The Brokenhearted audiobook

3.5 StarsWhile the first half of this book was quite slow and hard to get into, I found I quite enjoyed the second half. It took me a while to get into the story as I found it to be a bit unbelievable and I found Anthem to be extremely naive, but by the end I wanted to keep reading and the cliffhanger has left me wanting more. It was also beautifully written.

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy I’ll be honest- half of the reason I chose to review THE BROKENHEARTED was that I was under the impression it took place in Chicago. (I had to search long and hard before I found a copy of the original description I read). After being burned by the last book about ballerinas I read, I had pretty low expectations. Luckily, THE BROKENHEARTED surpassed my expectations and more-what I got was a gritty superhero novel that read as vividly as if it were a graphic novel, with scenes I could picture in my mind.THE BROKENHEARTED was a total surprise. There was a little bit of ridiculousness- to me, Bedlam City came across as a thinly veiled Chicago, complete with a Lake Morass, and Museum Mile, Bankers Alley, and Lakeside neighborhoods (very similar sounding to the existing Lake Michigan, Magnificent Mile, Financial District, and Lakeview, respectively). And yes, at one point the South Side of Bedlam City was even referred to as the murder capital of the country. It was at times distracting, but also a bit fascinating. To take a location that could be so familiar for some readers, and turn it into something darker and more sinister is a risky move, and once I got past the similarities (and stopped seeking them out), Bedlam City was a perfect setting for this story.Luckily, despite those little bits of ridiculous, THE BROKENHEARTED has some awesome characters, spectacular writing, and great plot twists- both predictable and not. Anthem is a reluctant heroine, given powers she didn’t ask for, thrust into a position she doesn’t want, and on top of that, people begin to ascribe greater meaning to her relatively selfish (vigilante) actions. THE BROKENHEARTED is a bit of a dark book for young adult in my opinion- Anthem definitely doesn’t shy away from defending herself, and sometimes that leads to lethal consequences for those attacking her, which becomes something else Anthem has to learn to live with. Plus, she gets blackmailed into a slightly abusive relationship, something that, despite all of her newfound powers, she can’t get herself out of easily. Over the course of THE BROKENHEARTED, as she learns more about the world around her, you can see her start to question everything she has believed in her life thus far, and the way she steps into the new role she involuntary gains and doesn’t just shy away from the evil around her shows great strength- this is a female character I can get behind.Like I mentioned, there is a relatively predictable plot twist about midway through. While it didn’t play out until the end of the book, it was an easy guess based on the events. But then, at nearly the very last page, the reader is hit with a twist that I did not see coming, something so much bigger than the small potatoes con perpetrated against Anthem. As a reader, we’re left thinking “what comes next?” and “how does Anthem react to the news she just learned?” Hopefully, those questions will be answered in the second book of the series. I personally hope that Anthem continues to dig deeper past the “picture perfect” life she lived and that she continues to grow and take a stand. I’ll be impatiently waiting in the meantime.Sexual content: Kissing, implied sex.

