Heartbreak River

Heartbreak River

3.6 of 5 stars 3.60  ·  rating details  ·  528 ratings  ·  73 reviews
Hailey Abbott's Summer Boys takes a weepy turn in this story of one girl's attempt to tell her childhood friend how she really feels about him.

Alex thought she'd be spending the summer focused on her family's rafting business, burying the memories of her father's death last year, and leaving behind all the messes she made in its wake.

But when Sean returns to town, she is...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published April 16th 2009 by Razorbill
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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,841)
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kari
Jan 12, 2011 kari rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2010, ya
While it might be easy to dismiss this book as a teen read about a girl trying to get her boyfriend back, that would be doing a disservice to the story as there is a great deal more depth to this story than simply girl knew boy, girl lost boy and girl tries to get boy back.
Alex has grown up on the river where her family runs a rafting business. She has grown up with Sean and their friendship had turned to a romantic relationship shortly before the sudden death of her father in the river she alwa...more
Yan
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Sofia
An Itching Issue:
How the summary on Goodreads for this book completely spoils the ending. Wtf? Why are you ruining the book for countless readers our there? Good thing I had stumbled upon this after I had completed the book (and not before- I would have gone bonkers), and hopefully you had as well. And if you haven't read this book yet, I suggest you not refer to the description above.

On to MY description- of which you are so eager to read, right? Righhhht.

This book is mainly about a girl named...more
Melody
As the title indicate, this story centres on the romance between sixteen-year-old Alex and her childhood sweetheart, Sean, with a river setting in a town in Colorado.

Alex lost her father in a rafting accident a year ago and to this day she is still trying to come to terms with her past and still blaming herself for not being with him on that tragic day. She runs the family rafting business mostly on her own while she stay with her grandparents. Her mother, on the other hand is still deeply affe...more
Ginamarie
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Vonny
Heartbreak River is about a girl grieving about her recently deceased father, who died in a rafting accident just one year before the story takes place. Set in Colorado, Alexis has taken over her family's rafting business (Cooley Mountain Whitewater Rafting)and lives with her grandparents while her mother is away in Florida, still grieving for her husband. Alexis's grandparents have given her a shoulder to lean on throughout her grieving, while she stayed strong in order to provide a shoulder fo...more
Maria Gallo
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Allison (The Allure of Books)
A lot of people have been talking about Heartbreak River, Tricia Mills' newest book. I haven't had a chance to get a copy, so I decided to read this one first!
I really ended up enjoying this read, and there is more depth to the story then you might expect. Alex has suffered a tragedy in her family, and has a lot of emotional issues to deal with. None of it is made any easier when lover boy Sean returns to town for the summer, which she had not expected!

Has Sean forgiven her for what she did to h...more
Joanna
I love this kind of story. :)
Summer romance, childhood friends turned lovers with drama. :) Family pain.
The drama is good! I really felt their pain on losing someone. It's hard to lose someone you love especially if that someone is your father. Or your boyfriend. or someone who really mean something more to you.
The love drama, i find it endearing. :) I mean I like how Alex is obsessed with getting back together with Sean. There are times I find her whiny, but hey, I can't blame her if he reall...more
Nicolerosa
i just started this book. so far what ive read is that alex has alot of guy friends in her job. she has an ex boyfriend whom just came back. im yet to find out the story behind them 2. so we'll see what goes on. okay so i finished this book it was really good. alex's father is dead because hed died in an accident near the river where she works. after that happens she couldnt swim near there ever again. she didnt know if her ex was still mad at her until they started really talking and a few days...more
Dana
Sweet, funny, with lots of longing for the past. But you can't live in the past you have to *HAVE TO* move forward.

Alex is trying to recover from her dad's death a year earlier her life on the river is coming to an end as far as she's concerned. Her mom's gone to get a hold on herself and she's staying with her dad's parents running their river rafting business.

