Three days before her drama club's trip to Italy, Jessa Gardner discovers her boyfriend in the costume barn with another girl. Jessa is left wit... read full description
reviews
May 30, 2011
Arlene
rated it: 
Warning: If you loved/liked this book or if you don’t like to read spoilers, please don’t continue with my review. I’ve got lots of spew and spoilers to share, and I feel I’ve earned the right to do so seeing as this craptastic story threw me into a book slump for close to two weeks! I actually hissed at my beloved Nook… HISSED!!... every time I picked it up trying to finish Instructions for a Broken Heart it was that bad IMO!
I usually reserve the One Star Honor Rating for books I si More...
I usually reserve the One Star Honor Rating for books I si More...
32 comments
like
(21 people liked it)
May 20, 2011
Kristy
rated it: 
Street corner optional May read.
We've all been there. High School. In love with some tool. Dumped by said tool. Devastated.
However, after being dumped I did not have to fly halfway around the world with said Dumper and his new girl toy with HUGE boobs (whom he was cheating with.) Poor girl. I did feel a certain amount of sisterly love and pity for her in the beginning.
BUT
seriously, she was in Italy. Put on your big girl panties and suck it up a little. Yeah, More...
We've all been there. High School. In love with some tool. Dumped by said tool. Devastated.
However, after being dumped I did not have to fly halfway around the world with said Dumper and his new girl toy with HUGE boobs (whom he was cheating with.) Poor girl. I did feel a certain amount of sisterly love and pity for her in the beginning.
BUT
seriously, she was in Italy. Put on your big girl panties and suck it up a little. Yeah, More...
4 comments
like
(11 people liked it)
Feb 08, 2012
Jessa has just had her heart smashed to bits. Instead of being able to avoid the heartbreaker, Sean, she is committed to a class trip to Italy with him, a couple of theatre teachers, and the rest of her HS's theatre troupe - including the girl with whom Sean betrayed Jessa (in front of her very eyes, no less), but minus a few members like Jessa's BFF Carissa. Luckily, she has secondary (and in my opinion, better) BFF Tyler - and a set of instructions Carissa wants Jessa to follow on her 20-day t
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 19, 2012
Stella
rated it: 
I really did like Dylan Thomas, but not as a love interest. He's an interesting character on his own, and sounded like a fun guy to hang out with. The whole liking Jessa thing seemed more of an afterthought and kind of actually demoted him in my mind. I did love some of the descriptions, but this book really seemed to go one step forward two steps back with her development and interactions with the characters, especially with Cruella and Natalie. First she's sympathetic, then cussing them out, t
More...
Nov 16, 2011
Not rating because I didn't finish this one. I made it most of the way and skimmed through to the end.
Why, I ask, why is it always a boy who has to send a girl toward her crisis of person hood? Toward her moment of becoming? Sometimes it makes me sad this is the message that gets sent again and again. I get it. Relationships are important, but they shouldn't be the catalyst for a girl becoming herself and realizing she's lost who she is and needs to find it.
The biggest More...
Why, I ask, why is it always a boy who has to send a girl toward her crisis of person hood? Toward her moment of becoming? Sometimes it makes me sad this is the message that gets sent again and again. I get it. Relationships are important, but they shouldn't be the catalyst for a girl becoming herself and realizing she's lost who she is and needs to find it.
The biggest More...
Sep 05, 2011
Kerri
rated it: 
So, YA isn't really my thing. And in addition, books focusing on the journeys of soul-searching-women (girls in this case) aren't really my thing either. Don't get me started on Elizabeth Gilbert. But I read this even so, and enjoyed it all the way through. Kim has a knack for getting to and expressing the thoughts and motivations of kids this age, and emphasizing that there is more than meets the eye to all of them. If Jessa's personality quirks didn't remind me so much of myself at that age
More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Aug 22, 2011
Jodi
rated it:
I literally just closed this book and figured I may as well quickly sum it up before it becomes forgettable to me. Which it most definitely will. Although, if I need to call on something to help me remember, I guess I could think of Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes I(which I highly enjoyed) because this book seemed to borrow heavily on that concept.
After walking in on her boyfriend making out with another girl, Jessa finds herself in the uncomfortable position of join More...
After walking in on her boyfriend making out with another girl, Jessa finds herself in the uncomfortable position of join More...
