Beautiful Broken Girls

Starred review from December 1, 2016
After two sisters commit suicide, the boy next door traces the notes one left behind for him.Ben Lattanzi, a white teen toiling in small-town Massachusetts, receives a letter from Mira Cillo seven days after she and her sister, Francesca, died. They were found at the bottom of the quarry lake, tangled together. Compounding the tragedy, their cousin Connie Villela had passed away only months before. In her letter, Mira tells Ben that everyone wanted to touch her and Francesca and that by going to the seven locations he touched her, he'll discover the truth. Ben, known as sensitive due to a public childhood trauma, becomes enamored with the notion of reconnecting with Mira, whom he briefly dated but long adored. Soon he realizes the story Mira wants to tell isn't about her--it's about her sister and the months leading to their fatal fall. Mira, Francesca, and Connie, all white, were bonded by shared blood and would do anything for each other. Through a haze of longing, Ben finds out just what that means as he pieces together Mira's last messages. Told through both Ben's and the girls' perspectives, the mystery unfolds with aching precision--both Ben's grief and the sisters' pain can be acutely traced as they grow. Even though the truth can be seen before it's revealed, the girls' secrets pack a gut punch that lingers. Haunting and mesmerizing. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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December 1, 2016

Gr 10 Up-From the author of After the Woods comes a follow-up novel about sisters who drown themselves in a quarry lake and the boy who loved one of them. Before Mira dies, Ben touches seven parts of her body, in seven different locations. After her death, Ben receives a letter that sends him on a quest through those seven places. The journey introduces readers to a small community where deaths and near deaths are on the rise and adults are powerless to stop the trend. Organized into eight parts, the narrative begins with a Sylvia Plath quotation, which further dramatizes the darkness in store for readers. There is also a mystical element that adds a level of complexity, as well as a plot detour that feels superfluous. Familial ties, friendship, and community trust are all intriguing themes, but the book's central story line is its strength as Ben moves through the stages of disbelief and grief. Teen readers will find sympathy for each character and be moved by the profound sadness of the sisters' short lives. VERDICT A haunting tale that reads like a young adult version of Jeffrey Eugenides's The Virgin Suicides. Give to fans of Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why.-Alicia Abdul, Albany High School Library, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 Just outside of Boston, in a patriarchal Italian American community, sisters Mira and Francesca Cillo are dead, their bodies entwined and retrieved from a toxic quarry lake. Days after the suicide, Ben Lattanziwhom Mira had allowed to touch seven parts of her bodyreceives a letter from Mira, starting him on the hunt for notes at each of the locations where they had touched. Each note cryptically reveals more about why the sisters chose to end their lives, exposing complex reasons that involve a self-proclaimed religious stigma, a risky crush, and a devastating lie. Unlike After the Woods (2016), Savage's second novel is more character-driven than plot-driven. These figures are compellingly damaged, and the suspense is ever present. Savage's skillful writing makes the characters' pain deep and tangible, offering readers the full impact of the deaths on the town. The novel is cleverly divided into chapters of the seven body parts, propelling the search for the next clue. Prepare to be shocked, and have plenty of tissues handy. Perfect for readers of Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why (2007).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2017
Ben is devastated when his crush, Mira, and her sister Francesca are found drowned in a quarry near their tight-knit, Italian-Catholic Boston suburb. Ben follows a trail of cryptic notes Mira left behind, and alternating chapters flash back to the sisters' last months of grappling, privately, with a supernatural--perhaps holy--phenomenon. This novel is tantalizingly eerie but leaves too many questions unanswered.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)