The boys she works with have always been off limits b/c her dad with him gone they seem to take a few more liberties especially the new...more
Sierra
Heartbreak River is a very fast-paced book, a book that keeps you reading until the end.
I don't think I was bored at all in the time I was reading this book. The characters are very real, and the author makes it easy to imagine yourself in this kind of situation: rather than in the more popular 'vampire/werewolf/faeire' situation that seems to be the center of all books this year.
I liked how Hailey had to struggle to find herself, and accept her father's death as something more. I also liked th...more
Crystal
Jan 21, 2010 Crystal rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: ya lovers
Recommended to Crystal by: Arlene
Shelves: 2010
This is my first YA romance and after reading it I know I will look into more of these types of books. I really enjoyed this one and all the characters. I found myself connecting with Alex from the start. She is a strong characters who has had to go through many life changes in the past year, which include losing her Father to the river which she loves above all. I liked the setting as well. The river to me portrayed all of Alex's feelings throughout the book calm, raging, still, powerful the li...more
Katie
Alex never thought that she would be spending her summer working with Sean. In fact, she never even expected to see him. When he walks into the door of her family's rafting business, she is completely shocked. As it turns out, her grandparents hired him on for the summer, without ever mentioning it to Alex.

Alex already has enough on her plate trying to get over her father's drowning of the year before and living with her grandparents while her mom is in Florida. Now she not only has all that to...more
Brittany
i read this book in a day. i really enjoyed it, even though it had the similar dilemnas of stories we see nowadays, without the vampires. lol. it's about a girl who lost her dad while rafting in a river she grew up on. since then, she pulled apart from everyone, including her boyfriend sean, and hasn't seen him since then. but it's a year later, and she's trying to move on, and when sean returns, she realizes that she still loves him, but doesn't know if it's too late to fix what she destroyed....more
Katty
Let me just say I have a very biased opinion of this book. My Uncle owns a rafting company and almost all of my summers have been spent there. I kept getting caught up on how inaccurate some of the "technical" stuff was...and the raft guides just weren't in the right frame of mind for me.

I am disappointed because many of my teen romances were with raft guides and I thought this was going to be perfect for me and it came up way too short.

All of that being said, other people will probably love i...more
Megan (The Book Babe)


Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.

Heartbreak River isn't as heartbreaking as the title makes it sound-- it was actually a lot more CUTE than HEART-BREAKING. Note the differences in the descriptive terms I have used-- I just want y'all to know that I enjoyed this one, and I'll probably read it again, but I honestly don't feel heartbroken by it. I just think that it was adorable.

That's all. It was as cute a romance as they come, with enough backstory to make it believable, and an i...more
Chelsea
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Jennifer
After I read Winter Longing which I DEVOURED and LOVED - I had to pick up Tricia's other novel -

I did not love Heartbreak River as much - not even close really, but it's got a nice story...one that started this afternoon and finished tonight.

The main charactor Alex was a bit of a goody-goody for me, and UGH did that girl wrack her brain with her thoughts - and question EVERY SINGLE THING everyone did...which drove me NUTS

But in the end, she was likable, I mean I am soooooooo much like that, LOL...more
Jennifer Wardrip
Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

The Grayton River is nothing but HEARTBREAK RIVER to Alex Landon. The river claimed her father the previous summer, and she also blames the river for her breakup with Sean Kenley. She can't bring her father back, but she could've apologized to Sean, if only he hadn't had to move to Denver with his recently divorced mom for the school year.

So when Sean walks into Cooley Mountain Rafting to start his summer job, Alex is stunned. Her grandparents failed to war...more
Arlene
Jan 14, 2010 Arlene rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: VBC World Book Tour
Recommended to Arlene by: VBC
I really enjoyed Heartbreak River by Tricia Mills. This book had a good blend of mystery, love, drama, suspense, and self discovery all wrapped up in one. The setting, plot, and characters were all perfectly matched, and this book was engaging enough to have me finish it in a few short hours.

It's the summer before Alex's senior year, and she hopes to spend time recovering from her father's death and her fear of the river that claimed his life. That's a hard feat to overcome considering she help...more
Stephanie
Heartbreak River made me cry. Not because it's bad or anything but because it's so sad.

