Series: Broken Hearts & Revenge #1
Pages: 339
Received: Received an e-copy from Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 13, 2014
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Summer, boys, and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of!
Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in theHamptons
for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best
friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long?
When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it.
Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is?
Katie Finn hits all the right notes in this perfect beginning to a new summer series: A Broken Hearts & Revenge novel.
My Review:
This book was a cute idea, and I did enjoy reading it as a quick read on a nice day, but I think this story also went quite over the top on a lot of things that made it difficult to love. I found it hard to really believe some of the things that were going on in this book, and yet it was one of those kinds of books that as bad as things seem, you just can't stop because you need to know what will happen next.
The book begins with Gemma getting ready to spend a few weeks away with her boyfriend, when all of a sudden he ends things with her, now she is spending the summer with her dad (where she hasn't been for five years after a bad experience). I did enjoy the little bit of mystery of what exactly happened to Gemma in the Hamptons five years earlier, things are alluded to throughout the story, but it takes some time for the story to really come out. Gemma plans to make things right this time around but things seem to go wrong around her all the time. These situations seem to be the most ridiculous things that can happen to someone in such a short amount of time.
The one thing I found about this book was that it was a bit predictable, I had an idea of what was going on, and yet I still found that a few things in the end did surprise me. I did really feel that the story was drama that I couldn't find myself to care about, Gemma went about things the worst way possible and you really expect that things will not work out the way she wants it to. Despite the issues of this being over the top and really not seeing kids doing the things that Gemma and Hallie pull, I still found myself immersed in the story, wanting more. I wanted to see things come crashing down, but I feel like the ending left quite a bit to be desired (even though it is a series).
The characters in the book acted younger than I would have expected, Gemma especially seems like someone I would not like. She dates a guy because he seems perfect and completely compromises herself when she is with him, she is the type of person who loses herself because she wants to be able to do everything and like everything that the guy likes. I also felt like Gemma was just getting herself into more trouble as soon as she gets to the Hamptons, all she thinks about are these schemes to really make things work for her. And I will say there is some great humour, with how things easily go wrong and you wonder if this is coincidence or if something else is going on.
I also wanted more of Gemma's parents, from people who seem close despite some issues, you never really see them and Gemma is just able to do what she wants during the summer. You never really get a good scene between Gemma and either of her parents during this book, and I felt like they needed to be there more.
I do think this is a fun summer beach read, just to get into the drama and be in a story that does not really resemble real life. I'm not completely sure if I have the interest to know what will happen next because I feel it will be very similar to this book with more revenge plots and more over the top situations.
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Buy From Amazon.ca / Buy From Chapters.ca /
Buy From BookDepository.com
Goodreads Synopsis:
Summer, boys, and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of!
Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the
When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it.
Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is?
Katie Finn hits all the right notes in this perfect beginning to a new summer series: A Broken Hearts & Revenge novel.
My Review:
This book was a cute idea, and I did enjoy reading it as a quick read on a nice day, but I think this story also went quite over the top on a lot of things that made it difficult to love. I found it hard to really believe some of the things that were going on in this book, and yet it was one of those kinds of books that as bad as things seem, you just can't stop because you need to know what will happen next.
The book begins with Gemma getting ready to spend a few weeks away with her boyfriend, when all of a sudden he ends things with her, now she is spending the summer with her dad (where she hasn't been for five years after a bad experience). I did enjoy the little bit of mystery of what exactly happened to Gemma in the Hamptons five years earlier, things are alluded to throughout the story, but it takes some time for the story to really come out. Gemma plans to make things right this time around but things seem to go wrong around her all the time. These situations seem to be the most ridiculous things that can happen to someone in such a short amount of time.
The one thing I found about this book was that it was a bit predictable, I had an idea of what was going on, and yet I still found that a few things in the end did surprise me. I did really feel that the story was drama that I couldn't find myself to care about, Gemma went about things the worst way possible and you really expect that things will not work out the way she wants it to. Despite the issues of this being over the top and really not seeing kids doing the things that Gemma and Hallie pull, I still found myself immersed in the story, wanting more. I wanted to see things come crashing down, but I feel like the ending left quite a bit to be desired (even though it is a series).
The characters in the book acted younger than I would have expected, Gemma especially seems like someone I would not like. She dates a guy because he seems perfect and completely compromises herself when she is with him, she is the type of person who loses herself because she wants to be able to do everything and like everything that the guy likes. I also felt like Gemma was just getting herself into more trouble as soon as she gets to the Hamptons, all she thinks about are these schemes to really make things work for her. And I will say there is some great humour, with how things easily go wrong and you wonder if this is coincidence or if something else is going on.
I also wanted more of Gemma's parents, from people who seem close despite some issues, you never really see them and Gemma is just able to do what she wants during the summer. You never really get a good scene between Gemma and either of her parents during this book, and I felt like they needed to be there more.
I do think this is a fun summer beach read, just to get into the drama and be in a story that does not really resemble real life. I'm not completely sure if I have the interest to know what will happen next because I feel it will be very similar to this book with more revenge plots and more over the top situations.
I had high hopes for this novel so it's sad to hear it's a bit over the top. But I'll still throw it in my beach bag on these summer days.
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