Review: 3.5 stars!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 27, 2014
I had never heard of this book until I was invited to take part of the scavenger hunt/blog tour. Not only was I given the chance to participate, but also the chance to read and review it.Another Little Piece of My Heart starts off heartbreaking. Jared and Claire fall madly in love at such a young age. But while trying to hold on to Jared, Claire’s mother is slowly letting go of life. To make her mother happy Claire breaks up with Jared. The one person who made her smile at such a hard time.At first I was a bit confused because the story would jump from present to past without really any warning, so I would have to go back a couple of pages just to see what I missed. Eventually I was able to catch up and move along.The story really kicks off when Claire graduates high school and is away for her final summer with her family. Seeking a part-time job to kill time she bumps into Jared. The last person she would expect, and in the place she would ever imagine. She is so far away from home how could he possibly be in the same place at the same time?To me this is when things really got interesting. After not seeing Jared for so long their first encounter was very tense, but I think Claire did a good job hiding her feelings and keeping herself in control. This is one of the things I liked most about her. She handled things really well. Of course there were some chapters where I felt Claire was only hurting herself, but for the most part she was a very mature character.I had one slight problem with how Claire was able to keep her past relationship with Jared hidden from her cousins. A family that big, someone is bound to open their mouth and let the secret out. That was a bit unbelievable to me. Or maybe it’s just my family who is crazy and doesn’t know how to keep secrets? LOL! I also felt that the story did slow down at one point. One thing I did love most was the music and lyrics that is shared in this novel. The author does a great job portraying how music can be therapy for both Jared and Claire. I always turn to music whenever I am down or need a boost. I was able to connect with both Jared and Claire because I understood why their music was so important to them. Why Jared’s song affected Claire the way that it did. Lyrics are powerful! Overall, Another Little Piece of My Heart was a good read. It’s a little on the edgy side, but not enough to be considered new adult in my opinion. It’s definitely YA just crossing the line an inch. I recommend it.