This is unreal for me. ME! The young woman who’s primary genre of interest is Star Wars/Transformers/Asimov science-fiction and hard core dragon-dappled/Tolkien fantasy, gave a YA, Harper Teen, 15-16-year-old-female-audience-aimed book a 5 out of 5 stars!!! The reason is I actually loved this book and the experience it gave me.I walked into B&N to window shop while waiting for a bowling class to start not to buy anything (mainly because I was very crucial to save my money for gas on my car). But then I got into a camaraderie flecked conversation with the employee in charge of the teen section, sharing our interests and favorite genres and even agreeing to disagree as I was a sci-fi nerd and she loved Twilight and the Hunger Games. I enjoyed talking with her so much I felt like I should buy something to be polite. So I asked for the book prior to Amelia Kahaney’s The Invisible (which was on the NEW IN YA shelf). I had no idea what Brokenhearted was about and I doubted I would even like this YA buy—I even felt guilty for putting my money into this whim buy. But now I wonder if I should do this more often.Okay, so, a majority of Goodreads reviews gave this 1-2 stars and said they didn’t like the book because either 1: It’s a YA copy and paste of the Dark Knight Batman calling Bedlam it too close to Gotham and other stuff like that, or 2: It’s a dumb YA novel with all the clichés about losing the boy you love and being dramatic about it. Even after reading those reviews I found myself enjoying this book so much that I was shaking my head and saying, “What are they talking about—this is awesome!” as things just got crazier and more epic with every page-turn.To get it off my chest: I’ve read a couple of what’s considered cliché YA material recently (hardly being able to finish them) and I just found that this book wasn’t one of those. I expected that from this after reading those reviews but was pleasantly surprised when Anthem Fleet is not your usual Mary Sue and is in fact a kick-ass protagonist that behaves realistically under the circumstances. Yes, this is a Bruce Wayne/Batman origin story, but at the same time it’s not. The Gotham-esque Bedlam City and Anthem’s wealth is the only thing that really cuts it close to everyone’s favorite DC superhero. Anthem’s parents are still alive (unlike Mr. Wayne) and the tragic backstory that kind of sent Mrs. Fleet over the edge and made Mr. Fleet a jagged, cold kind of man I find far more complicated and interesting than that of the Dark Knight. Also, I think Anthem and Serge’s relationship is far more affectionate and emotional than Bruce and Alfred’s; part of my opinion on that is because Anthem is a young girl who needs all the help she can get to figure out her next step while Bruce Wayne is all, “I’m a cold-hearted bastard who can take care of himself and—oh yeah, Alfred’s cool, I guess.” Being an admirer of comic book literature myself I wasn’t offended by this book—one reason being just that : It’s a novel with only words, no pictures. If this were a comic book, I would be completely offended at how close it was to The Dark Knight. But we don’t get enough of this creative, super hero, graphic novel atmosphere in books enough. Much like Adam Christopher’s Empire State I found that the author’s talent to get you illustratively attached to the characters with some badass coolness among the subtle notes of YA was done well. Kahaney is smart and organized with the plot, having each scene set up like a play with each character having their purpose but not in a starchy, pasty kind of way that makes it predictable. The very idea of a prima ballerina living in a Gotham environment and turned broken super hero with super powers, I may add, is one of the coolest ideas I can think of. Another thing that people seemed to complain about in the reviews were that Kahaney doesn’t do enough world-building. This is a dumb thing to get upset about because every author, as well as every story, may not need world-building to hold it up. I think Kahaney was smart to give just enough information on Bedlam City that we can get an outside-looking-in point of view on it while she used a majority of page space to focus on her characters—which is the MOST IMPORTANT PART OF A STORY, PEOPLE! Without having a good grasp on your characters and their personalities, you basically have no story, and it’s not like Kahaney DIDN’T use ANY descriptive paragraphs because there were plenty there. Like I said, I believe she was smart about every move she made.There were a few YA clichés to start with, but they were put so early into the book, making it feel like the tale was coming to a happy end, that I couldn’t help but think that something terrible was going to happen to flip what seemed like the usual girl-meets-boy story on its head. No spoilers, but that plot twist happens quite early and made me so happy when I realized I was no longer reading the usual YA book. Kahaney puts up a YA façade up until page 61 and then stuff gets real.I’m totally defending this book and can’t wait to go back to B&N to ask the friendly employee for The Invisible. Well done, Kahaney. Well done.

3.5/5A unique superhero story, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The problem is that the world-building is almost non-existent and feels like the author just patches it up as it goes. Still, recommended as a character-driven story. The plot twists though were visible from a mile away! * * *История уникальной супергероини, и читала я её по большей части с удовольствием. Проблема в том, что построения мира здесь почти нет, и кажется, что автор его придумывает по мере развития сюжета, да и "сюрпризы" повествования видны издалека. Так что, рекомендую, но сдержанно.