Aug 19, 2011
Debbie
rated it:
2.5 stars
I hate when I read a book and feel really dense for not getting it. I feel like I should have felt sympathetic towards Jessa and relate to her heart break after having her heart crushed by a slime ball boyfriend but I really couldn't and found it hard to figure out why I should like her at all. If you know why please let me know. I know she's a teenager and just caught her boyfriend rolling around in a tongue lock with another girl but from what we begin to see maybe she did br More...
I hate when I read a book and feel really dense for not getting it. I feel like I should have felt sympathetic towards Jessa and relate to her heart break after having her heart crushed by a slime ball boyfriend but I really couldn't and found it hard to figure out why I should like her at all. If you know why please let me know. I know she's a teenager and just caught her boyfriend rolling around in a tongue lock with another girl but from what we begin to see maybe she did br More...
Jul 18, 2011
Lily
rated it:
Instructions for a broken heart by Kim Culbertson
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews
Three days before her drama club's trip to Italy, Jessa Gardner discovers her boyfriend in the costume barn with another girl. Jessa is left with a care package from her best friend titled "Top Twenty Reasons He's a Slimy Jerk Bastard," instructing her to do one un-Jessa-like thing each day of the trip. At turns hilarious and heartwrenching, Instructions for a Broken Heart paints a More...
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews
Three days before her drama club's trip to Italy, Jessa Gardner discovers her boyfriend in the costume barn with another girl. Jessa is left with a care package from her best friend titled "Top Twenty Reasons He's a Slimy Jerk Bastard," instructing her to do one un-Jessa-like thing each day of the trip. At turns hilarious and heartwrenching, Instructions for a Broken Heart paints a More...
May 11, 2011
Cindy
rated it:
Just before she’s set to leave for Italy with her high school drama club, Jessa catches her boyfriend, Sean, making out with another girl. Going on the trip is harder than she thought it would be, especially because Sean and his new girlfriend are also part of the drama club.
So she sets out to get over Sean with the help of her best friend, Carissa, who has sent along instructions for Jessa to do one thing each day of her trip that takes her out of her comfort zone and onto the path of More...
So she sets out to get over Sean with the help of her best friend, Carissa, who has sent along instructions for Jessa to do one thing each day of her trip that takes her out of her comfort zone and onto the path of More...
Sep 03, 2011
Selina
rated it:
I love books that have the concept of a list with instructions through letters (does it have a proper genre name that I am not aware of?) like P.S. I love you (the book, not the movie!) and 13 Little Blue Envelopes. I think there is something really touching about somebody taking the time and effort to prepare thoughtful letters to help somebody through a difficult time. Unfortunately, Instructions for a Broken Heart did not do it for me.
Was it funny? Not really... Emotional? Not at More...
Was it funny? Not really... Emotional? Not at More...
Oct 14, 2011
Jordyn
rated it:
When Jessa finds her boyfriend making out with another girl just before their drama club's trip to Italy, she has no idea what to do. But her best friend does; she gives Jessa twenty envelopes, each with a different reason that Sean (the now-ex-boyfriend) is a jerk, along with instructions to help heal her broken heart. However, when Jessa gets to Italy and starts following her friend's meticulously thought-out reasons and instructions, she realizes that in some ways they're causing more harm th
More...
Feb 21, 2012
Jess
rated it:
I really liked this a lot and there are some specific things that will appeal to certain of my GR friends.
1) Well-described travel. Not just Italy, but the weight of a non-stop bus trip, plus the inter-group hookups that happen when you're traveling with multiple groups. I took one of those trips the summer after high school. It is frighteningly realistic.
2) There's a student-teacher thing.
I do have to say, though, that I'm noticing more and more that I don't More...
1) Well-described travel. Not just Italy, but the weight of a non-stop bus trip, plus the inter-group hookups that happen when you're traveling with multiple groups. I took one of those trips the summer after high school. It is frighteningly realistic.
2) There's a student-teacher thing.
I do have to say, though, that I'm noticing more and more that I don't More...
May 17, 2011
Alison (AlisonCanRead)
rated it:
The perfect book for the armchair traveler. See Italy without leaving home. Jessa goes on a school trip to Italy in Instructions for a Broken Heart. What should be the trip of a lifetime is horribly marred just before Jessa leaves. She catches her boyfriend making out with another girl. Worse yet, both the ex-boyfriend and the new girl are on the trip to Italy with Jessa. To break her out of her misery, Jessa's best friend sends along twenty reasons that Jessa is better off without Sean along wi
More...
