Review: Hearts Made for Breaking by Jen Klein

Title: Hearts Made for Breaking

Author: Jen Klein
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Published: April 30, 2019
Pages: 320
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Source: ARC
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From the author of SHUFFLE, REPEAT and SUMMER UNSCRIPTED comes a new novel about mysterious boys, first-time love, heartbreak, and the incredible bonds of friendship.

17-year old Lark knows how to survive high school dating: date boys briefly, let them down gently, remain friends, and move on. Her best friends, Copper and Katie, think that Lark is denying herself the opportunity for true love because she does not want to be hurt. They challenge her to break her pattern by staying in a relationship long enough for Lark — or the boy — to fall in love. Intrigued by the challenge, Lark sets her sights on the mysterious new boy, Ardy, who has been labeled “undateable” by the other girls in school. Lark is curious about, and then completely intrigued by, the enigmatic Ardy — so much so that she finds herself falling for him, only to risk having her own heart completely broken.

Jen Klein has once again crafted a funny, contemporary story sure to resonate with teen readers.

Goodreads / Amazon

MY REVIEW

DISCLAIMER: I received an Advance Reader Copy at no cost from the publisher. All opinions in my review are my own. This review MAY contain spoilers.

I am seriously smitten with this book! It delighted me to no end. Earlier this year I read Shuffle, Repeat by Jen Klein and I absolutely adored it! It is one of those books that I could read again and again. This book measures much the same in feels. It grabbed me from the start and had my heart pounding until the last sentence. 

These flawed characters really do make this book stand out. The characters are written so beautifully and unapologetically. They are real. So very real. I wouldn't say that I found myself relating to the main character because of her actions, but she was extremely captivating. I wanted to hear her story and live in it with her. While I didn't like the way that she strung boys along or accepted the bet from her friends, I found myself wanting to know why she did those things. I wanted to figure her out. Ardy was even more intriguing than Lark. He was a bit more mysterious. I liked that he wasn't the average teenage boy. He had unique interests and was all the more unique for them. 

The romance was in your face cute. For real. I adored Lark and Ardy together. They definitely had great chemistry and they really brought out the best in each other. I thought that it was too adorable that the boy was the hesitant one at the beginning of the relationship. Sex is a topic that came up a lot, not just with Ardy and Lark but with other characters as well. The conversation that Hope and Lark had about "not being ready" for sex was an important one. I also loved how Ardy always asked Lark "is this okay?" anytime he touched her. It was beautiful that he respected her and her consent so much. I also liked how Ardy and Lark actually talked about it instead of leaving things unsaid as so many teenagers would have. Oh, and I have to add that I adored the memory that Lark has of first talking to Ardy at school. He had some of those markers that smell like fruit and she lets Ardy color her hair with them while he sits behind her in English class. Too cute!

I really like the overall theme of not buying into rumors, living on your own terms, not letting your past or your family define you and learning from your mistakes. 

The reason that this book wasn't a five star read for me is not because of anything in the book because it was all wonderful, but rather because of what is left unsaid. There are many missed opportunities with this book. Ones that can make a book go from "wow" to "oh my god!" One such missed opportunity is Lark's parents and her home life. It was touched upon, yes, but the author barely scratched the surface. And honestly, it was pretty obvious that Lark's boy problems, the way that she constantly ditched boys before any real relationship could happen, hence the entire plotline of the book, stemmed from her parents' constant fighting and lack of a functional relationship. The fact that there wasn't more depth to this was a little disappointing. The same can be said for Ardy and his mostly absentee mother. Ardy is an adorable character that I loved greatly, but he was definitely not the average teenage boy. He acted differently and as you read about him you could sense that there was something more to him, but nothing was ever really explored other than his horrible nickname and the ex-girlfriends from his old school. I also felt that Lark's friendships could have been explored more. She only had two real friends at school, both of whom didn't like one another, no less, and everyone else liked her well enough but never went out of their way to include her. It was like she kept people at arm's length and didn't put in an effort to really be friends with anyone else. Which could stem from her sucky home life. But social status and friendships play an important part in shaping a person and who they become just as much as their home life. So in short, this book is fine the way it is but there was so much more that could have been said.

Overall, this is such a refreshing read. This book is definitely not what I was expecting and I loved every moment of it! If you love young adult contemporary romance then I highly recommend this book. It has powerful characters that are flawed and finding their own way, an engaging plot that will keep you entertained, and a romance that will make your face hurt from smiling so much. It's truly a wonderful book and I am totally on board for the next Jen Klein novel! This is two for two for me so I can safely say that I am a fan now. 

THIS BOOK CONTRIBUTED TO THESE 2018 READING CHALLENGES

- 2019 New Release Challenge
- Contemporary Romance Challenge
- Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge

Check out my 2019 Challenge Page to see my progress!

I loved that this book had flawed characters. They felt so real to me. What books have you read that have raw, real, flawed characters? What books have you been reading lately?