Skye is an extremely talented teenager and her art is going to take her places. In fact, she’s hoping for a scholarship to art school so she can get out of town and make something of herself. Only, she’s just found out that her mom is dating Dan again. Last time she dated Dan, something happened between them, something that shouldn’t happen. Skye has tried to tell her mom but it seems she just doesn’t believe her. Now Skye might have to put her plans for art school on hold because she can’t leave her little sister Emma behind with Dan.
So unfortunately for Skye, she has rather low self-esteem now when it comes to men. She likes the attention she gets from guys, and she loves to flirt when she’s drinking. Which is a lot, because drinking helps make the memories fade into the background. She finds herself in a few sticky situations because of the drinking. If anything, Skye needs to be in counseling to help her cope with the trauma.
I admired Skye so much because her love of art poured off the page. She was so insanely talented in multiple mediums and whenever she started talking about a new project, I got excited with her. My heart broke for her when she was so scared to try and speak up again to her mother. Because she felt she wasn’t believed it made it that much harder for her to try again all these years later. But she’s such a strong teenager and I know she’s going places.
The book was well-written, I liked the characters, including Ben. Emma got on my nerves a bit, but I imagine that’s what younger sisters are supposed to do. (I only have older sisters, so perhaps I grated on them as Emma does). Luisa was a great character as Skye’s best friend, and we would only hope that anyone going through such a thing will have someone like Luisa they can lean on. Keith was a great character that came out of nowhere, and I would have liked to have spent more time with him. I felt Skye’s journey to speak up was probably true to what survivors go through, and Sibson did well portraying that inner battle and the scars one carries after such a thing happens. Overall, The Art of Breaking Things is very nicely done, a great read.
For now you can read my review on Goodreads as The Art of Breaking Things hasn’t released. It is available for preorder on Amazon for 10.99, it releases June 18th.
Rae's Reading Lounge 