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Broken
Growing up can be tough. For Patrick Bellwood, growing up is already a challenge as a high school freshman in 1997. Dealing with the difficulty of high school bullies, crushes, and his own social awkwardness, Patrick struggles to fit in among his peers, especially his older, popular brother, Logan. As secrets come to light, tragedy strikes, rendering Logan, Patrick, and their sister Lillian, struggling to come to terms with a heartbreaking loss. Almost overnight, a threat to their family becomes a terrifying reality, as Patrick, Logan, and Lillian will soon find that some family secrets can not only be frightening, but deadly.
622 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 11, 2016
15 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 7, 2017
I tried, but when I got almost halfway through and I was still not enjoying myself I just had to stop.
I don't always write reviews, but I just had to for this book because I don't understand all the positive reviews. I had high expectations after seeing all 5 star reviews on Amazon. I will admit I typed "gay incest" into the bar on the kindle store and this was the second thing that came up, and all the positive reviews had me pretty excited...but I was extremely let down.
I'm not going to say this was a terrible book, I did give it 2 stars instead of 1 which means I didn't absolutely despise it. But I was waiting and waiting for some incest and yeah there were hints of it every once in awhile, but they didn't kiss until 45% into. And that might not have been that big of a deal had the rest of the story not been extremely boring.
I would have loved to have been in Patrick's head more, to learn more about what he was feeling, but instead it was mostly what happened throughout his day without him thinking much of anything. I didn't need to know every single little detail of the day when nothing important happened.
The only thing that kept me reading for so long was the interactions between the brothers, Logan and Patrick. Since I was expecting some stuff to happen between them, their scenes together were all I was interested in. But they were so hot and cold constantly! Logan acted a bit bipolar and that was pretty annoying. One minute being nice to Patrick and saying things like "I'll never let anyone hurt you again" but then he can be a massive jerk a day later! I was thinking that it might be because he was attracted to Patrick for a long time and didn't know how to deal with it and I wanted to read about some sort of confession from him, but at this point I'm not going to read anymore even if I am a little curious.
This book is long. And since I have just finished reading the Fallocaust series by Quil Carter which is also loooong I thought I would be able to read this easily. The difference between the two though? When I read Fallocaust (and I'm not really comparing the two, they are COMPLETELY different books, I'm just comparing length) I feel like every single scene is important and never feel like the author has written anything unnecessary, but with Broken I feel like the length of this book could have been cut down massively. It was like I was reading pointless scene after pointless scene. Maybe the author wanted us to get a feel for the family, but that could have done with a few important scenes instead of many seemingly pointless ones. Also if Patrick had more feelings about everything there could have been a clearer picture of the family without sooooo much fighting between siblings.
Another thing that was putting me off was the strange similarities to Flowers in the Attic. I didn't finish the book so I don't know if the similarities continued or not, but I felt the author was trying to write a gay Flowers in the Attic. Which actually makes me really sad that I didn't like it! I didn't love Flowers in the Attic, but if the incest had been between brothers I would have been all over it! So I'm extremely disappointed I couldn't find many reasons to like this book.
But, of course, this is all my opinion. I may not understand the other outstanding reviews this got on Amazon, but I'm glad those readers got more enjoyment out of it than I did.
I don't always write reviews, but I just had to for this book because I don't understand all the positive reviews. I had high expectations after seeing all 5 star reviews on Amazon. I will admit I typed "gay incest" into the bar on the kindle store and this was the second thing that came up, and all the positive reviews had me pretty excited...but I was extremely let down.
I'm not going to say this was a terrible book, I did give it 2 stars instead of 1 which means I didn't absolutely despise it. But I was waiting and waiting for some incest and yeah there were hints of it every once in awhile, but they didn't kiss until 45% into. And that might not have been that big of a deal had the rest of the story not been extremely boring.
I would have loved to have been in Patrick's head more, to learn more about what he was feeling, but instead it was mostly what happened throughout his day without him thinking much of anything. I didn't need to know every single little detail of the day when nothing important happened.
The only thing that kept me reading for so long was the interactions between the brothers, Logan and Patrick. Since I was expecting some stuff to happen between them, their scenes together were all I was interested in. But they were so hot and cold constantly! Logan acted a bit bipolar and that was pretty annoying. One minute being nice to Patrick and saying things like "I'll never let anyone hurt you again" but then he can be a massive jerk a day later! I was thinking that it might be because he was attracted to Patrick for a long time and didn't know how to deal with it and I wanted to read about some sort of confession from him, but at this point I'm not going to read anymore even if I am a little curious.
This book is long. And since I have just finished reading the Fallocaust series by Quil Carter which is also loooong I thought I would be able to read this easily. The difference between the two though? When I read Fallocaust (and I'm not really comparing the two, they are COMPLETELY different books, I'm just comparing length) I feel like every single scene is important and never feel like the author has written anything unnecessary, but with Broken I feel like the length of this book could have been cut down massively. It was like I was reading pointless scene after pointless scene. Maybe the author wanted us to get a feel for the family, but that could have done with a few important scenes instead of many seemingly pointless ones. Also if Patrick had more feelings about everything there could have been a clearer picture of the family without sooooo much fighting between siblings.
