Gracie Wilson is a wonderful YA author and continually enjoy her work. I have already completed my review of The Lonely Girl and now I am completing an honest review for the second book in this series called The Broken Girl. This story continues with Becca’s two best friends in the hospital after the car accident and brutal attack caused by her ex-boyfriend, Dillon. While both are on the road to recovery, Becca does a lot of thinking about what she wants from her life. She knows that she loves art and wants to pursue a career that falls outside of Lakehead; however, she doesn’t know how to tell her family and friends about the desire to move. When Keegan and Jake wake up, her confusion comes back and she feels helpless all over again. Her drama also comes back to the surface when Sarah tries to make it her personal challenge to sabotage Becca’s life out of jealousy and hatred. Will Sarah’s attempts thwart Becca’s happiness and leave her even more broken then before?
Charlotte and Drake are my favorite characters in this story. Both are hopelessly in love with each other and they have both adapted to protecting those that they call family. When Becca becomes lost, she feels that she can’t trust the people who have always been there for her, so she runs to Charlotte and Drake. The relationship that they share is fascinating! Becca’s drama is a little immature even though she went through numerous hardships and tragedy. I am not big on drama; therefore, her emotions were too sporadic for me to enjoy and sympathize with her character as much as I would have liked to. Keegan and Jake both have their pros and cons; however, I do still like the prospect of Jake being Becca’s boyfriend more than Keegan. Alec, Becca’s brother, has been much more stable and reliable in this story than in The Lonely Girl so I did enjoy reading about his character’s development. Sarah also had too much drama but she was vindictive and it shows well with her personality and mannerisms.
I would recommend The Broken Girl to young adults who have already read The Lonely Girl. In my opinion, this is not a standalone and should be read in sequential order. I give this story a four star review since it was very fast paced and dramatic, but the contents and plot are creative, descriptive and well thought out. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.