"Broken" is the first in the duo by A.E. Murphy which follows Gwen as she falls in love (ridiculously immediately) with the most perfect guy Caleb. It follows "the perfect couple" through their relationship with each other and with friends and family. We follow them through their hardships and challenges until the worst happens and their lives are thrown into heartbreaking tragedy and turmoil.

I'm actually impressed with how this book managed to grip me and keep me reading until I'd finished it.
When this "epic love" seemed to spark a blazing fire between Gwen and Caleb within a minute of "knowing" each other my eyes were rolling but something kept me reading and I'm so glad it did!

There are a LOT of twists and turns in the book which kept the pages turning. I found myself laughing out loud, gasping, shouting along with the characters and crying ( yes real tears actually stung my eyes in a certain place near the end). I was angry when the characters were angry, happy when they were and I was just engrossed into the story.
Some of the interactions between Nathan and Gwen had me laughing SO HARD!! It almost felt like a modern day take on Beauty and the Beast.

Nathan... You're amazing and I love you ^^

There were a few niggles I faced, namely the incredibly unbelievable relationship between Gwen and Caleb at the beginning but that niggling fades soon enough;

1. The amount of unnecessary swearing... Really... I get that this book has a lot of raw emotion but the swearing kinda annoyed me a little when it was just thrown around for no reason whatsoever and distracted from what was going on. A lot of the characters are just plain rude too. I hope the reason why is uncovered in the next book!

2. Gwen. She's incredibly naïve and can be annoying at times, especially with Nathan. She thinks she's coming off strong with the "no" but she's doing the opposite and leading him on every time she touches him since the lasagne incident and it annoys me when she claims innocence. She never seems truly grateful either but on the flip side she can stand up for herself and is rather witty. She just needs a bit of a shake.

3. There's a lot of repetition and going round in circles in this book but it didn't deter me, just a few eye rolls but I think it played on the tension so it's all good.

Overall this book earned a solid 4 stars from me which was nearly five due to the utter destruction of my heart but a lot of questions remain unanswered, saved for the second book, and for Gwen and her ARGHHHH inducing naïvety and veteran swearing.

I can't wait to read book 2: Connected :D ( )

This has been one of my favorite story lines and what has made it even more endearing, is that it could be anyone out there. The characters are so real. It takes everyday situations and makes them into a story line that I couldn't put down. I fell in love with Gwen and Caleb, I hated the way his family treated her and then I began to feel for Nathan as his story came out as well. I was so caught up, I immediately went and bought the follow up to this and finished it several hours later. It was not a disappointment. ( )