Review: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker

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.

My Review:

When I saw this book, I thought it looked like a cute summer read, so I picked it up.  It was a very enjoyable book that I read in a day.  It was a story of friendship, family, and romance.  

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

I liked Clem and her entire family.  Clem was depressed after she fell for her best friend's boyfriend.  At the beginning of the book, she was upset that she was going on a boat trip with her family.  By the end, she grew and realized that the boat trip had helped heal her heartbreak.  Clem's ten-year-old sister, Olive, was adorable.  She loved Clem, and she wanted Clem to be the old, happy Clem she had been before.  Both of Clem's parents were good parents.  They wanted to help Clem, but they didn't understand the entire situation that had occurred sophomore year.  By the end, the entire family had helped Clem through her problems.

Then there was Amanda and Ethan.  They both had their own faults.  I liked Amanda at first, but I wasn't a fan of her by the end.  She never gave Clem a chance to tell her side of the story.  She just made assumptions about Clem's and Ethan's relationship.  I also liked Ethan at first.  He seemed sweet and charming.  He should not have been forgiven by Amanda.  He encouraged his own relationship with Clem, even when she tried to stop it.  I would have liked to know what happens between Amanda and Clem once Clem was back home from her boat trip.

One of my favorite characters in the book was James.  He was a red-haired boy who boated near Clem's family's boat.  He was sweet and funny and just what Clem needed that summer.  The two of them started out as friends, and they slowly became more.  He helped Clem by being happy all the time despite his parents' divorce.  This helped her realize she could have worse problems.  He was a really great male character.

If you want to read a sweet YA contemporary, pick up this book.

Katie