Review: Break by Hannah Moskowitz

Title: Break

Author: Hannah Moskowitz

Publication date: August 25th, 2009

Summary:

Jonah is on a mission to break every bone in his body. Everyone knows that broken bones grow back stronger than they were before. And Jonah wants to be stronger—needs to be stronger—because everything around him is falling apart. Breaking, and then healing, is Jonah's only way to cope with the stresses of home, girls, and the world on his shoulders.

When Jonah's self-destructive spiral accelerates and he hits rock bottom, will he find true strength or surrender to his breaking point?

Review:

With a summary like that, how could you not want to pick up this book? It's so unique and controversial, something that I find most books to lack these days. Since Moskowitz is a relatively young writer, I wasn't expecting the writing to be great. But I ended up loving it and can't wait to see what other publications she comes out with in the future.

I finished the entire book in one sitting because it was that good. The characters were real and interesting, and the plot was fascinating. As someone heavily interested in psychology, I was intrigued by everything going on in the book. The reasons for Jonah breaking his bones, the conflicts within the family, the relationship between Jonah and his brother... I was just amazed at how well everything fit together.

What made it even more awesome is that it wasn't censored at all. It was raw, with the f-bomb flying all over the place and gruesome descriptions of the bone breaking process. That might turn some people away from picking up this book, but I can't remember the last time I felt so involved in the lives of characters, almost as if I were reading a journal or being a fly on the wall. It's such a powerful book, and anyone with experiences in self-harm will completely relate to it. The author captured it perfectly, which I don't see happen too often with subjects such as this.

The only complaint I have is the ending. I didn't completely understand the way Jonah's reasons for breaking his bones was explained, so it left me with more questions than anything else. I was expecting some phenomenal ending with lots of oomph, but to me it just kind of died out. Regardless of that, I will still hold on to this book and read it again.

Characters: 9/10

Plot: 10/10

Originality: 10/10

Writing: 9/10

Overall grade: A