometimes are), Broken brings up several issues worth thinking about and discussing. In what ways do we hide our true selves to keep from being hurt? Are we responsible when something bad happens to us? Can facing the things we fear bring us more peace?
The publisher gave me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
September 29, 2013
Broken is a story told both in word and in graphic format that shows both sides of the story in Zara's head. Having been in a terrible motorcycle accident, Zara lays in a coma and her one goal seems to be to find her brother Jem. In comic style, she enters the world of her brother's favorite comic book and searches him out. The only problem is that what she needs to reveal to herself is the truth about what happened when she was a child, when she was kidnapped.
As the book unravels, we find Zara between the real world, listening to those visiting her and replying back in her own head and the comic book world. I loved the illustrations and the idea behind what goes on when trapped in your own head. At times, I was scared to read further, unsure of where her old memories would take me as a reader. Nothing is as scary as being taken and I was worried it would hit a level I could not handle as a reader.
Luckily, it was more than safe, although still terrifying as the details unraveled. I love the relationship between Zara and her brother, how touching the moments between them were at times as Zara remembered with him. This was a hard novel to get through at times, not sure if I wanted Zara traveling back in memory lane, but knowing it was the only way to save her.
Final Verdict: Filled with beautiful illustrations, Pulford does a fantastic job of putting you inside Zara's head and really experiencing the book through her eyes.
As the book unravels, we find Zara between the real world, listening to those visiting her and replying back in her own head and the comic book world. I loved the illustrations and the idea behind what goes on when trapped in your own head. At times, I was scared to read further, unsure of where her old memories would take me as a reader. Nothing is as scary as being taken and I was worried it would hit a level I could not handle as a reader.
Luckily, it was more than safe, although still terrifying as the details unraveled. I love the relationship between Zara and her brother, how touching the moments between them were at times as Zara remembered with him. This was a hard novel to get through at times, not sure if I wanted Zara traveling back in memory lane, but knowing it was the only way to save her.
Final Verdict: Filled with beautiful illustrations, Pulford does a fantastic job of putting you inside Zara's head and really experiencing the book through her eyes.
October 15, 2013
BROKEN is a fantastic new novel from Elizabeth Pulford and Angus Gomes that fully takes advantage of the "multimedia" concept. Told partially in prose and partially in graphic novel segments, and accompanied by fictionalized news articles, the story follows Zara's quest to find her brother Jem.
Here's the thing: Zara is in a coma. And while she's drawn herself into Jem's favorite comic book, she is constantly pulled back into her hospital room, where she can hear the conversations of her loved ones around her. Her best friend brings her gossip from school, and while Zara wishes she could be there with her, she knows that she won't be able to do anything until she finds Jem. But even if she is able to confront the villain Morven, she also needs to confront the painful truth that her comic book world is helping her to avoid.
A fast-paced and beautifully written novel, BROKEN is a must-read for lovers of graphic novels, and for readers who are looking for a book that works outside of the box. Both realistic fiction fans and fans of the fantastical will take a shining to this heart-wrenching story that finds a fantasy world in the protagonist's attempts to cope. This book isn't like anything you've seen before, and I bet you'll like it.
Here's the thing: Zara is in a coma. And while she's drawn herself into Jem's favorite comic book, she is constantly pulled back into her hospital room, where she can hear the conversations of her loved ones around her. Her best friend brings her gossip from school, and while Zara wishes she could be there with her, she knows that she won't be able to do anything until she finds Jem. But even if she is able to confront the villain Morven, she also needs to confront the painful truth that her comic book world is helping her to avoid.
A fast-paced and beautifully written novel, BROKEN is a must-read for lovers of graphic novels, and for readers who are looking for a book that works outside of the box. Both realistic fiction fans and fans of the fantastical will take a shining to this heart-wrenching story that finds a fantasy world in the protagonist's attempts to cope. This book isn't like anything you've seen before, and I bet you'll like it.
August 23, 2016
Tengo que admitir que cunado leí la contraportada y vi de que trataba este libro, me emocione demasiado y sentí en su momento que iba a amar este libro. No puedo decir que es malo; porque no lo es, simplemente es que la historia no es lo que esperaba; pero aun así la autora logro engancharme con su historia hasta tal grado que de verdad no podía dejar de leer la historia, porque yo ya quería saber en donde se encontraba Jem. Otro punto que me agrado demasiado de este libro es que dentro de la historia encontramos ciertas partes donde están contadas por medio de un cómic que también tiene mucha relación con la historia. De verdad que disfrute mucho leyendo este libro y si le di 3 estrellas es porque es un muy buen libro que te hará pasar una lectura agradable.
July 22, 2013
This is a complex, multi-genre novel about a girl dealing with tragedy in her life. Zara and her brother Jem have just been involved in a motorcycle accident, and Zara now lies comatose in a hospital bed. Intermixed with searching for her brother within his favorite graphic novels, we get stories from Zara's past along with the words of her family and friends as they visit her bedside. Zara must come to terms with what happened to her as a child in order to gain the strength to handle the aftermath of the accident. Pulford's prose mixes well with Gomes's illustrations, giving us a slightly convoluted, but still engaging and well-told novel.
April 13, 2015
This was...alright. It was interesting, but only in the way a fairly predictable first person coma story can be interesting. The comic book element was a cool thing, but it didn't work as well as I think it could have. Also, I read (skimmed) it in about an hour.
Also also, the one part of the story I was actually interested in was barely touched on, talked about constantly, but always in couched terms and unclear language. Maybe it was a little too heavy for the story? I don't know, but it would have been easier to understand the protagonist a little more if there was more information about what actually happened to her before the coma.
Also also, the one part of the story I was actually interested in was barely touched on, talked about constantly, but always in couched terms and unclear language. Maybe it was a little too heavy for the story? I don't know, but it would have been easier to understand the protagonist a little more if there was more information about what actually happened to her before the coma.
June 30, 2016
"Broken" is an interesting and uniquely presented book about Zara who has to accept her past before she can accept the future. Zara remains in a coma after a motorbike accident which kills her brother. While she can hear her family and friends talking to her, pleading that she return to them, she finds herself in her brother's favourtie comic, looking for Jem. The book is a mixture of story, scraps of newspaper articles, flashbacks and comic illustrations, but it is difficult to really empathise with Zara who remains unconscious until the very end. In fact my favourite character is probably Zara's out-spoken, gutsy best friend, Trace.
August 28, 2012
I found the comic book illustrations used throughout the novel are a very unique feature. The writing on the other hand as one reviewer might have mentioned is confusing. There are two main storylines, the accident leading to the coma and an earlier "childhood trauma", the author tries to mash them together into one even though they are unrelated. I came way from it like... what? Anyway, I thought the relationship between the two siblings was sweet, but it was trying to do way too much in my opinion.
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