⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 glowing stars!)
If you’ve been waiting for a book that grabs your heart, twists it around, and leaves you breathless in the best possible way—Broken Country is it.
This novel has everything I love: an aching love story, rich emotional layers, and the kind of tension that keeps you turning pages way past bedtime. Clare Leslie Hall’s American debut is set in the wilds of the English countryside and tells the story of Beth, a woman torn between the life she chose and the love she never forgot. The narrative shifts between past and present, slowly revealing the legacy of first love—and the secrets it left behind.
And oh, the nostalgia. The story brought me right back to the bittersweet days of my own first love—when everything felt bigger, riskier, more alive. Hall’s writing is intimate and stunning. Every line pulses with emotion. I was completelyinvested in these characters, their choices, their heartbreak.
There are some jaw-dropping twists (seriously, wow), and that ending? I’m still recovering. It’s both devastating and perfect. Rumor has it there’s a movie in the works—and if so, sign me up. I’ll bring the tissues.
Broken Country is one of the best books I’ve read this year—both thought-provoking and beautifully written. Highly, highly recommend.
** Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for a complimentary review copy. The opinions are my own.