What I liked best about Heartbreak River is the writing style and how it gives a sense of mystery in each chapter. The writing style is breathtaking - it leaves us hanging off the edge of the seat, waiting to see what happens between Sean and Alex. It gives a sense of mystery in each chapter when Tricia, the author, writes a little about what exactly happened last year in Alex's father's death and about why s...more
Alea
Ooooh. This was almost exactly the kind of story I hope for when I find out a book has a romantic element. I loved it! A romantic summer with a bunch of cute boys who happen to be coworkers, and specifically two that catch the main character's attention, one because of her past with him and another for his flirty personality and British accent (although personally I would have gone for the bookish boy!). A cousin with a polar opposite personality and also a family tragedy, involving the death of...more
Reader Rabbit
It's summertime and Alex is expecting it to be nothing out of the ordinary with her working for her family's whitewater rafting company. Of course, nothing goes as planned. When her childhood friend, Sean, comes back, everything gets turned upside down. Last summer, after her father's death, Alex left things with Sean in a bad way and she doubts that he'll ever forgive her. But maybe, just maybe, canthe summer can mend their broken friendship?

I think one of the merits of Heartbreak River is its...more
Rima
I really loved the title of this book it’s really simple but catchy too. While reading through this book, it reveals more and more about her father’s death through chapters and all is pretty much revealed at the end. You can really empathize with Alex on her grievance and guilty feelings rotating around her father’s death.

Some of the most littlest things Sean did for Alex were SO sweet. Especially, the part where Sean takes Alex out to the river to overcome her fear of a dearly, once-loved place...more
Kristi (The Story Siren)
Heartbreak River swept me away! Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

I won’t say that I had high expectations going into this novel, because I really didn’t. Not saying that I thought the book was going to be, I just didn’t know what to expect. I’d never read any of Tricia’s other novels, so it was open on that end. From the summary, I wanted to love this book. I just love books about love!

So while we are on the topic of love lets, talk about the things I loved! The writing. Tricia, has an alluring style th...more
Ivy
Alexandra is a girl whose family runs a river rafting business in Colorado. The summer brings tourists, new help, and romance.

Not much going on in this story except for Alex wondering whether her ex-boyfriend still likes her after she unceremoniously dumped him at the end of the previous summer. Teen angst, romance, underage drinking and partying ensues. I guess I would like this story more if I was 16, but aside from a few entertaining remarks, I found myself doing a lot of eyerolling. I guess...more
Ariana
took me a while in the day and i had to finished it,took a night to be done with it.
It made my heart hurt with the thought that maybe Sean may not love her still and with the crazy fun things they were doing i told mayslfe i had to know and i did and it was a great book,close to the big Heart Day too, i have to say. with the whole things happen to Alex she got through them and i love that about her. Big shook with Tommy,but then with Sean gonw for some days and then there he was, and they are to...more
Mariela Silva
I liked the book a lot!!.The only thing that it bothered me is the chapter about her dad being in Iraq, and what happened at the end , i thought it was too much, a mess.The kids gave the party in the barn and it got on fire, why run to the river to not get got if they are going to be in trouble anyway??? They should have stayed there watching from far and nobody would have got hurt at all!!!! I did not expect what happened to Tommy. It was a good read!
Kaitlyn
Good, Nothing exceptional about it. I liked Sean and the ending was decent. I liked everything that happened at the party, the looks, the dancing...very sweet, until it got bad. I liked that she didn't play any games, I really don't like it when characters do that, it just makes a mess of things, I never would and it always has me freaking out that they will be found out or stuff and it's usually embarrassing. I really don't like reading embarrassing parts or parts where they get caught doing th...more
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Heartbreak River (Kindle Edition)
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Heartbreak River (ebook)
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Tricia Mills is a pseudonym of Trish Milburn.
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“As I let go of the rope, a familar shot of pure joy surged through me at being part of the river, of this wild place. ” 12 people liked it
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