Read The Unbroken Hearts Club Orca Soundings Brooke Carter Books

Product details Series Orca Soundings Paperback 160 pages Publisher Orca Book Publishers (January 29, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1459820614

The Unbroken Hearts Club Orca Soundings Brooke Carter Books Reviews

• When an author can bring the reader to laugh aloud in one chapter and tear up in another within the confines of the short novel format, that is a remarkable achievement. Brooke Carter does just that in her newest novella about a young girl who struggles to cope in the aftermath of her mother’s death. A budding photographer, she snaps pics of lonely scenes, can’t engage in her photography project (she is a senior) and refuses to join a support group to air her emotions publicly. Cole, her only friend, tries to engage her yet she resists, unable to make that emotional connection with him for fear of her own demise down the road. Several factors come together to push her forward. First, her father shows interest in a member of his support group. Logan is happy for him but cannot open her heart to accept Cole in that way. Next, Cole invites another girl to a school dance. Even though Logan says she doesn't mind, it tugs at her heart. Third, Logan’s media arts teacher helps her to reconnect with her senior project, encouraging her to finish it and graduate. After a lot of anguish, Logan decides to have the genetic test for Huntington's, and the falling action of the story reveals her future. All told, this book is quite a selection written for all readers, not just reluctant ones. Teens will make a connection with Logan’s struggles, her need to know the truth and her depression. As plot, character development and theme go, this book has it all. Must Read Literature awards this book its highest honor Excellent Book of Note. Review by Martha Squaresky
• The Unbroken Hearts Club is a pretty good book! In it, we follow Logan, who is coming up on the one-year anniversary since her mother's death from Huntington's disease. Logan is struggling with school work and her social life as she works through her grief and deals with worry over whether she may also be looking at a life cut short by Huntington's.
  
  Her dad begins hosting a bereavement group in their basement, and insists that Logan help with hosting duties, Using this as an opportunity to work on a school project, Logan eventually finds a way to begin to move past her grief and address her fears.
  
  From the Orca Soundings collection which is designed specifically to get more kids reading, I think this book really works. Meant for kids aged 12 and up, this is a great example of a book that's edgy enough to be appealing without being so long as to be daunting. For avid readers, it's likely this book will seem a bit lacking in depth, but the target audience should really like this one.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for providing me with a DRC of this book.
• Full disclosure... I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
  
  I mostly liked this book. I liked Logan and Cole and her dad and Kelsey and the Broken Hearts Club. I even liked Sienna. I liked the way that the book didn't get stuck in the usual trope where the teenager hated the dad's new girlfriend.
  
  But I couldn't get past the one glaring plotline, involving Cole's video of Logan. He claimed that he accidentally recorded her grief after his own stop-motion plasticine video. If that's the case, how did it get spliced into his Heartbreak Club Media Arts project video? Either the author's explanation is faulty or he deliberately added the recording to the project and then lied about it.
• This is a really sweet story with great characters, good plot and easy to read writing that flows. I loved the characters, became quickly invested in them and felt their ups and downs. It’s got a different enough premise to make it interesting to the reader. YA fans won’t regret taking a chance on this book!