Review: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart? (Good Reads)

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker proves I am old, since the first thing that comes to mind is Toni Braxton, not YA fiction. Nonetheless, this was a VERY easy beachy read. It  seems to aim at the 14-year-old set......but hey I still read and liked it fine. The highlights include an adorable little sister Olive. I hate precocious kiddos, but Olive is wise beyond her years and cutely silly. Mom and dad are super, too! Yay for happy families in YA fiction!. 

• Originality: 6. I like the idea of sailing from port to port and running into the same characters.  But in New England we don't call them boat people.... They are sailors. I grew up sailing, so I found this weird. 
• Absurdity: 2. I 100% buy the story of Clem's bad choices and the resulting condemnation (and boys being excused). High school is hard.
• Level of Paranormal Romance: 5. Cute boy helps girl struggling with who she is become happy again. James, aka Joe-Fontaine-lite, is a charming, quick-witted redhead who is nice to old ladies and kid sisters. Adorbs!
• Level of Harry-Potter-ness: 3 for writing style. Flashbacks jogged by letters she tries to write her BFF or ex-BFF the explain the year that broke Clem's heart. As the story goes we figure out the root of Clem's self-loathing (although it is obvious from the get go). This format is nicely done.

The moral of this story: I am supremely glad that they did NOT have Facebook when I was in high school. Emo away messages via song quotes on AIM was bad enough. FB sounds truly miserable.

A cheers of our whiskey sours, as always, to Jandy Nelson and The Sky is Everywhere for creating Joe Fontaine, the leader of the dreamy YA love interests! (Goosie Mama's review and my review).