Break, by Hannah Moskowitz

[rachelmanija]

This book required the creation of a new tag, "bad medicine." God knows many books have merited it in the past, but none more than this one. It is also the only book I've ever read which would have been improved by adding more vomit

Comments

[buymeaclue]

See, I wouldn't lie to you.

[chomiji]

And did you take a look at the reviews on that Amazon page? People think this book is wonderful ... >sigh<

[tekalynn]

The author wrote the book in junior high. Perhaps this says something about the plot and characterization.

[rachelmanija]

Wow, really? I would say, "That explains a lot," except that all the other "awesomely bad" books weren't.

Good for her for actually finishing a novel at that age. Whatever its quality, that takes a level of dedication and persistence unusual in teenagers.

[thomasyan]

Good point about finishing a novel.

*wonders* Do you think with guidance from an accomplished editor that a good book could have been salvaged from this? The only idea that immediately comes to my mind is to invent an alien race so that the biology of breaking bones makes sense and the weird attitudes can be blamed on an alien mindset. But that would be a rather different book....

[rachelmanija]

I think it would have worked a lot better as a completely over the top satire or piece of magic realism or some other non-realistic genre.

[thomasyan]

Books like this are why the editor should also be clearly stated, in addition to the author.

[lepusdomesticus]

I've thought that myself...when I hate a book.

On a suspicion, reading this review, I looked up which publisher put this out and saw I'd guessed right--Simon Pulse. I've read two recent books from that imprint and loathed both--indeed one, Skin Hunger, was the most vile, despicable, awful book I'd ever read and I threw it across the room in rage and disgust before removing it from my house... but Rachel here loved it, so I admit opinions aren't universal. That being said, my bad experiences mean that I would not buy a new book (I say new because they also do paperback reprints of older books I like) put out by that particular publisher, unless it was highly recommended by someone whose opinion I absolutely trust.

But I don't know how many editors that imprint has or who they are. It could be it's just one editor who picks books I think are awful, and someone else there has tastes more like mine. Who knows?

[pseudo_tsuga]

And of course there's no such thing as bone infection or complex fractures! I bet every single break is clean and complication-free.

(I can't believe I am actually getting angry from this, but my dad has a permanently broken leg thanks to those two things after someone shoved him into a sign skiing so it pisses me off to see it treated so cavalierly.)