Book Review: Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:

Release Date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Walker Childrens
354 Pages

Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident—including her memory of the event. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she’s kept hidden for so long: the horrible reality of their abusive relationship.

When the police reopen the investigation, it casts suspicion on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free? Debut writer Jennifer Shaw Wolf takes readers on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and, ultimately, forgiveness.

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Review:
Breaking Beautiful stirs up a lot of emotions. It's extremely heart-wrenching and it made me ache for the main character, Allie. I read it in one sitting because I could not put the book down. It was that gripping.

I adored Allie's twin brother, Andrew. He's so wonderful. His disabilities are just daily life for him and he does his best not to let them control his life. Allie's parents frustrated me to no end. I couldn't stand their parental guidance or "advice." The dad was never there for his kids because he was in the army and was too overbearing in my opinion. The mom was just… awful. Okay, she would seem really nice to outsiders, and she tried to be a good mom, but it seemed like she didn't think before she spoke. If she had known the entire story behind Allie's trauma, maybe she would be completely different, but in this case, I just couldn't stand her. She said things to Allie that shouldn't have been said and let her get away with things that Allie shouldn't have been able to get away with. Overall, this family had a lot of issues. I wanted to cheer when she finally stuck up to them. And Allie's family wasn't the the only one with problems. Trip and his family were just a mess. His father was a disgusting man and he gave me the creeps from the first time we met him. He was a horrible, horrible man and should be ashamed for ultimately causing the abuse of Allie.

It was hard to read Allie's story because it seemed like throughout the entire book, the only constant that she ever had was her brother. Her suffering started long before the accident, but she couldn't tell anyone, not even the only person who had always been there for her. It made me so sad. She didn't have the best grip on the reality of the abuse she suffered.

I love the mystery in this novel. The whole time I kept asking myself "what happened," "who did it," "why can't I read faster." In the end, I was pretty shocked by the turnout. Though for the most part, I am happy with the ending.

I am glad that Allie got the support, counseling and love that she needed and deserved. I can't even imagine going through the type of abuse that she went through. The book was written so well and so realistically that I felt like it was real.

There are some minor errors that I hope will be fixed before the release of this novel. The errors were just typos, but they still annoyed me. Those errors were the only real problem that I found with this novel. It was just that good.

I received and e-copy of this novel from the publisher through Netgalley for my honest opinion and review.