Monday, March 03, 2014

Review: Another Little Piece of My Heart by Tracey Martin

From Goodreads: At her dying mother’s request, Claire dumps Jared, the only boy she’s ever loved. Left with a broken family and a broken heart, Claire is furious when she discovers that her biggest regret became Jared’s big break. While Jared is catapulted into rock-star status, another piece of Claire’s heart crumbles every time his song plays on the radio. The summer after her senior year, it’s been months since the big break-up, and Claire is just trying to keep her head down and make it through a tense trip to the beach with her family. But when Jared shows up, and old feelings reignite, can Claire and Jared let go of the past? Or will they be stuck singing the same old refrain? 

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: I normally tend to complain if a novel has too much drama, but in the case of Another Little Piece of My Heart by Tracey Martin, I was mentally prepared for it. How could a book not be full of drama when the main character’s ex has written a song about her?! Sadly, Another Little Piece of My Heart didn’t live up to my expectations.

I think the lack of drama in Another Little Piece of My Heart can be attributed to the writing style, which forces the reader to spend large chunks of time in Claire’s head. As a result, you get a lot of Claire reminiscing about her past – and thereby, lots of telling rather than showing.

This wouldn’t have been such a big issue if I had liked Claire more. Unfortunately, I found Claire to be whiny, and disliked that she blamed others for making her miserable instead of reflecting on how she herself is partly to blame for her situation. For example, she spends quite a bit of time regretting her breakup with Jared and blames her parents for this decision. Sure, her parents may have disapproved of Jared, but it was her decision to ultimately break up with him!

I also didn’t understand why Claire was still pining over Jared after he wrote a song about her. I know that the two were attracted to each other because of their shared love of music; but besides that, I have no idea what other things they had in common. It would have been nice if their relationship had been more fleshed out so that I could see why no other guy was worth Claire’s time.  

A novel that had the potential to be entertaining, Another Little Piece of My Heart was released by Harlequin Teen in December 2013. 

Comments About the Cover: I like its simplicity.  

Note: I only found out that Another Little Piece of My Heart was a retelling of Persuasion after I finished it. If you’re looking for a great retelling of Persuasion, I’d recommend reading Diana Peterfreund’s For Darkness Shows the Stars instead. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Harlequin Teen) for free via NetGalley.

6 comments:

  1. I had reread the description to see how the Persuasion retelling fits in but it's hard to tell especially when there's not a whole lot mentioned about Jared. Sorry this one didn't work out for you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmmm. This gives me pause because of the whole dying-mother's-last-request thing--if it weren't for that, I could see the rest working? Maybe? I'm stuck on that request, hah.

    It sounds like the character was a little annoying, and I hate it when you are TOLD that people love each other, but you go through an entire book and you still don't really understand why. *sigh*

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have to agree with Wendy, that seems really weird that her mother's DYING wish was to see her daughter's relationship ended?? I'll be taking your advice and reading Peterfreund's version of the retelling instead.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You've been in kind of a rough reading patch lately, haven't you Z? I hope whatever you're reading now or whatever you pick up next has a stronger heroine, one who doesn't only whine and reminisce, and that it knocks your socks off!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is so not a book that I would read normally anyway even if it was good, but I was still curious enough to read your review and Ughh! I just know that that protag would frustrate me. And a retelling of Persuasion, is it? Yup, better just stick with For Darkness Shows the Stars.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I actually loved this one, Z. I'm rating 5/5. :( But I also understand why it didn't work out for you. I guess I'm just into anything that's a Persuasion retelling. I'm obsessed with them so of course, I looooved For Darkness too. It's what got me addicted to it. Anyway, there's another upcoming Persuasion retelling that I think you're going to love more! It's called The Last Best Kiss by Claire LaZebnik. :D

    ReplyDelete

I love comments and will reply back via either email or stopping by your blog. Please note that this is an award-free zone.