ALL THE BROKEN PIECES BLOG TOUR ~ REVIEW and GIVEAWAY

Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the All the Broken Pieces Blog Tour! My stop on the tour includes a review and giveaway. You can find the complete tour schedule at the tour homepage. N

Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: 12/11/12
Format: eARC
Pages: 304
Source: Received from publisher for review.

What if your life wasn’t your own?

Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident that put her in the coma, but as the voices invade her dreams, and her dreams start feeling like memories, she and Spencer seek out answers. Yet the deeper they dig, the less things make sense. Can Liv rebuild the pieces of her broken past, when it means questioning not just who she is, but what she is?

All the Broken Pieces leaves me with one word: WOW. This is a story wholly unlike any I've read before, and whomever says there are no original ideas anymore, is wrong.

There is so much that I want to say about All the Broken Pieces that I don't even know where to start. The story begins with a girl, in a room, with no recollection of who or where she is. The only details she can get are from her concerned, overprotective parents, and are vague at best. Liv soon realizes that there seem to be three distinct personalities living in her brain, two distinct opposite, and her's, that remains somewhere in the middle, yet dominant. When Liv's family quickly uproots and she enrolls at a new school, those voices try to lead her down two very different paths, but Liv chooses her own, again, somewhere in the middle. That path leads her to Spencer, a cute, smart guy, who is also a loner. Despite his best intentions, Liv becomes becomes Spencer's friend, slowly. When she finally reveals her secret, that she has no memories, he puts them on a quest to make new memories. But the more time goes by, the more vivid Liv's dreams of another life become. And with Spencer's help, she finally decides to uncover the truth, no matter how horrific it is sure to be.

Besides the unique, horrific, and yes, sort of genius unfolding of the story, Cindi Madsen has a real talent for creating realistic, easy-to-love characters. Liv was heartbreaking. Her struggle to maintain a grip on her sanity, find out the truth, fit in at a new school, all the while keeping a wicked sense of humor, made me embrace her. Being a person who will not shut up until I have all the facts, I did at times found her reluctance to push her parents, and Spencer, for absolute truth frustrating. But when I stopped and remembered that she is a scared girl who woke up with a scar on her chest and staples in her head, I gained patience.

Spencer, a quiet, broody loner who listens to music to drown other people at school out, he reminded me a bit of Owen from Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. After an accident he (sort of) caused, Spencer shut everyone out, but when Liv comes to town, he slowly lets her into her life. As much as his silence about the past and his hot-and-cold nature bothered Liv (and me), Spencer's eagerness at helping Liv gain new, happy memories made me fall in love with him. Their relationship, full of  witty jabs and smart remarks, is my favorite type to read about. I loved them as friends and I loved them as a team.

All the Broken Pieces was a beautifully written story of two broken people who help piece one another back together. The ending truly shocked me and the epilogue broke me. It's a story that I want to reread, just to see if I can grab onto more pieces that I missed the first time.

Smart, Funny, Heartbreaking, Shocking, and Unique, All the Broken Pieces is a story that I won't forget.



Favorite Quotes:


  "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're one of the most awesome people I've ever met."
  "Yeah, but you don't remember most of the people you've met, so that's not saying much."
 (eARC, 81%)


  Taking a deep breath, she peeled off the shirt covering her navy bikini top. Then, feeling immediately self-conscious, she put a hand over her scar.
  Spencer grabbed her hand and lifted it off.
  "That's what you're worried about?"
  "It looks gross."
  He leaned down and kissed the raised line on her chest, then moved his lips up to the scar on her neck.  "Obviously I haven't done a very good job of expressing how beautiful I think you are."
  A lump formed in her throat and she blinked back tears.
  His fingers traced the top of her scar. "It makes me think how lucky you are to be alive."  
(eARC, 90%)


You can purchase All the Broken Pieces at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository   |  Books-a-Million


About the author:
Cindi Madsen sits at her computer every chance she gets, plotting revising, and falling in love with her characters. Sometimes it makes her a crazy person. Without it, she’d be even crazier. She has way too many shoes, but can always find a reason to buy a new pretty pair, especially if they’re sparkly, colorful, or super tall. She loves music, dancing, and wishes summer lasted all year long. She lives in Colorado (where summer is most definitely NOT all year long) with her husband and three children.

Connect with Cindi at:
her website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  blog

GIVEAWAY

I have one ecopy of All the Broken Pieces to give away, courtesy of Entangled Teen.

The details:

• Must be 13+ years of age to enter.
• Open to Intl residents.
• Must fill out the Rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway