Four Stars for A Broken Beautiful Beginning
Please be aware, there may be spoilers below, especially if you haven't read A Broken Beautiful Thing
I may need to see a specialist after reading the novella and conclusion to the Caleb-Harley-Jace love triangle. Full disclosure, I ended A Broken Beautiful Thing firmly planted in the Team Caleb camp. In fact, after reading so many reviews on goodreads, I was convinced many of my fellow readers needed serious psychological evaluations. It was completely bizarre to me how anyone would choose Jace/Raven over Caleb. But somehow during A Broken Beautiful Beginning, I started to shift loyalties. It was crazy. It was madness. It was totally out of the blue. Sophie Summers, I'm sending you the bill. How did you pull so much sympathy towards a man who was so irredeemable to me prior to this book? I knew he had bipolar disorder, but my thoughts got twisted all kinds of cray cray and I found myself wanting to kick Caleb's ass.
How can I accurately describe my perception of Caleb between Book 1 and Book 1.5? Let's try this.
Caleb Book 1
Caleb Book 1.5
There was a lot more exploration into Caleb's character in this book. We had insight as to where he was and how he spent his time in the four years away from Harley. Loose ends and lingering questions were also answered as to his relationship with Ashley or lack thereof as it seems. It was nice to see that there was a lot more to Caleb than the spoiled jock who made a monumental error in judgment. Where his character ultimately ends up seemed so odd to me; I suppose I never picked up where Caleb has a personality shift and eagerly accepts a prospect role with the MC. Some where along the line, Caleb's character became a little more Raven in certain aspects and it threw me a bit. All the sympathetic parts of him started fading for me as I was able to compare Raven and Caleb with a little more scrutiny. His character definitely changed the most from Point A to Point B.
I also found myself missing Jace. As opposed as I was to his very existence in Harley's life, I began looking at their connection in a different light. He really was such a strong force in her life the four years she was apart from Caleb. He was both her savior and her worst nightmare. But I was so much more connected to him this time around. I believe this is due to the fact his inner monologue really brought more insight as to the struggles he constantly had within himself. He knew so many of his actions would bare awful consequences but he couldn't help himself. It was heartbreaking to witness. He seemed so shattered and broken. But we rarely saw him after the first few chapters and I did feel that void in the end.
What I loved about A Broken Beautiful Beginning was watching Harley come into her own. She showed more strength and determination in this book than she did in the first one. She didn't allow herself to be shoved around by the men in her life. She fought for her happiness and wasn't content to be the victim who always needed to be rescued. Harley realized she had her breaking point. She knew that there were aspects of her life she would not compromise, particularly when it came to Willow's happiness and well being. I had a lot more respect for her character than I did before. She didn't allow herself to be stepped on and cast aside. Along with Willow, Harley was definitely the one to pull for and love.
In the beginning, I was Team Caleb. In the middle, I became Team Jace. In the end, Team Harley all the way
For more reviews and recommendations, please follow me on
Goodreads
No comments:
Post a Comment