Review: The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynn Weingarten

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynn Weingarten
Young Adult
Hardcover, 352 pgs
Published: December 27th, 2011 by HarperTeen
Source: Amazon Vine

If there’s an upside to having your heart broken, it’s this: A broken heart makes you brave.

The first day of sophomore year doesn’t go the way Lucy planned. After a summer apart from her boyfriend, she’s ready to greet him with a special surprise and instead gets a shocking one in return: He’s breaking up with her. Beyond devastated, Lucy has no idea how she’s going to make it through homeroom, let alone the rest of her life.

Enter three stunning girls with the unnatural ability to attract boys and an offer Lucy can’t refuse: They can heal her heart in an instant. And then she’ll be one of them—a member of a sisterhood that is impervious to heartbreak and has access to magic distilled from the tears of brokenhearted boys. But to gain their power, Lucy must get a guy to fall in love with her the old-fashioned way, and then break his heart in the next seven days.

While the sisterhood may need another Heartbreaker, Lucy’s only desire is to get her ex back. But how far is she willing to go, and who is she willing to cross to get what she wants?

This book was surprisingly good.  I think I was expecting a fluffy read with shallow characters and it actually had some depth to it with a fantastic story line.  While it was still an easy and fast read I felt connected to the story and to Lucy through the entire thing.  


While Lucy may have been a touch naive I actually really 'got' her.  We see in the beginning how her love is bordering on obsession (or maybe crossed over a bit ;) and I actually really got that.  I remember when I fell in love the first time (or so I thought) and how obsessed I was and remembering those intense feelings made me really connect with Lucy and her feelings.  


The actual secret sisterhood was quite interesting.  It was hard to know if these girls are good or bad.  I kept going back and forth because they kind of seemed like a group of mean girls but then we'd see another side of them and think maybe not, maybe they are just insecure or something.  But as I read on I saw there was much more to the story and I really loved being surprised over and over and not ever really knowing for sure how things would go.


Through the story Lucy grows.  I loved seeing how she found her voice, found her inner strength and overcame her weaknesses.  She was really shy and had no self esteem to speak of and I think it's important that girls know that they don't have to have a boyfriend to be someone.  And what they believe they are is often what others believe they are.  If they find inner strength and carry themselves with confidence men/boys are more likely to be interested.  But most important- you do not have to have a boyfriend to be someone.  Even adults seem to have that problem and it's something I just don't understand.  Well, I do, but I don't agree.  


There's magic in this book and I knew that going in but wasn't sure how it would work.  It actually fit with the story perfect and worked extremely well.  It didn't feel like it was just a convenient tool, it felt right.  And it wasn't overwhelming, it was more like just a touch of magic.


Overall I thought this ended up being a fabulous read.  It turned out to be much better then I expected and I'm very pleased I took the time to read it.  I highly recommend it!  I do have to give a warning that there's a fair amount of cursing in this book.  It actually was enough for me to really notice.  It's the way teens talk, but I'm still not a fan of it being so much.  (Please note I read an ARC, the final edition may have changes.)


4/5 stars!


Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.  The final edition of the book may have slight changes from the ARC version I read.