Another thing that was putting me off was the strange similarities to Flowers in the Attic. I didn't finish the book so I don't know if the similarities continued or not, but I felt the author was trying to write a gay Flowers in the Attic. Which actually makes me really sad that I didn't like it! I didn't love Flowers in the Attic, but if the incest had been between brothers I would have been all over it! So I'm extremely disappointed I couldn't find many reasons to like this book.
But, of course, this is all my opinion. I may not understand the other outstanding reviews this got on Amazon, but I'm glad those readers got more enjoyment out of it than I did.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2016
Awesome read....
I loved this book! I was totally engrossed from the beginning. I couldn't put it down from the start. I felt so bad for these kids that I wanted to rescue them myself.
I loved this book! I was totally engrossed from the beginning. I couldn't put it down from the start. I felt so bad for these kids that I wanted to rescue them myself.
September 11, 2018
Beautiful and tragic
Some books get you hooked and this one really did from the beginning. The author did a remarkable job making you see and feel for the Bellwood family especially Patrick and Logan. I felt a connection and closeness to the brothers. I understood their pain and love for each other. It made me want to keep reading to see what was going to happen. Although there are good times with the Bellwood family, there is so much tragedy and drama that you feel for them especially Patrick. This book reminded me of flowers in the attic of how family tragedies and issues can cause relationships of siblings to not only change but grow closer in ways that are forbidden,but it was told is such a touching way. Now I can't wait to read the next chapter.
Some books get you hooked and this one really did from the beginning. The author did a remarkable job making you see and feel for the Bellwood family especially Patrick and Logan. I felt a connection and closeness to the brothers. I understood their pain and love for each other. It made me want to keep reading to see what was going to happen. Although there are good times with the Bellwood family, there is so much tragedy and drama that you feel for them especially Patrick. This book reminded me of flowers in the attic of how family tragedies and issues can cause relationships of siblings to not only change but grow closer in ways that are forbidden,but it was told is such a touching way. Now I can't wait to read the next chapter.
September 26, 2017
I was hooked from the first chapter on...then I encountered some subject matter
that didn't quite sit right with me. The story so far was good so I continued reading and i'm glad I did.
What i thought was going to be another weird niche genre for shock and awe entertainment turned
out to be just another part of a much larger much darker plot. The story is dynamic and well written.
So glad I didn't stop reading just because I didn't like certain aspects of the characters.
I don't like mask wearing chainsaw toting inbred murderers either but i've watched every iteration of
Texas Chainsaw Massacre and loved it. Same with this story.
that didn't quite sit right with me. The story so far was good so I continued reading and i'm glad I did.
What i thought was going to be another weird niche genre for shock and awe entertainment turned
out to be just another part of a much larger much darker plot. The story is dynamic and well written.
So glad I didn't stop reading just because I didn't like certain aspects of the characters.
I don't like mask wearing chainsaw toting inbred murderers either but i've watched every iteration of
Texas Chainsaw Massacre and loved it. Same with this story.
January 21, 2017
Amazing Book
I am the Daughter of someone he recommended his book to and since I love to read all genres so I gave it a shot. The most Amazing book I have ever read. I love how it starts then you get the altercations then you get a couple more than a solution that really isn't a solution. Then my personal favorite was the plot twist with the crazy step mom who goes horrid towards the and end. I would recommend this book to everyone I know and to people who read this check it out
I am the Daughter of someone he recommended his book to and since I love to read all genres so I gave it a shot. The most Amazing book I have ever read. I love how it starts then you get the altercations then you get a couple more than a solution that really isn't a solution. Then my personal favorite was the plot twist with the crazy step mom who goes horrid towards the and end. I would recommend this book to everyone I know and to people who read this check it out
September 26, 2017
I am currently on page 400 of this book and all I can say is that Wow I wasn't excepting that at all. The book could of been a little bit shorter but i really enjoyed it. The gay incest part took me by shock but I got through it. I just seen that there is 2 more books that follow and I will read them too. I hope the other two are not as long as this one but I enjoyed it. I can't wait to find out what happens to this crazy family.
March 24, 2019
I gave this book a 2 star rating solely on the fact that enjoyed the plot to some degree. I found that the book was all over the place which was very distracting and made it harder for me to read. I found several grammatical errors while reading but they did not distract from everything to much. I feel like this was the authors loose retelling of "Flowers in the attic" by V.C. Andrews. It was completely over the top with drama after drama. I was not fond of how things were overtly described. However the worst part for me was the incest of the two brothers. It honestly had no place in the storytelling what so ever! I skipped past several "scenes" without loosing any of the story. It wouldn't bother me so much if it had made actual sense to the story , but to throw it in there for what I can only assume is shock value is useless. I realize this is the first book he has written but I feel it could definatly use some improvements.
August 10, 2017
I invite everyone to enter a world that wasn't long ago. When Facebook and Smartphones didn't exist. When computers still connected to the internet by modem. Written from the perspective of 14 year old Patrick Bellwood, Broken will take you through his journey of coming of age in a small, southern town; however, this book is so much more than just a coming of age book. Patrick's story will not only take you into the private, complicated problems that can sometimes happen in a close-knit family, but will also take you through what it's like to struggle with family issues while trying your best to fit in with the hierarchy that can exist at school.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews