I don’t think there are enough words in the English language that I could use to explain how much I love the New Adult genre. It’s everything a curious book addict, like me, could ask for in a relatively new genre; often relatable characters, complicated decisions that aren’t always solved in the best fashion and normally satisfying endings. And Christina Lee’s Before You Break is one of the books that any person who is new to the New Adult genre should try reading.
After reading her previous book, All of You, that explored the lives of the two lovers, Avery and Bennett, I was pretty freaking ecstatic when I heard that Christina Lee had written another book about Ella, who had been one of my favourite characters in All of You. Unlike her last book, I didn’t get to meet up with the down-to-earth and always composed Ella. No. Instead, I got to witness the broken and sensitive Ella Abrams who’s of Polish-decent, volunteers at the suicide hotline and who has been through her fair share of pain and grief.
Then there were new characters like her love interest Quinn who bears his own kind of burden and just happens to call up the suicide hotline that Ella volunteers for. However, throughout the story, the two never actually realize that they were speaking to one another until the end since they would usually text when communicating and use their original names and not pet names when talking on the hotline.
Also, I didn’t have to get used to a whole bunch of new characters since Christina Lee brought back some of the beloved characters from All of You. Avery is now the anchor for Ella and it is kind of funny how the tables are turned. However, Rachel is still same old YOLO Rachel. Still, the author made a lot of references to Avery and Bennett’s situation throughout the story that I found it to be a bit irritating. I wanted to hear about Ella. Not an update about Avery or Bennett.
What I found really interesting about the story was that it was written in the same style as her previous book. There are two broken characters that come together upon mutual pain, fall in love under odd circumstances, indulge in foreplay at the middle of the book, aid each other in overcoming their past and fears and then have sensual sex at the end of the book. As monotonous as this could have been, I actually liked the fact that I knew what to expect. The protagonists have changed and so has the story even if the format hasn’t. It’s kind of like playing a hack version of your favourite video game and still enjoying it nonetheless.
Overall, Before You Break is a cute story that tackles serious and painful issues and one that shows that even if you’re as broken as Humpty Dumpty, there’s someone out there willing to love you and help you put all the pieces back together.
Rating: 8.5/10
Book Info:
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Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP Berkley, NAL / Signet Romance, DAW (February 18, 2014)
Length: 223 pages
Series: Between Breaths #2
Source: ARC (Provided by Publisher)
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Completed: April 2013
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