Broken Things by Lauren Oliver

With all the intensity and whiplash turns of Sharp Objects and One of Us Is Lying, this engrossing psychological thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver is an unforgettable, mesmerizing tale of exquisite obsession, spoiled innocence, and impossible friendships.
It’s been five years since Summer Marks was brutally murdered in the woods.
Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend. That driven by their obsession with a novel called The Way into Lovelorn the three girls had imagined themselves into the magical world where their fantasies became twisted, even deadly.
The only thing is: they didn’t do it.
On the anniversary of Summer’s death, a seemingly insignificant discovery resurrects the mystery and pulls Mia and Brynn back together once again. But as the lines begin to blur between past and present and fiction and reality, the girls must confront what really happened in the woods all those years ago—no matter how monstrous.

After seeing a couple of reviews that panned this book, I decided to give it a shot. I just wanted to see what the big deal was. I chose the audiobook version which seemed to be how everyone else was consuming this book. That and I’d honestly never listened to an entire audiobook before. Too bad I kept falling asleep.

The story does tend to seem a bit disjointed. It bounced between Mia and Brynn, Then and Now, and intersperses bits of both The Way into Lovelorn and Return to Lovelorn in there as well. It isn’t a bad book, just a bit confusing and honestly, the person who did commit the murder really is forgettable, but I think this character was meant to be forgettable. It’s the entire reason it is such a surprise this person did it.

Between the slightly confusing mix of past, present, characters, and books, plus a rather boring mid-story, I can see why other reviewers weren’t thrilled with this book. I definitely wouldn’t listen to the audiobook again, although I might read a physical copy if I could get my hands on one, just to see if there was a difference. As far as this audiobook version goes, it’s a 3 star read because I kept falling asleep during the story, meaning there were parts that just weren’t all that interesting.