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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

MICHELLE'S REVIEW: The Brokenhearted by Amelia Kahaney

Title: The Brokenhearted
Author: Amelia Kahaney
Format Acquired: Hardcover
Publication Date: October 8, 2013
Publishing House: Harper Teen
ISBN: 9780062230928
Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked

Summary:

Prima ballerina Anthem Fleet is closely guarded by her parents in their penthouse apartment. But when she meets the handsome Gavin at a party on the wrong side of town, she is immediately drawn into his dangerous world. Then, in a tragic accident, Anthem falls to her death. She awakens in an underground lab, with a bionic heart ticking in her chest. As she navigates her new life, she uncovers the sinister truth behind those she trusted the most, and the chilling secret of her family lineage... and her duty to uphold it.


(Image, summary and information courtesy of Goodreads)

Review:


Daughter of the elite of the elite, Anthem Fleet is tired of the same old routine. There's got to be more to X, the land her parents own but go to lengths to protect her from, than just school, ballet, and the prison she calls a home. When she goes to a rave with her best friend, she meets the mysterious and charming Gavin, who soon makes her detest her predictable life. When Gavin is abducted right before her very eyes, Anthem is more than panicked. She's angry, she's hurt, and she's got a bionic heart that makes her impossibly better in all aspects than regular human beings. Anthem wants Gavin back, and she's not going to back down until she saves him.

How many people with bionic hearts do you actually know? Yeah, that's what I thought - which is why I snagged a copy of Amelia Kahaney's The Brokenhearted just as soon as I spotted it on bookshelves here (after making an obnoxious gasp and a muffled squealing and dancing combo, of course). I had high expectations for this one, only to go through it with a mild interest. 

Anthem is bored. She's been a good girl for far too long, doing ballet and only ballet that her deceased sister was good at, and trying to pretend that her family life is perfect, empty-eyed pill-popping mother and super busy land god father and all. This all changes when she meets Gavin, who makes her feel like somebody important, someone worth getting to know, someone not measured by her family's immense wealth, and most of all, someone not boring. But Gavin gets taken hostage, and on her way home, Anthem dies... Only to live again with a bionic heart that makes her some sort of enhanced human being. With the help of Ford (who is just adorable), Anthem begins to learn how to combat, and to be a vigilante. (Yes, a ballerina vigilante. Don't judge.)

My interest wasn't really piqued when she met Gavin. He sounds like a dream, sure, but he just didn't really do anything for me. It wasn't until the book was almost ending that made me sit up and pay attention, because - Okay. I can't say it because that would be giving the whole thing away, and you would probably stone me if you were actually interested in reading this book. 

Was The Brokenhearted boring? At times, sure, but you can get by. If you're in the mood. While The Brokenhearted does have a story, albeit a bit half-baked, it just makes me wish that I could take Anthem a bit more seriously. Anthem's not afraid to get dirt under her nails, and she grows to know how to stand up for herself as time goes by. It's just that her making this decision to be a lovelorn vigilante that really threw me off. 

Rating:
               

2 comments:

  1. I was pretty sad when I wasn't able to get this book for review then I've been reading some so-so or negative reviews and then this. Now I feel like "Whew! Bullet dodged!". Haha! Anyway, I hate for characters to turn back against everything because of a love interest and for them to feel SPECIAL because of someone. I like my characters, especially the heroines, to love themselves first than basing their worth on some guy. Or something like that. Anyway, I don't think I won't be picking this up although the blurb was TRULY interesting. So sad. Thanks Michelle for the informative review!

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    1. I'd still get the second book though! Well, I would if the blurb for the second book wouldn't sound so far off...

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