4,5/5http://wandering-world.skyrock.com/32...OH. MON. DIEU. LES CŒURS BRISÉS est une ÉNORME surprise. C'est un roman qui m'a coupé le souffle et qui m'a vraiment, vraiment, vraiment scotché. Je ne m'attendais pas du tout à être aussi époustouflé par l'histoire d'Amelia Kahaney. L'univers est riche et saisissant, les personnages sont adorables et l'action – bordel, l'action – est OMNIPRÉSENTE. LES CŒURS BRISÉS est un récit explosif, palpitant, dynamique et saisissant. C'est littéralement une véritable bombe à retardement, un vrai cocktail de retournements inattendus et de suspense savamment dosé. Quel pied !Dès les toutes premières pages, j'ai été totalement conquis par l'univers de l'auteure. Le monde dans lequel nous plongeons est noir et inquiétant, mais également hyper attirant et irrésistible. Il y a quelque d'ultra entêtant et d'ultra enivrant dans l'atmosphère qui émane de ce livre. On veut constamment y retourner et en savoir plus, voir quelle direction Amelia Kahaney va emprunter et comment les choses vont évoluer. Bien évidemment, je pense que tout cela aurait été impossible sans les protagonistes vraiment intrigants – et à la fois aussi adorables que détestables pour certains – que nous rencontrons. L'auteure prend le temps de nous décrire une héroïne acharnée, déterminée, forte et vraiment convaincante. Si, au départ, j'ai eu peur d'avoir affaire à une personne fragile et niaise, mes craintes ont rapidement été dissipées. Anthem m'a énormément plu. Sa passion et son courage font d'elle une héroïne impressionnante et hors-norme. J'ai pu m'identifier à elle très facilement. On comprend sans aucun mal toutes les émotions qu'elle traverse et qui ne font que la rendre encore plus humaine. Anthem m'a vraiment pris aux tripes et bouleversé. Son histoire est terrible mais la rend inoubliable. Quel plaisir de l'avoir rencontré !Amelia Kahaney a également doté ses personnages secondaires de beaucoup de profondeur. Il y a un protagoniste en particulier qui m'a énormément surpris et dont certains traits de caractère m'ont totalement échappé. De plus, qu'il s'agisse des bons ou des mauvais héros, tous sont suffisamment épais et creusés pour qu'on croie à leurs manières d'agir. Ford m'a beaucoup touché, Serge apporte de la douceur au roman et j'ai éprouvé énormément de rage pour les fauteurs de troubles. On ne peut pas s'empêcher de réellement ressentir toutes sortes de sentiments en découvrant les multiples personnages du récit et, juste pour ça, je tire mon chapeau à l'auteure.Comme dit précédemment, le point le plus fort du roman se cache indéniablement dans les coups de théâtre qu'il possède. OH SEIGNEUR. J'en ai vu d'absolument toutes les couleurs. J'ai l'impression d'avoir dévoré la totalité du roman en ayant retenu mon souffle. Aucune seconde de répit ne nous est accordée. Genre, littéralement. A la moindre occasion de faire une pause, l'auteure s'acharne sur nous et rajoute une nouvelle couche de suspense et de surprise. Les rebondissements sont tous plus énormes les uns que les autres et s'enchaînent à une vitesse tellement insupportable que ça en devient exquis. Sans nous en apercevoir, on devient accro. Les coups de théâtre sont parfaitement bien millimétrés et nous explosent en pleine tête au moment propice. C'est juste épatant. Même si l'auteure fait quelques raccourcis maladroits et oublie de nous livrer quelques explications au passage, LES CŒURS BRISÉS n'en reste pas moins foudroyant et sensationnel. J'ai adoré avoir le souffle coupé.La conclusion du livre continue dans cette veine et nous offre un final grandiose. Les choses se calment un peu et, pourtant, les ultimes retournements de situation mettent en place des bases imprévisibles pour la suite. Suite dont j'ai autant besoin de lire sur-le-champ que d'oxygène pour respirer (et j'exagère à peine). Anthem n'est pas au bout de ses surprises et nous non plus, d'après cette fin ultra électrisante. Vivement septembre prochain que je puisse sauter sur le tome 2 !En résumé, LES CŒURS BRISÉS est une lecture incroyable. J'ai passé un très, très agréable moment en compagnie des personnages et de l'univers d'Amelia Kahaney ainsi que de sa plume et de son imagination sans aucune limite. LES CŒURS BRISÉS est un récit prenant et qui n'hésite pas à nous faire oublier comment respirer en nous livrant une myriade de rebondissements gigantesques et inconcevables. Si j'étais plutôt (très) réticent avant d'entamer ma lecture, je dois bien reconnaître que je suis le premier surpris à avoir autant adoré cette histoire. Un récit stupéfiant et effréné qui m'a entièrement conquis et dont il me tarde de découvrir la suite !

