Jar of Hearts, by Jennifer Hillier

This is a fast-paced thriller and I really enjoyed it. The beginning starts off strong with hard evidence proving Geo helped, in some way, with the murder her best friend, Angela, when she was in high school. How would you be able to explain helping cover up the murder of your best friend fourteen years ago in high school after a party? With your boyfriend? Buried in your backyard? The body dismembered?

“It wasn’t just Angela who died that night. Part of Geo did, too, and she’s long suspected it was the best part of her.”

“Back and forth and back again, the saw tore her best friend open. She heard the moment when saw hit bone. It made a scraping sound.”

The whole time I was trying to decide if I liked Geo or not, and what the motive was. There are jail scenes, court room excitement, and teenage drama that all add up to a tangled network of secrets that lead to the truth of Angela’s murder. The truth isn’t fully revealed until the end; so, the reader must piece the entire story together page by page.

Since the murder of Geo’s best friend, Angela, happened in high school, all the flashbacks occur during their time as teenagers in high school. The attitudes, relationships, and choices made while teenagers were definitely reflective of their youth and development.

There were a few twists during the last half that made that portion more of a page turner. As you are getting to the end, more information is revealed that creates for a sobering ending. Although I was able to figure some things out, I wasn’t able predict everything. However, there were some things I felt seem far-fetched.

Within the first 30 or so pages there is a rape scene, and it will not be the last. There is a lot of sex and details regarding sex. Abusive relationships is also a notably detailed.

Taken from Jennifer Hillier’s website.

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It Ends With Us, by Colleen Hoover

Do not let the summary that is provided for this book deceive you. Simply by reading the synopsis one would assume this is a modern romance. Yet, the focus is actually on domestic violence and its affect on relationships.

It follows the story of Lily Bloom, a young adult who seeks to avoid marrying an abusive man like her father. The reader peeks into her life as a teenager in an abusive home through the journal entries that she wrote as a teen. We see her mother stay with her father after abusing her time and time again, but Lily is only able to reconcile her mother’s past when she is put in the same situation as a young adult.

The reader is taken on a rough ride with Lily as she tries to navigate romance in young adulthood. She realizes that many people question the woman and not the abuser– asking why does she stay with him, rather than asking the question why is he being abusive and why is it okay for him to do that. She comes to understand that it is not easy to leave and a multitude of factors must be considered. The character Lily Bloom gives these women of domestic violence a voice. It was bittersweet to see these words expressed on paper through the character of Lily for others to read, hear, and try to understand. 

If you have ever been in an abusive relationship or an abusive home, then this book will really hit home for you. Have a tissue box ready. This is a hard book to get through and deals with a variety of distressing events.

The Author’s Note is a must read as it explains the author’s personal accounts that led to this story, but do not read it until the end since it contains spoilers.

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