Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Thing to Mend, Revenge, Ice Cream and Other Thing Best Served Cold and Hearts Fingers and Other Things to Cross by Katie Finn
Genre: Contemporary, Summer, Romance, Revenge
Published by: Square Fish
Pages: 342, 400, 320 respectively
Rating: ★★.5
More by Katie Finn: Top 8 | What’s Your Status? | Unfriended

The Broken Hearts & Revenge trilogy follows Gemma, who used to be best friends with Hallie until she spread a rumour that destroyed Hallie’s mother Karen’s career and her dad’s chance at happiness. After five years she returns to the Hamptons, where Hallie lives, and uses a fake identity to try and rebuild their friendship, because grudges can’t last forever, right?

Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend

In the beginning Gemma is struggling with the recent break up with her perfect boyfriend, so when Josh, Hallie’s brother, perpetuates her accidental new identity things are looking up for her. But for Gemma, nothing good comes easy.

I was so on edge reading this book! Although a lot of the shenanigans are predictable and happen in abundance, they were still super fun. The beach setting ives off those perfect summer vibes and the hints of romance make this the perfect summer read. The whole revenge thing seems a little over the top, because when you find out what Gemma did, it’s hard to like her, but you’re already on her side and know that it came from a childish selfishness. (Even though when I say ‘child’ she was actually 11, so should’ve known better. But it’s all in the sake of plot progression, so…)

Gemma could be pretty annoying, and I’d say the one word I would use to describe her was ‘oblivious.’ How she didn’t see anything coming is beyond me, but there’s still something entertaining about the dramatic irony – even if it can get frustrating. Overall, it was a pretty good opener to the series, and the end definitely had that jaw-dropping factor that makes it almost impossible not to want to pick the second book up straight away!

Revenge, Ice Cream and Other Things Best Served Cold

I ended up reading the second book a year later (why does the wait for sequels always have to be so long?!) but the beginning does a good job of summarising what has happened in a choppy ‘previously on…’ sort of way. I think this one was a bit more tedious and long winded, after the shock and betrayal of book one, RICAOTBSC (not a catchy initialism) there’s nothing surprising or new. Not to say that the first book’s plot was a complete surprise, but at least it was predictable in a good way. I hate to say it, but I found the whole thing a bit too petty. Are any 16 year olds really this vindictive?? Surely the mature thing to do would be to sit down and actually have a conversation. Communication  was definitely lacking in this series.

The best thing, undoubtedly, about book two, is the rise of the secondary characters! Sophie comes up to stay with Gemma, Ford is also home and causing waves. Reid becomes a sort of love interest for Sophie and Gwyneth and Teddy are in the Hamptons stirring up trouble too. I feel in love with all of them a little bit. I love big group dynamics like theirs! The romantic vibes between Ford and Gemma heat up again, but just like before Gemma is OBLIVIOUS much to my continual discomfort.

The ending was another cliffhanger, and the character progression seemed to be a lot better than the first. The girls know each other’s secrets and for a moment it almost seemed like things were moving in the right direction, which gave a lot of promise for the finale.

Hearts, Fingers, and Other Things To Cross

I think this book was probably my favourite of the series. There’s a big storm and all of the characters (well, the teen ones anyway) are trapped in one house. That means it’s time for CONFESSIONS and CONFRONTATIONS. So good! I Can you tell I love these kinds of dynamics? Because I really do.

What I don’t like however is people trying to sabotage other people’s happiness. Seriously, have Gemma and Hallie learned nothing?  Thank goodness for Ford, that’s what I’m saying. By the end quite a lot of my issues were resolved and the epilogue was definitely cute. But, having to read over 1000 pages to get there? I’m not so sure. Also, in comparison this book felt really short and very rushed, especially at the end, which I guess I’m a bit disappointed with. Maybe it should’ve been a duology?

The trilogy is intense yet fun. It’s the kind of thing you just have to sit back and enjoy, without really thinking about some of the moral implications of the character’s actions. Be prepared for eye-roll worthy moments and to be more frustrated with these characters than perhaps any other characters you’ve ever read before. I don’t think this series is quite as good as Katie Finn’s Top 8 trilogy, so I’m more inclined to recommend that one, but look at these covers. Just take a second to drool over them. If this isn’t the best excuse for a cover buy, then I don’t know what is. Just…prepare yourself for it, you just might end up liking it!