Unbreak My Heart Review

Author: Melissa Walker
Release date: May 22, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 240
How I got it: E-galley for review via publisher 

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.

I must apologize to all YA romance, because here's the harsh truth: I will always compare you to Stephanie Perkins novels. I really am sorry because I know it's not fair but I can't help it, I just love them so! And Unbreak My Heart didn't get me nearly as warm and fuzzy as Perkins' books did, but it was a cute book that wasn't too bad.

My main problem with it would be the main character, Clementine. She has several traits that in theory would make me love her, like a love of reading, awesome music, and Dr Pepper, but she just seemed a little stupid and a little too wrapped up in herself. Her growth was nice, but by the end I still didn't love her like I wanted to. I did like her love interest James, though that probably had something to do with his red hair that gave me the ability to rightfully imagine him as Rupert Grint. Their romance was sweet and smile-inducing, but nothing spectacular.

Walker's writing style is light and easy to read, with some particularly good passages. It's obvious that she did her research on sailboats or has had some experience with them, and I definitely appreciated that. Although, some of the jokes she made fell completely flat for me. I think it was just a case of having a different sense of humor than the author.

Something else I must comment on was how nice it was to read about a functional sister-duo. Clem's little sister Olive can be a tad annoying, but both of the girls are kind and loyal to each other 'til the end. So despite a few qualms I had with Unbreak My Heart I did end up enjoying it a decent amount, and if you're looking for a cute, light read I wouldn't steer you away from this one.

Plot: Kinda typical, but done pretty well.

Characters: Clem was rather annoying, but I liked Rupert James, and Olive too.

Writing: Easy and fun.

Ending: Predictable but nice.

Kid friendly? Light swearing, and brief mentions of making out.

Overall:

I'd put the book down, but I didn't not like it.

Nothing about Unbreak My Heart was especially remarkable, but none of it was bad either, making it a slightly-above-average read for me. If you're a fan of YA romance, give it a go, but maybe get it from the library.