A teenage girl is transformed into a reluctant superhero and must balance her old life with the dark secret of who she has become.
Prima ballerina Anthem Fleet is closely guarded by her parents in their penthouse apartment. But when she meets the handsome Gavin at a party on the wrong side of town, she is immediately drawn into his dangerous world. Then, in a tragic accident, Anthem falls to her death. She awakes in an underground lab, with a bionic heart ticking in her chest. As she navigates her new life, she uncovers the sinister truth behind those she trusted the most, and the chilling secret of her family lineage…and her duty to uphold it.
Mrs Kahaney, there is such a thing called world building and in the very massive young adult market its pretty darned important. Unfortunately, you are seriously missing it and in this book it was pretty necessary so this book seriously dropped in my rating just because of that. The whole bleak world and silent vigilante with improved skillz was all well and good, but why is the world so bleak? Who are the bad guys and what is the motivation? Who is this mysterious The Hope that keeps being alluded to? I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I'd actually had a clue what was going on.
I also would have loved the whole mechanical heart thing to have been mentioned a little more. It's mentioned every now and again in passing and Anthem does use her awesome new powers but what about the emotional effect of having a heart transplant? I loved the whole vigilante thing though, Anthem going and kicking butt was pretty awesome to read about and it was at this point that the pace picked up. Then there's that twist at the end which I could have seen coming but... well... it did hit me and I'll give Kahaney kudos for that.
Let me get onto this romance though. This was one of the most frustrating and annoying romances ever. Anthem meets Gavin. Anthem falls for Gavin. Anthem loses her virginity to Gavin within a few days. Gavin is kidnapped. Anthem is heartbroken because she loves this guy. No, just... NO. I get that Kahaney had this awesome batman-esque vigilante thing planned out and had to get there somewhere, but what the HECK is this? Instant love is one thing, but instant deflowering is on a whole other level.
I was so excited for The Brokenhearted and I regret to say that for me this book was an absolute let-down.There were some exciting and well paced parts and the ending was a shocker, but the romance and absolute lack of world development just really disappointed me. Not recommended by me...
Book released 8th October 2013 by HarperTeen
Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Edelweiss)
