Maija Barnett

Heart like a Broken Arrow, despite being a cheesy title, has a lot of interesting themes! Between the parents who are incredibly immature and are right out of the AITA subreddit, the guilt that goes on for years, the neglect and how the book was wrapped up, we get a really lovely story. Of course, we also have all the pain that goes along with hope.
Heart Like a Broken Arrows comes out on the 1st of April! I highly recommend it to Hi/LO fans or just readers who want to read a book on how those who become differently abled deal with the changes, and the support that many need and often lack! The section in the hospital was particularly horrifying to me, as was what the parents did!… (mehr)

It's not bad

But it is definitely written for young adults. I'm not even talking about adult content, of which there is mercifully none. The quality of the story and the writing is written at a young adult level. There are two main narrators and they trade viewpoints back and forth very disjointedly.

The twist at the end was interesting, but it wasn't quite clear why the one villain suddenly started helping at the end rather than trying to conquer.

The sequel should be interesting.… (mehr)

Read the full review at Witchmag's Boekenplank

This book took off with a very strong start: Abby discovers a girl drowning in the water, but is unable to save her. It’s a really good way to put someone right in the middle of the story. Unfortunately those first pages were also the best in the whole book. The further I went, the more downhill it got. Till I had to struggle to finish the last chapters. That’s why I decided to not do my usual summary / introduction. I just don’t feel like it after reading this book, I’ve had enough.

What was the reason then that made this book go from a good book to something I don’t want to read anymore? It’s not something that I can explain in words. The excitement and suspense just went away, right after the start. And I didn’t like what was left. It was also hard for me to see the story as a whole, it felt more like you watched different scenes without any connection between them, no transition from one scene to the other.

I also had problems bonding with Abby and Brian. Abby acted a little bit too dependent and she wasn’t the kind of person that knows what to do and what not in certain situations like a normal person would. Brian on the other hand is too pessimistic. There isn’t a page where he forgets to mention how dangerous he thinks Abby is and that this time she will kill him for sure. Moreover he keeps thinking such things, even after he knows that it’s not something Abby has control over and she has no intention of killing him at all . With no other funny or lovable characters in the book, it became a bore to read about the latest ‘Abby action’ or pessimistic thoughts.

I know I’ve put Romance as a tag, but in reality it’s hard to find in the book. Although there is a certain pull that Brian experiences. Abby is no doubt the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, but that is because of the mermaid genes. And Abby seems to like Brian just fine, too. And then they are suddenly a couple? What did I miss? Where is the slowly budding relationship? Where are the kisses? The emotions they have to experience? There isn’t even a confession? And no, they don’t have the ability to read their minds. So this was a bit of a disappointment for me.

Conclusion

1 HEART. The start of the book was intriguing, but it failed to keep my attention. I had a hard time bonding with Abby and Brian, who aren’t very likable to me. Furthermore the romance was very hard to find and not the best to read about. Such a shame for a book with such a good start!… (mehr)