Jan 30, 2012
Lisa (Badass Bookie)
rated it:
The Short Story? – Instructions for a Broken is a bittersweet YA contemporary about the pain of a broken heart and the steps it takes to start moving on. Culbertson has captured the heartbreak of a teenager romance. Beautifully written and a wonderful character development, it wasn’t what I expected but nevertheless, I’m sure many of you would enjoy it! For fans of Sarah Dessen!
The Long Story? – I really wanted to like this one especially after I pinned away on the book for a good de More...
The Long Story? – I really wanted to like this one especially after I pinned away on the book for a good de More...
Jul 29, 2011
Kate (VerbVixen)
rated it: 
Instructions for a Broken Heart is among a very select group of books that have made me cry. That alone makes this bookexceptional. Never have I seen so much of myself in a book, not necessarily in Jess, but in the prose and ideas itself. The writing is lovely and words chosen so accurately that beautiful sentiments are conveyed without cliche. Jessa is the most realistic portrayal of teen heartbreak I've read. The comedic best friend Tyler, the charming boy of interest Dylan Thomas, and the b
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 11, 2011
Ashley
rated it:
3.5 stars
‘Instructions for a Broken Heart’ is a read that fell somewhere right in the middle for me. I didn’t love it, though I really liked certain aspects of it. I loved the descriptions of the Italian scenery and all the different monuments and places that Jessa and her classmates visited. I also thought the letters from Jessa’s best friend Carissa were a great plot device. The letters allowed Jessa to do things that were out of character for her, and while a lot of them ended up More...
‘Instructions for a Broken Heart’ is a read that fell somewhere right in the middle for me. I didn’t love it, though I really liked certain aspects of it. I loved the descriptions of the Italian scenery and all the different monuments and places that Jessa and her classmates visited. I also thought the letters from Jessa’s best friend Carissa were a great plot device. The letters allowed Jessa to do things that were out of character for her, and while a lot of them ended up More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 28, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
Instructions for a Broken Heart is a different kind of road trip book. It’s not the happy go lucky friends barreling down the road and partaking of the requisite highjinx. Nope, this is a trip that follows Jessa as she travels through Italy in a torturous mending of her broken heart.
See, just prior to departure Jessa walks in on her long time boyfriend Sean getting busy with another girl at school. Caught completely off guard she’s justifiably stunned, so much so she contemplates fo More...
See, just prior to departure Jessa walks in on her long time boyfriend Sean getting busy with another girl at school. Caught completely off guard she’s justifiably stunned, so much so she contemplates fo More...
Sep 15, 2011
Stacey
rated it:
I picked up this book because I felt the title was pertinent to my life at the moment. I wasn't expecting it to give me any revelations, but it was a nice read, if a little inconsistent at times. The concept was quite sweet - a girl, recently jilted, goes to Italy on a school trip. On this trip she is tasked with reading twenty envelopes given to her by her best friend of how to help her mend her broken heart.
Unfortunately the setup is actually more interesting than the pay off. I do More...
Unfortunately the setup is actually more interesting than the pay off. I do More...
May 01, 2011
Anna
rated it:
Days before she is to leave for Italy with her drama club Jessa catches her boyfriend Sean cheating on her. Now she's stuck watching them cuddle and make-out on the trip. She thinks this trip will be torture. But her bff Carissa, has devised a cleaver way to help her get over her jerk of an ex-boyfriend.
Plain and simple this is a very good story. I'm not a big fan of contemporary settings. Mostly I love spending time in fantasy and paranormal worlds. But there is something about Ms. More...
Plain and simple this is a very good story. I'm not a big fan of contemporary settings. Mostly I love spending time in fantasy and paranormal worlds. But there is something about Ms. More...
Oct 08, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
It wasn't as good as I hoped and I was definitely confused.
Is it normal for boyfriends to kiss other girls and notify you about it because he THOUGHT you guys were over?
Is it normal for your friend and boyfriend to have kissed two times and not tell you expecting you to forgive her?
Is it normal to kiss your ex-boyfriend and then believe it meant nothing?
Is it true that kisses mean nothing anymore?
Those are the questions I asked myself because I believe all of that i More...
Is it normal for boyfriends to kiss other girls and notify you about it because he THOUGHT you guys were over?
Is it normal for your friend and boyfriend to have kissed two times and not tell you expecting you to forgive her?
Is it normal to kiss your ex-boyfriend and then believe it meant nothing?
Is it true that kisses mean nothing anymore?
Those are the questions I asked myself because I believe all of that i More...
Jun 08, 2011
Jessa is seriously broken after her boyfriend cheats on her, but what better place to overcome than Italy on a 10 day trip? Except that said ex boyfriend is on the same trip, along with the rest of the drama club. DRAMA.
