A Thousand Broken Pieces by Tillie Cole was heartbreaking and cathartic.

Synopsis

Can two broken hearts make a whole. . . ?

After losing her beloved sister three years ago, Savanna Litchfield has been living half a life. When Savannah’s therapist suggests joining a trip around the world for grieving teens she agrees to go clutching tightly to the unread journal her sister left behind.

Seventeen-year-old Cael Woods is angry. One year after losing his older brother his life has spiraled. Once the most promising hockey player in the junior league, Cael can no longer step onto the ice. When his parents sign him up for a trip abroad no part of him wants to go.

As Cael and Savannah embark on a journey they begin to find solace in each other. As they start to heal piece by broken piece, could this be the start of a love they never thought they’d feel again?

A Thousand Broken Pieces is a beautiful and life-affirming novel about grief, love and friendship.

Review

“No” “The shattered pieces mays take longer to find, and they certainly take longer to fix back together. But any broken plate can be mended with time and the sheer tenacity to do it.”

5 stars…and several box of tissues later.

Warning: there are lots of triggers in that book if you can’t stand reading about grief as this is the central topic of the book.

Years ago, I read A Thousand Boy Kisses. I adored that heartbreaking book and could not leave a review other than a picture of lovebirds. Because that was Poppy and Rune.

A Thousand Broken Pieces is taking place four years after and the books should be read in order, even if they technically are interconnected standalones. So don’t read further if you haven’t read A Thousand Boy Kisses yet and plan to or you’ll be spoiled!

A Thousand Broken Pieces is a story of grief and healing.

We are talking about deep grief, when someone can’t move on and is literally drowning in anger or in anxiety and is trapped in that stage of grief, unable to lead a normal life.

Savannah is Poppy’s sister and even four years later, she can’t live a normal life. Daily panic attacks plague her and she has been homeschooled. Years of therapy didn’t heal her. That brilliant and caring girl has become a shadow of herself, distancing her from everyone.

Cael is seventeen and one year before, his brother died. I won’t reveal more about that topic but they were extremely tight knit and Cael is just angry all the time, even with his family. He too has withdrawn from his life.

Both Savannah and Cael will join a group of mourning teens who will tour the world, under the supervision of psychologists, to come to term with their loss. And they will find love on the way.

I cried literally every five pages!!!

I lost my dad years ago and my best friend four months ago and that book had all these emotions resurfacing. Sometimes it was just a random word. That was very embarrassing when I read on the train but it also was cathartic and beautiful.

What Tillie Cole gave me with the discovery of all these different cultures and their view on death was solace and perspective.

She made me realize that not all cultures see death as a sad ending like mine does but that other cultures see it as a liberation. “They rejoice because their loved one is now in heaven. They are free from earthly constraints. They are healed and they are in eternal bliss. The greatest wish for anyone we love is to achieve this.”

This is the most impactful quote I have read on death. Or at least, impactful to me because what the heroes lived in Varanasi, India, is hope and peace. It changed my view on death.

As you can see, death and dying is at the forefront of the book but this also is a YA romance book. And was that romance beautiful and sweet!

As Savannah said of Cael, “He is my Rune”.

I cried gallons of tears but I smiled and swooned as well and the epilogue left me with a peaceful heart because this time, it’s not only a love story, it’s a romance too!

Thanks for reading.