Break by Hannah Moskowitz

 Break

by Hannah Moskowitz

Jonah is on a mission to break every bone in his body. Everyone knows that broken bones grow back stronger than they were before. And Jonah wants to be stronger—needs to be stronger—because everything around him is falling apart. Breaking, and then healing, is Jonah’s only way to cope with the stresses of home, girls, and the world on his shoulders.
When Jonah's self-destructive spiral accelerates and he hits rock bottom, will he find true strength or surrender to his breaking point?

After reading this book, I am more glad than ever that I've never broken a bone.  It sounds awfully painful.  But that doesn't keep Jonah from trying to break every bone in his body.  He wants to be strong for his brother, who is only one drop of milk or splatter of egg away from certain death.  Their mother already has her hands full with Will, the baby that just won't stop crying.  She isn't a responsible mother anyway.  I think Jonah did more mothering than she did. 
Jesse just wants to be normal.  Jonah wants to keep him safe.

The writing style was a bit too juvenile for me, but since it's intended for young adults, that's more my problem than the author's.
Jonah and Jesse were interesting, but I didn't think any of the side-characters had any depth to them.  Especially Charlotte.  What in the word did he see in her?
The adults depicted in the book were all lacking common-sense or any sense of responsibility.  It left me feeling cheated, when I really wanted to love the story.
The latter third of the book was very good, though, and full of angst.  Which is something I absolutely love.  The more angst, the better.

What I learned from reading Break:
1. Families are seriously messed-up.
2. Psychologists are idiots who will blame you for other people's mental problems and then lock you in a dark room for several days.
3. Leaky boobs are like cyanide.


3/5 stars