Heartbreakers by Pamela Wells

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Audience: Young Adult

Rating: B+

Synopsis:

Sydney, Raven, Kelly and Alexia have been friends forever – but lately they haven’t had much time for each other. Then, due to some similarly timed break-ups, they suddenly have lots of time – too much time – because they’re busy dealing with broken hearts. Alexia, the chronically single friend, comes to the rescue by creating the ‘Break-up Code,’ an exhaustive list of rules that girls must follow to get over their ex’s. Except… the rules are awfully hard to follow and feelings are awfully hard to control…

Chatter:

(Spoiler Alerts! )

Pamela Wells does an excellent job of creating realistic characters. Each of the girls had a unique personality and their boyfriends and boy friends did as well. I was engaged in the girls’ plights throughout, and often wondered how the book was going to end up. I admit, I did feared that Drew was going to end up with Kelly – but I’m happy he didn’t. But, poor Kelly – is she going to have to absorb Alexia’s role? Now that all the others are paired up, are they going to remember to hang out with her at all? I wish her character had had some resolution.

Speaking of characters, Ben is my favorite! He made me laugh so hard. I loved Kelly’s brother as well – he’s such a pest… but his motives were a little unclear. Why was he spending so much time with her all of a sudden? Was he trying to set up Kelly and Drew?

One problem I had with the book was the title. Why not call it The Break-up Code? That would have been a much better title. The girls aren’t really heartbreakers… more like heartbroken. I also wish that there was more development with the girls’ friendship – they never seemed to know what was going on in each other’s lives. Shouldn’t Syd’s friends have known how awful things were with her parents? Shouldn’t they have made a bigger effort to be there for her after her break-up with Drew?

The ending was pretty neat and tidy – but I love a happy ending so I’m not going to complain. (Except, the part where Syd’s mom magically shows up and fixes her priorities and Raven’s mom accepts her daughter’s singing because she looks ‘beautiful’… those bugged me!)

Luckily for us, Wells has a sequel coming out. Crushes will be out in December 2008, but you can pre-order it now. I can’t wait to see if Sydney truly commits to treating Drew better, or if Raven’s settled down with Horace, or how Alexia and Ben are doing. And what about poor Kelly? Hopefully she’s developed some self-esteem and isn’t feeling too lonely. I can’t wait to read it.

Questions:

Who was your favorite character?

Which couple do you think has the strongest relationship?

Which character benefited the most from the break up code?

What rule would you add to the break up code?

Keep reading!

Paige