This book was more like Mystic City by Theo Lawrence, than any of the comparisons made in the synopsis.Just as in Mystic City Anthem is the daughter of one of Bedlam's ruling families. Anthem Fleet's high-rise living, chauffeur driven life is far removed from the grind, crime, and drugs that life in the city means for so many others.Her life is a planned regimen of dancing, school, and being the perfect show pony for her parents and boyfriend William.Enter Gavin...This is where the story starts to get good.Good girl Anthem meets bad boy Gavin and her life well...Changes.Bring on the instalove, and what's that?INSTA-DEFLOWERING!!!!That's new.This is a book with a great deal going on. Most of which is very well explained and easy to follow. Anthem is a girl who is pretty much a girl going through the motions of life. Her father is lost in his work and her mother is a drugged out mess.William is the boy that her parents have picked for her, but she knows he's a sleaze.Gavin....Sweet, sensitive, artistic, passionate, and in danger.Readers will love the way that the book just takes off from this point.Anthem's accident.Her new life.The only major negative here is that the specifics of her new heart are never fully detailed.If the mechanics of things had been better explained there wold have been more of an idea of how having it would affect her.Aside from that the plot twists and turns and budding romance that result from lessons Anthem learns as the story progresses are not to be missed.This is a very good story with a strong heroine, great plot, lots of secrets, and a great supporting cast. Who says Supergirl doesn't exist?See my review: http://www.wtfareyoureading.com/2013/...

I didn't read any of the reviews before I picked up this book. I just read the blurb on the back. And I have to say, I love it!! I know that others may not care for it, but I really enjoyed the character of Anthem and how her character developed over the course of the book. She went from shy, fragile, and weak to confident and strong. I also loved the characters Ford, Jax, and Serge. They were great. Gavin was a great character until the end....and that came out of nowhere! The concept was great as well. The idea that she now has a cyborg heart (mostly mechanical with hummingbird parts) was very interesting. Of course, hummingbirds are tiny, but I just assumed that Jax added some kind of growth hormone for it to be able to fit a human being. Anthem's super speed, strength, and agility help her to take revenge on the crime syndicate in her town. But not before she uncovers some serious secrets about those that she loves and trusts. It was intense! I also didn't mind that there were still several elements about ballet, her ex-boyfriend Will, and her friend Zahra because that just helped to remind me that she it still just a teenager. She goes to school, she has friends, homework, and other interests besides becoming a vigilante.I thought that the book, plot, and characters were great! I can't wait to read the second one!

I absolutely LOVED this book! It's dark and gritty and combines elements found in Batman, Arrow, Smallville, The Crow and Kick-Ass. All pretty awesome things, I might add. There were so many things I loved about The Brokenhearted. It's a real page-turner with lots of atmosphere, plenty of action and a little romance. Crime, vengeance and deception lead to the origin of a new, badass, butt-kicking heroine. It made me want to throw on some more comfortable clothes and bring some bad guys to justice, vigilante style. Ok, maybe that's not such a good idea since I have no special abilities except for the power of reading really fast, which is not so good in a fight. Whatever, I enjoyed every second I spent with this book. I'm a sucker for superheroes. I'm a happy girl after reading The Brokenhearted. (I'm also very tired because I stayed up late to finish it, so an actual review will be on the way.)

read it read it read it read it read it...i scrolled through to read reviews, which i dont think i did before i read the book, and i'm really surprised that it got so many bad reviews. i really really liked it. *shrugs*

Anthem is a rich young ballerina whose life is already planned, until she dies.. But then she wakes up in a lab and discovers she’s alive again, with the help of a mechanic heart…which gives her awesome superpowers. #emotionalsuperhero

Fast paced and different from things I've read lately (the plot line is very original). Based on the ending I feel like there will be a sequel coming? It was definitely a book that kept me intrigued to keep reading.