The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

When Jude was 12, she made a pact with her 3 older sisters. They cut their hands, burned their hair in a church candle, and said an oath. They were never to be involved with one of the Vargas boys in order to prevent themselves from a broken heart. Now, it is the summer after Jude's senior year and all of her sisters have already moved out. Her father has Alzheimer's and in a desperate attempt to "cure" him, Jude decides to help him restore the motorcycle from his glory days. Everything is fine, until Jude realizes that Emilio, the boy hired to fix the bike, is a Vargas. She has to figure out what is right for her father, her family, and herself.

Twenty Boy Summer was a completely amazing book. Bittersweet was good, but not great, and The Book of Broken Hearts falls after Bittersweet. Let's talk about the romance. I liked Emilio, but he was no Sam. He was sweet, and I liked him, but the relationship with him and Jude just didn't seem as REAL as it could have been. The chemistry was good but not great unfortunately. 

I liked how this story was more than just a romance, and it was also about a family who is trying to hold everything together. I really felt Jude's pain about Papi and how she is trying to be strong and make everything okay. 

The characters were all very likable and realistic. There was Papi, who was funny and awesome. I liked Jude, I think at first she isn't totally comfortable with herself but she's really sharp. Her friends are slightly annoying, but that's how they're supposed to be and I can understand their reactions. Emilio is great and Jude's sisters are not perfect, but you can still see why they act the way they act. 

Another thing I really liked was the incorporation of Spanish (or Puerto Rican, etc but they are close enough) because I've taken 3 years of Spanish and I liked learning a few new words!

I liked the ending, I thought it was really sweet and a good way to end it. If you had to choose a book to read by Sarah Ockler, choose Twenty Boy Summer, but this one was pretty good too. Good, not great. 5 out of 5 stars.

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Hudson Avery is best known as the Cupcake Queen of Watonka. She spends most of her time inventing new cupcake recipes, watching after her brother, and helping out her mother at their diner. She’s always had a passion for ice-skating, but when she discovered her father was cheating on her mom, she threw the competition and gave up on her dream. Years later, she’s invited to compete in a skating competition that could change her life. A super cute hockey guy offers to get her rink time if she helps the hockey team (who have had a killer losing streak) and teaches them some of her tricks.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I love making cupcakes (and various other deserts), so I personally adored the little cupcake descriptions at the beginning of each chapter. There were a lot of good ideas and I plan on writing them down to recreate! But anyway… back to the book.

The characters were all very likable and realistic. I liked the idea of the story and how there were so many different aspects to it. It was really cute and had many humorous parts. I liked the setting and the messages ad everything in general!

The only thing that I found to be strange was Hudson’s relationship with Kara. First of all, it’s Hudson’s fault they stopped being friends. It’s understandable that Kara would hate Hudson, but for Hudson to hate Kara? That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t think she’s justified in being mean, because Kara didn’t do anything.

The only reason it's not 5 stars is Hudson’s love interest. I wish that more would have happened. And the competition…. Seriously….

The cover is gorgeous, but I think there should have been a cupcake!!! It would have been way cuter.

Sarah Ockler is a wonderful writer (Twenty Boy Summer was better) and Bittersweet doesn’t disappoint. It shows more of a playful edge of the writer. I recommend this one for anyone who wants a sweet, wintery romance/self-discovery story. 4 out of 5 stars.

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

At one point of this past summer, I saw the cover of this book on GoodReads and I said "Oh, I remember I wanted to read that!" and then after I got the book I was like "I could have sworn that I read this book" but I couldn't quite remember what happened. At about page 200, I realized that I HAD read the book. Wow, so smart of me!! haha

So, in Twenty Boy Summer there's Anna. Anna's best friends with Frankie, and her brother Matt. Anna has been in love with Matt ever since she was 10, and finally at her 15th birthday party, he kisses her. Life is perfect for Anna. She and Matt don't want to upset Frankie with the news, so they decide it would be best if Matt told her himself when they got back from their California trip. Then, their lives take a tragic twist. Matt dies in a car crash because of a heart problem that no one knew he had. Anna never tells Frankie about her and Matt because it was "their secret". So she goes on with her life, secretly hurting. Frankie changes and so does Anna. A year later, it’s time for Frankie’s family’s annual California trip and Anna is invited along. Anna and Frankie plan for the A.B.S.E. (Absolute Best Summer Ever) and plan on meeting 20 new boys between the two of them. Anna reluctantly agrees, even though she has no desire to meet anyone because she’s still not over Matt.

Twenty Boy Summer broke my heart. I was so devastated reading about how Anna loses her love and has conflicting emotions regarding Frankie, love in general, and herself. I connected with this book so personally because I have a boyfriend, and I would be so so so heartbroken if anything happened to him. I feel her pain, and really felt like I understand Anna.  

Frankie was a little bit difficult to relate to. She and Anna are supposed to be best friends, but I don’t know how Anna puts up with her. I guess their duo needs a leader and a follower, and that leader is definitely Frankie. She pushes Anna into things, forces her to look a certain way, lies to her, and is oblivious to the feelings she had for Matt for SIX years. She seems a bit like a diva, but I think she’s also misunderstood. She’s just grieving like everyone else, but her grief is in a different way. She has her soft spots, though and I grew to like her despite her flaws.

I loved pretty much all the characters, and Matt. The cover is beautiful, and goes along with the story perfectly. The only thing that’s a little bit iffy is the title. If you read the book, you understand it and you love it. But if you don’t, it sounds kinda… sleazy, right? But anyway, I would definitely recommend this book, especially to readers who like Sarah Dessen. I absolutely adored this story, even though it was a little sad for me. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s a good kind of heart break because you know everything’s going to be okay in the end. 5 out of 5 stars.