I enjoyed being taken to so many parts of Italy through this story--I can't believe they fit in all that in only ten days! I was there for a week and we didn't see half the things they did...
I liked most of the characters in this, and I'm glad one of the More...
I enjoyed being taken to so many parts of Italy through this story--I can't believe they fit in all that in only ten days! I was there for a week and we didn't see half the things they did...
I liked most of the characters in this, and I'm glad one of the More...
Jun 03, 2011
Books and Literature for Teens
rated it:
I thought Culbertson’s first novel Songs for a Teenage Nomad was a great story so I was anxious to read another book by her. Instructions for a Broken Heart however did not impress me as much...it was sort of ho-hum. There are tons of books with plots that deal with relationships, break-ups, and dating but if it doesn’t have some sort of unique aspect or characters that make the book different from the rest, it will more than likely won’t be a big hit. That’s exactly what it was for me. Because
More...
Jan 23, 2012
This is another amazing book! If I could, I would've read it straight through without putting it down. I absolutely loved it. This is another book that actually seemed to take to another place, in this case, Italy. How the author described the places made me think I was actually there.
Jessa can't believe it when she finds her boyfriend, Sean, in the costume barn with the "boob job" Natalie just days before going to Italy with the drama club, which includes both Natalie a More...
Jessa can't believe it when she finds her boyfriend, Sean, in the costume barn with the "boob job" Natalie just days before going to Italy with the drama club, which includes both Natalie a More...
Jul 03, 2011
Abigail
rated it:
Another great book by Kim Culbertson. Once again she explores the mind and heart of a teenage girl quite flawlessly. It brought me back to my teenage years and helped me sort through all the confusion. I just wished that it didn't have to end. But that's the thing with books; they always end. Quite bittersweet. I often lose myself so much in a book that I start to believe it is reality. So when it ends, I'm disappointed. That's what happened with his book. Oh to have friends like Carissa and Tyl
More...
May 16, 2011
Ashley (Books Obsession)
rated it:
Jessa's heart is broken just days before she leaves on a school trip to Italy. She caught her boyfriend, Sean, making out with another girl. To make matters worse, she has to watch her now ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend pair up because they're going to Italy, too. On the plane ride, Jessa's theater friend, Tyler, gives her a stack of envelopes that her best friend Carissa wrote. There are twenty envelopes, enough to read two a day, for the entire ten days that Jessa is touring Italy. Inside
More...
Oct 28, 2011
Halyna
rated it:
As for me, I liked this book. There are many interesting thoughts and ideas in it, I also liked the characters - very real-to-life and interesting! I enjoyed travelogue - the author gave interesting descriptions of Italian sights. I absolutely loved Jessa's choice of music! The book is unique and special in its own way - I'm very glad I've read it. I took one star away, because I wanted a more complete ending - more clarity with Carissa and what'll happen with Dylan. I think that this book enri
More...
May 21, 2011
Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids
rated it:
Normally this kind of book isn't one I pick up and immediately sit down and read, but the cover, the Italian setting and a girl reeling from a broken heart peeked my curiosity and I had find out what happens.
After Jessa catches her then boyfriend and another girl, whom she calls big boobed Natalie making out their drama club's barn, Jessa is completely devastated, and broken hearted. To make matters worse she's stuck on their drama club's trip to Italy with them. Her best friend Cari More...
After Jessa catches her then boyfriend and another girl, whom she calls big boobed Natalie making out their drama club's barn, Jessa is completely devastated, and broken hearted. To make matters worse she's stuck on their drama club's trip to Italy with them. Her best friend Cari More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 02, 2011
Blodeuedd
rated it:
My thoughts:
This was another lovely book by Culbertson, and with this one she has become one of my favourite authors of YA books. She has a way of putting that extra into a tale.
Jessa Gardner is a young girl with a lot on her plate, all different clubs and projects. She knows what she wants, but she is also an artist, something she forgets at times. I liked her, and how she found herself again. Because just before leaving for Rome she gets her heart broken by a chea More...
This was another lovely book by Culbertson, and with this one she has become one of my favourite authors of YA books. She has a way of putting that extra into a tale.
Jessa Gardner is a young girl with a lot on her plate, all different clubs and projects. She knows what she wants, but she is also an artist, something she forgets at times. I liked her, and how she found herself again. Because just before leaving for Rome she gets her heart broken by a chea More...
Feb 06, 2012
Kathy
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
