Review: There are many words I could use to describe BBM, such as: avoidance, miscommunication, secrets, immaturity, frustration, angst!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 9, 2013
4 StarsThere are many words I could use to describe Beautiful Broken Mess (BBM), such as:avoidance, miscommunication, secrets, immaturity, frustration, angst!The main theme of the BBM is ---- > Lack of communication.I want to say is that I LOVE Beautiful Broken Rules (BBR), like hard. I love Kimberly Lauren as an author. I love her writing style, I love the way she forms sentences and creates enjoyable dialogue and descriptive words.  It’s one of the reasons why I rate her so high.HOWEVERI did not agree with the BBM storyline. I didn’t agree with the “issue(s)” and the characters.Audrey is from BBR and if you don’t remember her, she had a brief introduction as Jaxon’s ex-girlfriend, and she was not painted in the best light, but I didn’t really remember her, so that didn’t bother me.  Jace can’t date a girl his brother has dated (some sort of bro-code).  Jace pushes Audrey away.  At the same time Audrey is dealing with past issues and hurt feelings.BBM is very dramatic, it’s not the light hearted read I was familiar with from BBR.  That’s okay, I love dramatic reads, so when I read the first two chapters and I was hit with a pow-wow in my face, I was really happy! I was grinning from ear to ear. I wanted to read about a dramatic, damaged Heroine. Please Jace come recues Audrey!  BUT - > From chapter 3, everything shifts.From there we get to know Audrey and kind of get her side of the story (sort of). I do not like angsty reads, so I can tell you, this will be a hit with a lot of people. I understand I am not the norm. It’s very rare when I love an angsty read.  My definition of an angsty read is a struggle between the Hero and Heroine throughout the entire book, based on one or many issues (mostly miscommunication) that (in my opinion) can be easily resolved by a conversation.I do not understand Audrey, nor do I sympathize what she went through. When she told me why she is the way she is, I see it, I process it, but that doesn’t really explain her actions (again, my personal opinion). She also has a best friend, Lane, who I didn’t care for.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy best-friend/brother type, but I just didn’t feel it in BBM and I don’t know why. Yes, Lane is sweet and yes it added value to the read, but again, I do not get it.Now there’s Jace.  So as Audrey goes through her crap, we get to understand why Jace is so upset and yes, he lives in his brother’s shadow, yes he cares what people think, but come on, Jace, I wanted to reach through the pages and just SLAP HIM! Oh I was frustrated. I was beyond irritated with his reasoning and verbal abuse.I struggled most with why Audrey and Jace could not work it out.  Audrey would try to open up, but then she would shut down and tell Jace, she just can’t tell him anymore. Oh my god, are you serious?! Just when I thought they get past a silly little issue, there is another silly issue to overcome.  Okay, no, it wasn’t silly nor little, to me the issue just didn’t seem like it was enough to warrant that much tension. I wanted to scream at them to just talk it out!I did not find redeeming qualities in either main character.  Another shocking factor is that BBM kind of showed me something about Jaxon and that kind of upset me too.  I had a version of Jax in my head and after I read BBM, I now think of him differently and I do not like it.To point out the positives, I LOVE EMERSON! I loved her from BBR and oh boy, I loved her in BBM. Thank god for that.Also, BBM is a lot steamer! Oh hello, thank you.  I really did think BBR was a bit tame, but it didn’t take away from the story line. I really enjoyed the extra steam in BBM, although the hint dominance in Jace was slightly off-putting.  Again, I didn’t get it, but I kind of just kept on reading.I understand this is a slightly less than glowing review and honestly BBM isn’t bad, it’s written very well.  I see writing and story line as two different things.  When I look at the development of characters, conversation flow and narrative tone, it’s a hit for me. I was never bored. Again, I love Kimberly’s writing.  I had a huge issue with the story. Frankly the story didn’t fit my personality nor taste preference.BBM will be a hit for a lot of readers. I know plenty of people who love this type of read.  I am disappointed it wasn’t a hit for me, but I still love Kimberly’s writing and I’m still a major fan.An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.This review was written by Jacqueline's Reads - > [...]