leaning on the side of wonder

3.5 Stars.

Best Kind of Broken hits all the typical New Adult benchmarks: brooding, damaged main characters with tragic pasts. Peppy-yet-intuitive sidekicks who attempt to be the voice of truth. Missing &/or inattentive parents. Main characters who are so damaged & angsty that they're rendered completely indecisive about their futures - which leaves them loads of time to run into one another in various stages of dress, all the while working up the courage to just talk about the tragedy from their past. And of course, this all builds much unresolved sexual tension. Oh the UST! And the angst. So very much of both of these!

Which would lead anyone reading this review to think I didn't like the book - which is completely wrong. I tore through Pixie & Levi's story in a day & a half dying to know what their Big! Secret! Past! was all about & just how they were going to resolve all that sexual tension. The writing is higher-quality than many others I've read in the New Adult genre, and Fine does a nice job with the alternating viewpoint. She reveals the Big Tragic Past later than most NAs, which worked well for me and I found that I really liked and rooted for both of the main characters. Pixie wasn't a doormat or a Mary Sue, and while she was, in effect, waiting for her hero to come along, it fit with the specific plot & her history with Levi & didn't make her come across as weak. And oh the swoons. Many many swoons to Levi. 

The main issue I had with Best Kind of Broken: the ending wrapped up entirely too neatly and much too quickly. Fine did a nice job with pacing right up to the very end. Even after the Big Reveal midway through, her pacing didn't fall flat. It felt like a big letdown after the steady build-up she created though out the novel.

All in all a nice read. As a sucker for angst & UST & steamy resolution, I enjoyed it a lot & will put the next one on my TBR list. Would make a great summer/beach read. Fans of Colleen Hoover, Huntley Fitzpatrick, and Tammara Webber will enjoy this book.

*ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*