Review: Break By: Hannah Moskowitz

Title: Break
Author: Hannah Moskowitz
Publisher: Simon Pulse, 256 Pages (August 25th 2009)
From: Amazon

Synopsis: 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. This is the story of his self-destructive spiral, his rock-bottom moment, and how he finally learns to accept help and find true strength through recovery.

Review: 3 Stars - I was drawn to this story because of the idea of a teenage boy who goes out of his way to try to break every bone in his body. I wanted to know just what was behind this idea, why someone would want to do this to themselves.

The plot was interesting and kept me reading. Jonah, our main character had many problems that he didn’t know how to deal with – hence breaking his bones so they grow back strong, making him stronger for his family. I felt that the ending left us a little short. I didn’t like that I started to care for Johan and I never knew or got the feeling he would be okay. I would have given it more stars if I had more closure. I know sometimes not having closure in a book fits, but for me… I needed more with this one.

Also, Naomi, Johan’s best friend pushed my buttons. I was frustrated that she didn’t listen to her best friend and support him when things changed or he was trying to change. She used such peer pressure on Jonah that it was hard to read at times. I guess I just felt that he had so much going on that he didn’t need that from her piled on top of it all too. Then again, that’s true, in some form with most teen’s right?

His family didn’t know what to do about this either. That part of the book was more then realistic as so many parents face things with their kids that they don’t understand, don’t know what to do with. I knew that they wanted to help but felt so helpless in the situation with not only Jonah but with his other brothers, both younger – one brother Jesse who’s allergic to just about everything and a baby brother Will who does nothing but cry.

In the end this book wasn’t what I was expecting. It was a nice change from what I tend to read. I like finding different stories and this was just that. I commend Moskowitz for writing this book and getting published while still in High School. I’ll be looking for her next book to see what she has in store for us next.

FTC Disclaimer: I DID pay for this book and have NOT been compensated at all in any way or means for reading and writing this review.