Review: Other Breakable Things by Kelley York & Rowan Altwood
Note: This ARC was provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“Stop complicating an already complicated situation!”Her arms spread wide, eyebrows raising. “Oh, I’m complicating things?”I run a hand through my hair. Turn away. Trying to force back words I know I shouldn’t say. “Shut up.”“What am I complicating, Luc?”“Everything!”“How?”I throw my hands into the air and whirl around to face her again. “Because I care about you so fucking much and I didn’t want to! I didn’t want to get in any deeper so that when I inevitably fucking die, you’re left behind all by yourself!”
I swear to God, I tried to hold out until the end, but no, I broke several chapters before then...and a couple of chapters afterwards...and then again at the end. Other Breakable Things broke my heart time and again. With stories like that of nineteen-year-old Luc Argent and seventeen-year-old Evelyn Abel, you never know how they're going to end. I've read more than a few and they tend to head in a particular direction. I'm not going to tell which way authors Kelley York and Rowan Altwood chose to take their first published collaboration, but what I can say is that it's a story about making choices and taking chances, of how two teenagers can make sense of who they are and that in the brokenness of their lives, they can come together and become whole again in more ways than one.
Three years ago, best friends Luc Argent's and Evelyn Abel's lives went in two different directions but both due to second chances--hers was more her mother's nth chance at finding happily-ever-after with another man, his due to one girl's death giving him a chance to extend his okay-for-now. Evelyn stayed in touch; Luc not so much. But now, she's back, but neither one of them is planning on stay in town for long, not with the circumstances that they've been presented. Together, they go on a road trip, one that Luc has pre-planned. He knows where they're headed; Evelyn not so much. Because how can Luc explain that his heart is not his own and now it's failing him yet again? A thousand miles, a thousand paper cranes, and two hearts that find love with the only person they've ever wanted to share it with. With time ticking and a heart dying, can Evelyn convince Luc to not just love but to live and hope?
This is one of those books that I should probably rate with tissues rather than stars because I certainly went through several of them. This was a beautifully written story, with the right balance of poignancy and lightheartedness. Luc and Evelyn are still young--he's only a couple of months into being nineteen and she turns eighteen while on their road trip--but they've experienced things that others their age have never had to go through, so there's also a darkness to them along with a sense of desperation and hopelessness. It's the journey that they choose to go on together, where they truly come of age, discovering things about themselves as individuals and as a couple--that they're stronger than they once gave themselves credit for and that there are things that are wholly worth fighting--and living--for. We've just entered the second quarter of the year, and Other Breakable already ranks as one of the most moving books of any genre I've read and a new favorite. Five-plus stars. ♥
Release Date: 04 April 2017
Date Read: 01 April 2017
Learn more about Kelley York and Rowan Altwood.
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