2 out of 4 stars
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There’s nothing easy about being a teenager, but when you grow up in a home with abuse, struggle with depression, and have body image issues, it takes difficult to a whole new level. In Samuel Alexander’s novel Broken: The Edge of Sanity, main character Bryan is having just this kind of teenage experience. To heap icing on top of that unappetizing cake, Bryan is gay, and he might be crushing on his best friend Sandjai.
Sandjai, newly arrived as an immigrant, is looking for a friend when he runs into Bryan, who is composing a suicide note. Having met at this vulnerable and pivotal juncture, the two quickly become fast friends. As time goes on, new revelations challenge their friendship, and Bryan must learn to enjoy and appreciate his life separate from his relationship with Sandjai. Is their relationship healthy or has Bryan started leaning too much on Sandjai for affirmation and support?
There were a lot of strong points in this book. It really did an excellent job capturing nuances of an evolving relationship. Further, every development made sense within the story, allowing the intimacy between the two young men to feel very real and natural. Readers can also look forward to a surprise at the end that is, in this reviewer’s opinion, the book’s crown jewel. (It’s a surprise, though – no hints!)
For all its strengths, the book also had a number of weaknesses. The most minor was editing mistakes. Throughout the book, there were a number of spelling and punctuation errors, ranging from turning “Sandjai” into “Snadjai” to missing apostrophes and commas. More importantly, most of the dialogue was unattributed to a character. A reader would need to try surmising from context which character said what, and often a different character’s reaction would be included in the next sentence without starting a new paragraph. This made it much more difficult to appreciate the relationship dynamics between characters because it was harder to keep their voices straight. Most devastatingly to this reviewer’s mind, there was a lack of setting for the story. The reader could attempt to make guesses about the time, place, and cultural context in which the characters exist, but nothing is ever explicitly revealed by the author to confirm any guesses. This lack of context makes it more difficult to predict characters’ behavior or get an idea of which behaviors are taboo, abnormal, or expected.
Prospective readers should also be aware that this book contains a graphic sex scene as well as much discussion about minors participating in adult sexual behaviors. Readers should be prepared to encounter teenagers as young as 14 years old discussing past sexual encounters with peers.
Weighing the strengths and the weaknesses together, I rate Broken by Samuel Alexander 2 out of 4 stars. The book is not without strengths, but it could definitely use an editor. As I consider whether the book is recommendable, I am discouraged from widely recommending it by the lack of setting and the highly sexual content in addition to the editing challenges. I hope that another round of editing will help this book gain appeal so it can reach its niche readership.
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Broken
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