Blog Tour: Review + Excerpt of Breakable by Aimee Salter

First blog tour guys! And as a treat I have an excerpt of the novel for you guys at the end!

Book: Breakable
Author: Aimee L. Salter
Released Date: November 4th - out now! Purchase it on Amazon here.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars- you'll feel breakable by the end of this book

Synopsis (provided kindly by the author):

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

When seventeen-year-old Stacy looks in the mirror she can see and talk to her future self. “Older Me” has been Stacy's secret support through the ongoing battle with their neurotic mother, relentless bullying at school, and dealing with her hopeless love for her best friend, Mark.

Then Stacy discovers Older Me is a liar.

Still reeling from that betrayal, Stacy is targeted again by her most persistent tormentor. Only this time, he's used her own artwork to humiliate her - and threaten her last chance with Mark.

She’s reached breaking point.

Literally.

Review:

*I received an ARC of this novel in PDF format via the author in exchange for an honest review.

SO EXCITED FOR THIS REVIEW TO BE UP GUYS. I've actually finished Breakable a couple weeks ago and have been dying to tell you guys about it.

When I first read the synopsis for Breakable, I didn't think too much on it- it sounded like an interesting contemporary with a small sci-fi twist on it. Seeing the raving reviews,  I really wanted to see what Breakable could bring to the table. Could it offer me something fresh? Something authentic and real?
The answer is yes, it offers all those things and more.

I'm a really big fan of contemporary- but it's always the more fun, relaxing, funny, cute romance novels that I've always really enjoyed. The more deeper ones, that touch on deeper issues, then tend to be an easy hit or miss with me. Breakable was a really big hit with me- it really sent a pang to my heart reading certain scenes.

I remember reading certain scenes and just feeling overwhelmed- how Stacy could be so strong. My dog was laying next to me the whole time I was reading this novel- I remember reaching out and grabbing him into a hug. And then him writhing to get out of my grasp so he could nap.

The things Stacy go through in this novel is utterly raw and grippingly authentic. It's so real, it's scary. And it sucks to imagine people going through things like this. What I love most about this is how Stacy deals with all this- it's her inner self monologue and the monologue with Older Me that is the most powerful scenes to me in the novel. They give a sense of character and you see this girl who's been ripped to pieces by her peers, trying to stand and try to find her own piece of happiness.

I was a little confused around the end a little with the sci-fi element- I had to reread it once and kind of absorb it. It made the story a little less realistic along with a couple other things that I wondered about, (such as how the teachers totally didn't notice any of this going on) but it didn't really bothered me. It doesn't make the story any less meaningful, nor does it completely pull you out of the story.

Overall, a completely utterly astounding novel that surprised me with its depth and raw emotion. I definitely recommend you check out Breakable if you are a big contemporary fan, and even if you're not,  you might be surprised on how much you actually like it.

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-Excerpt-

Older Me sighed. “You can’t let Mom get under your skin that way. You can’t let anyone do that to you.”

“Are you kidding me? I’ve got some jerk sending me sexts and she thinks I’m asking for it! I show up at the dance and Finn humiliates me in front of my entire class. And Mark’s dating Karyn.” My hands were in my hair because it had honestly started feeling like my head was going to explode.

Older Me’s hands came up, soothing. She kept her voice to a whisper. “I know. I do. But you have to keep going. You just have to. If you push through this, it will work. You’ll show them. You’ll show them you didn’t deserve this!”

Those words... I didn’t deserve it.

I chewed them over. They felt right and wrong at the same time. They were true, but I didn’t believe them.

I let my eyes wander over the room, my bag, my pictures. It felt like sitting in this room with the door closed was my only safe space.

Older Me kept talking. “You think the way these people treat you is the end of the world. But I can tell you, it isn’t what happens to you in your life that destroys you. It’s what you do about it.”

“Are you trying to say it’s my fault everyone–”

“No. I’m saying that you’ve had crap thrown at you. You can either clean yourself up and keep going and prove everyone wrong – show them you didn’t deserve to get it in the first place. Or you can roll around in it and think you deserve it, and start acting like you do.”

Oh. “Is that what you did?”

She nodded. “Crappy things happened to me and I gave up. And believe me, when you give up, the crap just piles on thicker until pretty soon you don’t even realize it’s crap anymore.” She inched closer to me, her eyes piercing mine. “Stacy, if I had the chance to go back and live it again – to be in your shoes – I’d do it in a heartbeat. Because you’re going to walk away from this and figure out it wasn’t your fault.

“One day you’ll look back and realize that everyone you grew up with didn’t get it right. They didn’t actually know you. They didn’t really hear you. They were just so messed up, they threw all their own crap on you.

“But the thing is, if you can understand that it’s their problem, you’ll brush it all off and walk away clean. While they’ll still be looking for other people to dump on. You’ll win. It’ll be worth it.”

I couldn’t look away from her. “I don’t know…” Her words seemed so right. But I didn’t want to believe them because it meant I had to fight. And I was so tired of fighting.

She ran a hand through her hair and looked as tired as I felt. “There’s nothing I can tell you that will make this easier,” she whispered, “But you have to keep going. Because… because it took me this long to see the truth of that. And Mom still doesn’t get it. That’s why she’s such a jerk. If you can believe that the problem is theirs – know it’s true – you won’t end up like me, or her. You’ll be better. Stronger.”

“But everything else thinks it’s me! Even if I believed what you’re saying, it wouldn’t change what they thought.”

“True, but you’ll feel better.” She sighed. “Look, the only thing I know is I’ve always had a big hole inside. And no matter how I tried to be who they wanted me to be, no one ever loved me enough to fill the hole up. In fact, the harder I tried, the less they had to offer. So… it’s got to be better to fight. It’s got to be better not to give yourself up for other people. But there’s got to be more than that too.” She gave a watery smile. “When you figure out the rest, let me know.”

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About the Author: Aimee L. Salter

Aimee L. Salter is a Pacific North-Westerner who spent much of her young (and not-so-young) life in New Zealand. After picking up a Kiwi husband and son, she’s recently returned to Oregon.

She writes novels for teens and the occasional adult who, like herself, are still in touch with their inner-high schooler.
Aimee is the author behind Seeking the Write Life, a popular blog for writers.

You can find her on Facebook | Twitter | Blog
Purchase Breakable on Kindle | Nook | Paperback
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