Review: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker

Title: Unbreak My Heart
Author: Melissa C. Walker
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publishing Date: May 22nd 2012
Pages: 240
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Series: Stand Alone
Source: Digital ARC

Goodreads Summary:

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.

Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?

Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

Review:
I must say that the cover and the title of this book is what first drew me in. I read the summary and was not sure what I would think about it. I thought I would give it a shot since I challenged myself to more contemporary books this year. I am so glad I read this book.

This book basically has two stories written in a flip flip fashion. The main character, Clem, is on a sailboat for the summer with her parents and is telling the story of her past year as the story of her present unfolds. Both hold a boy, one a broken heart and the other a healing heart.

Clem has done the unthinkable and fell for her best friend’s guy. In the aftermath she loses her best friend, and many of her other friends, along with the boy. She is miserable and spends much of her time crying. Clem’s parents decide to take their sailboat on a family trip for the summer. Clem takes her journal, paper, and of course a pen unto the ship and writes two things. Her story and a letter to her ex best friend.

As she writes about her past mistakes she writes about her summer adventure upon the boat. The beginning of the story, Clem knows that she should’t have indulged in a game of emotions with her best friends boyfriend but doesn’t take full resopnsibily for it and is mad at her best friend for basically dumping her. After a wild summer with new friends, a cute guy, a very caring family, and a few mishaps she realizes what she must do to get over it.

I completely fell in love with Clem and her story. It was a very smooth and enveloping read. I love the writing style and the flip flop of stories. I felt I was in the middle of two love stories. I didn’t want to put the book down. I was living life with Clem feeling for and rooting for her. I really loved all the other characters that surrounded Clem too. Clem has a very loving family and very understanding family, and her little sister had me laughing throughout the book. It was really easy to see why she made the choices she did even though I could see they were the wrong choices.

The story if filled with heartbreak and hope and I would highly recommend it to any YA readers.

Rating: