Book Review: Fierce Fragile Hearts (Beautiful Broken Things #2) by Sara Barnard

Book: Fierce Fragile Hearts
Series: Beautiful Broken Things book 2
Author: Sara Barnard
Genre: YA contemporary
Edition: ARC/uncorrected proof
Published: 7th February 2019

*I was sent a free ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Two years after a downward spiral took her as low as you can possibly go, Suzanne is starting again. Again. She's back in Brighton, the only place she felt she belonged, back with her best friends Caddy and Rosie. But they're about to leave for university. When your friends have been your light in the darkness, what happens when you're the one left behind?

My Rating: 3 STARS


My Review:

I loved the beginning of Fierce Fragile Hearts because it really sets the scene of where the characters are in their lives.  It's been two years since the ending of Beautiful Broken Things and Fierce Fragile Hearts opens up with Suzanne moving back to Brighton and her looking forward to the new chapter in her life.  I loved how Suzanne, Caddy and Rosie were still in each other's lives and still friends.

I thought it was great to read from Suzanne's point of view because you get to see all the parts of Suzanne's life that Caddy (the main character in Beautiful Broken Things) never really seen.  In Beautiful Broken Things we are told about Suzanne's history with her parents and the abuse she suffered as a child but in Fierce Fragile Hearts we actually see the full effects of that because Suzanne is the main character.  This is her story and those parts of the book were very emotional to read.

I loved Dilys and the way her and Suzanne were introduced.  I really enjoyed reading their interactions with each other and I wanted to read more of them.  I thought Dilys' background was very interesting and I loved the bond that grew between Suzanne and Dilys, it was nice to read about these two characters finding a companion in each other.

One of my favourite things about the first book (Beautiful Broken Things) was the fact that there was no romance in it and it focused solely on friendships but in Fierce Fragile Hearts I felt that it strayed from that point.  I felt that a lot of the story in Fierce Fragile Hearts focused on Suzanne and her new relationship with Matt (a new character introduced in Fierce Fragile Hearts) and it made the friendships that were so wonderfully built up and explored in Beautiful Broken Things feel like a side thing.

I didn't like how distant Caddy and Suzanne were in this book.  I understand that years have passed since the first book and it would be unrealistic to expect things to not have changed but I was shocked at how much Caddy's character felt like a stranger to me which was weird since she was the main character of Beautiful Broken Things.  The special bond of Caddy and Suzanne felt almost nonexistent in this book which made me really sad.

Overall I liked how we get to see more of Suzanne's life and history in Fierce Fragile Hearts and I loved reading about her bond with Dilys but at the same time I was disappointed at how much the book focused on the romance and less on the main friendships.  I still enjoyed the writing a lot and liked how we get more closure on Suzanne's life.    

Top Ten Tuesday- Most Recent Additions to My To-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Most Recent Additions to My To-Read List.

• Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin

• All the Lonely People by David Owen

• The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester

• Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner 

• Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik

These are a few of my most recent additions and some of them have not yet been released but I'm really looking forward to reading them when they do get released. 

What are some of your most recent additions to your to-read list?

UKYA Books I Want To Read In 2019

Last year I made a post where I talked about wanting to read more UKYA books and I made a list of the ones I wanted to read in 2018 so I thought I'd make that an annual list and talk about the UKYA books I want to read in 2019. 

• All the Lonely People by David Owen

• Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard

• Floored by Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson and Eleanor Wood

• The Burning by Laura Bates (21st Feb)

• Song of Sorrow (Sorrow book 2) by Melinda Salisbury (7th March)

• A Girl Called Shameless (The Exact Opposite of Okay book 2) by Laura Steven (7th March)

• All the Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle (August)

It's not a very long list and I do plan on reading more UKYA books during the year but I didn't want to make an overly ambitious list that I probably wouldn't get to so I decided to keep it short. 

  
Do you have any UKYA recommendations for me to read?

Top Ten Tuesday- Books I Meant to Read In 2018 but Didn’t Get To

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Books I Meant to Read In 2018 but Didn’t Get To.

