Review: Dark and emotional, but great balance with humor
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 16, 2014
Best Kind of Broken. Chelsea Fine. 2014. Grand Central Publishing. 336 pages. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.]“Best Kind of Broken” is something like an emotional roller-coaster. The kind that starts off by hurtling you into the air at 75mph before throwing you through 360 degree loops. In this case, that means the first intro you get to the characters is when Sarah/”Pixie” is threatening to suffocate her next door neighbor, Levi, who is working on her aunt’s ranch for the summer. The two have a history together — one that is incredibly tormenting and which neither have properly come to terms with.I found this to be an easy read, but also one that had me emotionally invested in its main characters.  Pixie and Levi are incredibly broken, likely a result of their ineffective (read: nonexistent) ways of coping.  The two were practically raised together – Levi’s wholesome family was a safe haven from Pixie’s emotionally traumatizing mother.  While being together could ease their pain, simply being around each other is a constant, painful  reminder of how good their lives used to be.  Fine does a solid job of conveying the heaviness of their situation while also balancing it with some well-placed humor by way of the ranch’s guests and other employees.  The cast of visitors at the ranch bring drama that rivals these two, but really serve to lighten the mood.The book is actually told from 1st person perspective, alternating between Pixie and Levi. I thought this was an interesting take on what could have been a fairly standard romance. However, getting the honest insight from each character makes it more realistic. Rather than just having their actions narrated, Fine allows the reader to get into their heads a bit more — we see the questions, the fears, and the doubts that Pixie and Levi constantly grapple with.This is definitely worth a read.  It’s a well-written book with great pacing.  Even when it has semi predictable moments, it still shows originality enough to keep the reader wanting to know what’s next.  I definitely recommend it.