May 29, 2013

REVIEW: Unbreak Me

Unbreak Me, by Lexi Ryan
Published May 27, 2013
Publisher:  Lexi Ryan/Ever After LLC
Format: e-ARC - provided by AToMR and the author in exchange for an honest review
Genre:  New Adult Contemporary Romance
To Buy:  Amazon  * Barnes & Noble * Book Depository

Rating:  4 STARS

(From Goodreads) “If you’re broken, I’ll fix you…”

I’m only twenty-one and already damaged goods. A slut. A failure. A disappointment to my picture-perfect family as long as I can remember. I called off my wedding to William Bailey, the only man who thought I was worth fixing. A year later, he’s marrying my sister. Unless I ask him not to…

“If you shatter, I’ll find you…”

But now there’s Asher Logan, a broken man who sees the fractures in my façade and doesn’t want to fix me at all. Asher wants me to stop hiding, to stop pretending. Asher wants to break down my walls. But that means letting him see my ugly secrets and forgiving him for his.

With my past weighing down on me, do I want the man who holds me together or the man who gives me permission to break?


Unbreak Me was a great new adult story told in three POVs. Yes - you read that right. In Unbreak Me, we get inside the heads of Maggie, her ex-fiance Will, and bad boy rock star Asher. Initially when I realized this, I was a little confused at the decision to do that, as three POVs can get a bit messy. 

Ultimately, though, I think it was a good call on Lexi Ryan's part. For one reason, it hid the love triangle resolution from me for a long time. Both men are in love with Maggie. And, it seems that Maggie has serious feelings for both men. But, as we delve into Asher's and Will's thoughts and feelings, the nuances came through and eventually, Maggie's correct choice became clear. Of course, it took her longer to figure that out than me, but that's to be expected. 

Maggie's full backstory is also drawn out for a long time. It kept me guessing, and ultimately, I guessed wrong at exactly what happened to her. For an NA book, her problems are a bit more serious than the usual, which cast a pall over the book. It was pretty depressing, honestly. That doesn't mean that Unbreak Me was a bad book. On the contrary - it was a great book that elicited a lot of emotion. But, I felt like I needed to read a much lighter book next to take the sad away. 

Asher and Will - I loved both of these boys for very different reasons. Will is the "good boy." He is the one who has known Maggie for years and stood by her when the going got rough. He's also the one whose heart was broken by her when she mysteriously broke off their engagement a year ago. Asher is the "bad boy." He is a former rock star with a rap sheet, tats and a constant 5 o'clock shadow. He's also the only one (besides Will) who treats Maggie with respect and isn't constantly trying to get her to talk about her problems. I didn't know who to root for for awhile. 

There was a lot going on in Unbreak Me, and it took awhile for it to all come together. But, when it did, everything made sense and Maggie made her choice. Of course, this wouldn't be a good book without a kink in the road once you think everything is going to be okay. But, that made the ending that much more satisfying. Unbreak Me will make a great addition to your NA library. 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great Review! I just finished this book yesterday and read it in one day. I really enjoyed it too. I agree that I was confused about the triple POV at first but found that it worked really well. This was a love triangle that didn't bother me because her choice was clear to me too. I was also left guessing what could have made her so damaged.