Review: Broken Soup

Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine

publisher: HarperTeen

release date: March 24, 2009

hardcover, 224 pages

intended audience: Young Adult

rating:


Description from bn.com:

Positive.

Negative.

It's how you look at it. . . .

Someone shoves a photo negative into Rowan's hands. She is distracted but, frankly, she has larger problems to worry about. Her brother is dead. Her father has left. Her mother won't get out of bed. She has to take care of her younger sister. And keep it all together . . .

But Rowan is curious about the mysterious boy and the negative. Who is he? Why did he give it to her? The mystery only deepens when the photo is developed and the inconceivable appears.

Everything is about to change for Rowan. . . . Finally, something positive is in her life.

Review: This is the heart-wrenching story of a teenage girl who is desperately struggling to keep her life and the life of her little sister going after the death of her older brother tears her family apart. It took me a few chapters to really get used to Ms. Valentine's style of writing, but once you dive in, it really starts to feel almost like someone standing front of you telling you their story. I fell in love with this story and all of its characters. The mystery of the negative and the mysterious boy who insists that it's her's unfolds beautifully. The people that happen into Rowan's life are amazing, the warmth and support they gave her was enough to bring me to tears at times. There are a few of the those gasp-out-loud moments that completely threw me. There are laugh aloud moments and those moments that just tear your heart out. The story and writing are as near flawless as can be. Read this one...you definitely won't regret it.

I plan to read this one again soon, and have already got her debut novel, Me, the Missing, and the Dead check out from the library to read as soon as I can. I'll be waiting for more from this author for sure!