Broken Soup

15-year old Rowan's world is still shaken from the death of her outgoing, lovable older brother Jack. But she's not reeling. She doesn't have time for that. Jack's death has left a hole in her family that has plunged her mother into a deep depression, broken up her parents' marriage, and left her to singlehandedly run the household and care for her 6-year old sister, Stroma.

Then something weird happens at the grocery store, and her life starts to change. A guy she's never seen before tells her that she dropped something and hands her a photo negative. It's definitely not hers. She doesn't even have a camera. So she throws it away.

But the curiosity of a schoolmate, Bee, who witnessed the exchange compels her to fish it out of the trash and develop the photo. It's really not hers. But it's of her dead brother. Where did it come from? And who was that guy?

This is one of the most mature and realistic "journey of healing" type books I've read. It wasn't gimmicky at ALL, and this book had the potential to be extremely gimmicky. It wasn't wrapped up too nice and neat at the end. The 15-year old narrator matures visibly throughout the course of the book. I especially liked the way the romance was handled. Rowan didn't bore everyone by spending page after page pining after her crush when she clearly has other things on her mind, and yet it managed to feel natural, not cheap or tacked on. It was a minor part of the book, but added a nice element.

I would definitely recommend this book to teens looking for a realistic read. ( )

Having read the Ant Colony recently, which I liked immensely, I was a little disappointed in this title. Valentine writes well and explores some of her characteristic themes--the mysterious connections we form with others as a result of bad circumstances (the silver lining to the cloud) and the need to make one's own family when the biological one you're born into doesn't work. The characters are likable but after a particular mystery is solved--where a mysterious photo negative of the main character Rowan's dead brother actually came from--the book seemed to lose its luster. I might've liked it more had I read it before the Ant Colony. There is some mild profanity in the text recommending it for a 14+ crowd, for those of you out there who select books for school and public libraries. ( )

This was one of the more touching YA books I've read. No wonder that it received awards and great reviews.

Occasionally, I felt that the style of writing was a bit too distracting, pulling one's attention away from the story to the more stylistic, verbal elements, instead of emphasizing the plot, the characters and the message.

The characters in the book are all very memorable. Particularly Rowan with her big heart, tolerance, acceptance and understanding for everything and everyone. She's a much better person than I am and I wished, many times throughout the book, that I could be a bit more like her.

Reading this story will leave a mark. ( )

First I should say that I did like the characters and cared about them. That being said, I didn't like much else. The plot varied between being unbelievable (coincidences, etc.) to being way too predictable. Also, the formatting of the dialogue was annoying. I guess I've just read so many books like this that this one doesn't stand out in any way for me, other than the fact they're in London rather than in the US. ( )

One of the most exciting voices in young adult fiction, Jenny Valentine succeeds again with this story of a family coping with the death of a child. ( )