Book Review: Every Bright and Broken Thing by Brian McBride

Haunted by the last question their mother ever asked them before she passed away, the Greyson brothers struggle to cope with their grief and adjust to life after tragedy.

Semi-popular sixteen-year-old Liam spends his nights performing as the lead singer of his high school indie pop/rock band, Liam and the Landmarks. But something happened to Liam two years ago at his friend's house - a secret Liam will take to his grave. But in small towns like Summit, Colorado, secrets always seem to find their way out.

Twenty-four-year-old Ezra thought that he could cure his grief when he left Summit behind for a prestigious art school in Chicago, but things only got worse. Now a college dropout working at a gas station mini mart, he turns to alcohol, prescription painkillers, and meaningless one-night stands. But Ezra can't run forever - life always catches up with you.

With striking and abrasively honest dual-perspective narratives, EVERY BRIGHT AND BROKEN THING illustrates the unbreakable bond between brothers and the power in coming home.

My rating:

Every Bright and Broken Thing . . . wrecked me. Wow. Um.

I thought I'd never read a book with prose that I could compare to Charles Martin.

I was wrong.

Every Bright and Broken Thing was beautiful. And it HURT. Reading reviews about it made me think that it'd break my heart and make me wanna sob the whole way through.

But no . . . it's one of those books that make you start hurting at the very beginning, just a little bit. And that ache grows deeper and deeper until it sticks in your mind and you wonder if there's anything good in the world. Liam and Ezra sinking deeper and deeper into the pit of despair, trying to get out by themselves. Knowing that they're not good enough. Knowing that they'll never be enough, never be able to fix what's broken.

And then...redemption.

I finished this baby several days ago and I'm still not sure how to rate it. It was so, so heavy. So, so good.

Liam was . . . oh my goodness. Liam was, by far, my favorite character in the whole book. Both he and Ezra went through things that I . . . I can't even imagine. Yet some of the things they said hit me deeply because they were . . . me. But Liam has a secret. A secret he won't tell anyone.

But, of course, secrets always have a way of coming into the light.

Ezra was good. A messed-up, sick painter, in desperate need of help. To be honest, he made me mad most of the time. I wanted to grab him by the face and say "EZ! C'MON! GO HOME!" But I also knew why he was the way he was. And it made me okay with it. So there's that. (But that ONE SCENE AT THE END YES DUDE YESSSS)

Mr. Grayson was the besssst <3

And Theo. Can't forget Theo. #everyoneneedsaTheo

All the music tie-ends with this book resonated so deeply. I love music. Right up there next to books, it's one of my most favorite things in the world. And the fact that Liam was writing his own music, a part of his own band (Liam and the Landmarks. How cool of a name is that??), getting lost in the music . . . I. Adored. It.

The stuff I liked not-so-much?

So, all the sexual stuff I . . . could've done without. Like, it wasn't graphic at all and I'm not upset that it was in the book, because it really had a big thing to do with the plot (and I'M SORRY I'd talk more specifically, but SPOILERS *cries* If you have questions, comment them and I'll answer them to the best of my abilities). But I have a very active imagination, y'all. Just a bit less than what was in the book could've been nice. (Plus the mentions of bare chests + taking showers was juuuuust a bit much for my tastes.)

And, there were a few inconsistencies/typos. If you asked me to point out the inconsistencies, I honestly can't remember them all right now, except for the main one being that Liam's secret, according to the back cover blurb and the first few chapters, occurred four years ago. For the rest of the book, it was two years. So yeah.

And I've waited until now to rate this book because I honestly wasn't sure what rating to give it. So, after reading through all the notes I've made . . . yes. Five stars. Because what I didn't care for was far outweighed with the deep stuff. The heavy stuff. The amazingness.

TO THE AUTHOR: Brian, thank you for writing this book. Thank you for not shying away from the fact that this world is broken, so broken. That there's only one thing that can give us hope.

Have you read Every Bright and Broken Thing? What are your thoughts?