Breaking by Danielle Rollins

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 352

Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens 

Released: 10th of August 2017 

Charlotte doesn't fit in with her two best friends, or with anyone else at The Underhill Preparatory Institute, her cut-throat school for the rich and gifted. But when those best friends die suddenly, Charlotte doesn't know where to turn.

Were they keeping secrets? Could Charlotte be the reason they did it? Because Charlotte has a secret of her own, and now she must decide how much she will risk to discover the truth.

Trigger Warnings: Suicide, cutting

What I Have to Say 

I thought that this would be more bitchy girls in prep girls cutting each other down, but what I got was so much better than that. There was a lot of intrigue and mystery, but there was also a lot of grief from Charlotte. Grief for the way her mother can't love her, grief for the loss of her two best friends. The first part of it is pretty introspective and it makes you wonder a lot why Charlotte stays at Underhill, despite the fact that there's the mystery of the "drink me" bottle. 

But that's the heart of the story. This is the story about the way that she changes. The way that she gains the confident to assert herself, whether that's just because of the fact that she drank something from a little bottle or the fact that she's finally realising that she can be her own person instead of endlessly failing to be what her mother wants her to. 

I think it's this character that makes the book more than anything else. Charlotte is a product of her mother's desperation for her to be smart and despite her mother being absent for most of the book, she is always there in the background of Charlotte's thoughts. And as Charlotte starts to change, she starts to go against her mothers wishes more and more. 

It ended in such an interesting way too. I really can't wait for the sequel to find out what happens next. 

My thanks go to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.