The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Floored by Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson and Eleanor Wood

The Thief (Black Dagger Brotherhood book 16) by J.R Ward

Archangel's Prophecy (Guild Hunter book 11) by Nalini Singh

What books did you mean to read in 2018 but didn't get to?

Top Ten Tuesday: New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2018.  

I read a lot of books by new-to-me authors in 2018 so here is just a few of them. 

Moïra Fowley-Doyle

Taylor Jenkins Reid

Helen Scheuerer

Seanan McGuire

Melinda Salisbury

Laura Wood

Who were some new-to-you authors you read in 2018?

Books I Want To Re-Read In 2019

Years ago I used to love rereading books but over the last few years I haven't been doing it much but this year one of my bookish goals is to reread more books. I know some people prefer not to reread books but I've always loved going back and rereading my favourites and picking up all the new details I missed the first time or so around.  And sometimes I like rereading books to remember all the little details I've forgotten before moving onto the sequel.   

I thought I'd show you some of the books I'm planning to reread this year (although I feel like this list is very ambitious of me, I know I won't get to them all). 

Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard - I liked this book a lot when I read it the first time and I really want to reread it before the second book comes out next month.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black - I liked The Cruel Prince and I've heard many people say The Wicked King is better than the first so I really want to reread The Cruel Prince to remind myself of the details of what went down.

His Fair Assassin trilogy by Robin LaFevers - I want to reread this series before reading Courting Darkness because I really loved these books but it's been years since I've read them and I really want all the details of the series to be fresh in my mind before reading Courting Darkness. 

The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare - This is probably my biggest challenge to reread since I want to reread all the Shadowhunter books (The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices and all the books/ short stories in between) and I want to reread them all before Chain of Gold is released.  I know...it's a lot.  But this is the series I want to reread the most because I love it so much and after finishing Queen of Air and Darkness I really wanted to go back to where it all began with City of Bones and go through all those emotions again.  

The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo - I know I'm in the minority of people when I say I prefer the Shadow and Bone trilogy over the Six of Crows duology but I really want to reread the Shadow and Bone trilogy before reading King of Scars.

So those are the books I'm planning on rereading this year. Do you like rereading books? Do you plan on rereading any this year?

Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019.

There's so many books coming out this year that I'm so excited to read so here is a list of my most anticipated releases from January to June:

• A Girl Called Shameless (The Exact Opposite of Okay book 2) by Laura Steven

• Fierce Fragile Hearts (Beautiful Broken Things book 2) by Sara Barnard

• Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers 

• The Afterward by E.K Johnston 

• Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid 

• In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children book 4) by Seanan McGuire

• The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air book 2) by Holly Black 

• Storm Cursed (Marcy Thompson book 11) by Patricia Briggs

  

• Song of Sorrow (Sorrow book 2) by Melinda Salisbury

• Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds 

• Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman 

• The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare 

What are some of your most anticipated releases for the first half of 2019?

My Favourite Books of 2018

Happy New Year! 
I read so many great books in 2018 so here is a list (in no particular order) of my favourites!

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle - 

This is a wonderfully written story about lost things and I loved how mysterious the story was.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid - 

I loved this story so much and it's definitely one of those heart wrenching stories you won't forget.

Obsidio (The Illuminae Files book 3) by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman - 

Obsidio kept up the same action packed, high stakes pacing it had in the previous two books and I loved that.

Magic Triumphs (Kate Daniels book 10) by Ilona Andrews -

This is the last book in this series and it was sad to say goodbye to the characters but I thought it was a great ending to an amazing series.

Heart of Mist (The Oremere Chronicles book 1) by Helen Scheuerer -

Reign of Mist (The Oremere Chronicles book 2) by Helen Scheuerer -

The Oremere Chronicles books have surprised me so much, I loved these two books but I feel that they are so underrated and I really want more people to read them.

I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman - 

I loved how the author tackled the subject of being in a fandom and also being the subject of a fandom in this book, and I loved the characters.

The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven -

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I have.  Izzy (the mc) is one of my favourite main characters and I thought the story was very impactful. 

Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass book 7) by Sarah J Maas -

I'm so sad this series is over but I really loved how epic this finale was.

What are some of your favourite books of 2018?