Welcome to Litsy!

People love this book; I love that for them. What I don‘t love? This book. It induced quite the amount of eye rolls and I was so done with everything being perfect. The MC had 2 perfectly perfect men fawning over her, she could run a whole lamb farm by herself, and I think she could talk to small animals, a la various Disney Princesses. Not for me, but we all get to have opinions, right? If it‘s drama you need, The Favorites is so much better.

Unpopular opinion, so if you love this book, please look away. I‘m about 3/4 of the way through and am currently right below a ‘hate reading‘ level. This feels very Frozen River to me. Here‘s what‘s bothering me: two completely perfect men pining over the MC, two completely perfect, precocious sons, and a narrator that really grates my nerves because she, too, is just so perfect. I‘m going to finish it, but I‘m might not be happy about it 😏

This is really well written and flew off the page however it is no Crawdads so don‘t be like me and lower your expectations. I‘m a sucker for hype 🤦🏻‍♀️. Saying that I did enjoy it. I liked the setting (English country side) and the era (mostly 1960s) which are not often done. The back and forth through time was v well done although the outcome and all the twists were predictable. An excellent choice for a long journey or a rainy weekend.

Thank you @Lollybooks for the book mail! I‘m so glad an internet algorithm brought you into my world. You truly bring joy with you and I look for your posts here and on IG regularly. ❤️📚🥰 #bookmail #bookcommunity

Quietly powerful in its simple prose and deep thematic currents, Broken Country disarms and enchants. Buckle up for heartache, heartsickness, heart-fluttering! – this book is a journey of the heart.
4.5 🌟

A farm wife rekindles with an old flame, causing a chain reaction of deadly events. For fans of The Notebook and Where the Crawdads Sing.

Catalyst ✨ Fate ✨ Forgiveness

Coming to terms with the fact that I‘m not a fan of books built on flash backs and flash forwards.

I was hypnotized by BROKEN COUNTRY. You will be, too.

It had all the elements of a book that I should love but there was something missing. I felt like I was told about people‘s feelings, not shown them and so I didn‘t really believe in these relationships. It‘s been compared to The Paper Palace, but it isn‘t nearly as well written. This one reads like it was written to become a TV series, and I suspect that‘s where it will end up. Easy read.

This is a heartbreaking tale of lost love, tragic loss and sacrifice. My heart broke for Beth, and I thought the author did a wonderful job of capturing her turmoil and grief, both about her loss and her predicament. I also enjoyed the beautifully depicted farm setting. While there is a sense of mystery in the story, it is not in the truest sense either a mystery or a thriller but is more a family drama. Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the ARC. 4.25/5

So much love for this book but I can‘t see why. Too sweet, too polished, too cheesy. Lost love, grief, children, secrets: all ingredients are there for an emotional lovestory and it is. How convenient.
I enjoyed it but it felt as if the writer dictated some characteristics and ChatGPT came up with the story.

I am a snob, I know, this book is promoted everywhere, and that‘s mostly a reason for me to not read it. That would have been better.

#WeeklyForecast 12/25

I am reading the tagged book (not that impressed yet) and Fundamentally.The latter is my first #WP25 read since the longlist was announced and I am enjoying it a lot. Next will be A Leopard-Skin Hat from the #InternationalBooker longlist (can you feel the stress with all those longlists?!) and I also haven‘t got to my #Roll100 read, Reward System!

I tagged what is my current favorite fiction book of 2025. I wonder when another book will become my favorite!

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

This was a quick read. Liked it, didn‘t love it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
This book was so heartbreakingly good!!! A must read for all your emotions!!!😭😭❤️❤️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Prepare for your next book hangover! I was so wrapped up in this I was looking for excuses to keep listening. It has all the ingredients for a hit - a love triangle, a murder trial, an atmospheric setting, a show stopping ending. What I think elevates it, though, is the emotional depth and moral ambiguity. “Broken Country” offers fertile ground for discussion! 🎧 #reesesbookclub

This book is so beautifully written that I crawled my couch-sitting blanketed self into it and pretty much stayed there until story‘s end. There‘s a love triangle pushing the story forward but I wasn‘t caught up in being Team Frank or Team Gabriel. I was just there in this world taking place in the English countryside of 1968-1975. I realize the timeframe, but I would not have classified this as historical fiction. …And that last page 💕💔💕

📚💙REVIEW IS UP!📚💙

⭐️⭐️BROKEN COUNTRY By Clare Leslie Hall⭐️⭐️

⭐️QUICK THOUGHTS ⭐️

⭐️Emotional⭐️

⭐️Twisted ending!⭐️

https://reecaspieces.com/2025/03/10/a-broken-country-by-clare-leslie-hall-simons...

This was such a beautiful story. Told with so much feeling and heartfelt love. Even in the worst parts it‘s beautiful. Perfection in a book is rare but this one truly is perfection.

Full review: https://lsmoore49.blogspot.com/2025/03/broken-country-by-clare-leslie-hall.html?...

@clarelesliehall
@simonbooks

What an emotional roller coaster of a US debut! I absolutely loved this heart wrenching drama set mostly in the 1960s in a small English village. A love triangle with fatal consequences told in a dual timeline quickly becomes impossible to put down! Beth‘s literary dreams turn into a fulfilling life on a farm until her first love returns home & all of their lives change forever. Some surprises are easy to see but some jaw-dropping ones remain!

Now Available! 🥳🎉
Broken Country- Clare Leslie Hall

Book Review- https://www.boleybooks.com//broken-country/

#boleybooks #brokencountry #clarelesliehall #bookbeast #netgalley #bookbuds #letsread

Difficult to put down read...very well written and emotional.

What happens when the love of your life appears after 13 years, but you are married and still grieving the death of your child?

It actually isn‘t a romance - this dual timeline read is filled with emotion, characters you won‘t forget, and events that will tug at your heartstrings. 5/5

https://tinyurl.com/3rdmmjhz

@clarelesliehall
@simonandschuster

In Hall's US debut, we get a powerhouse of a story featuring awesomely drawn flawed characters, a rich and descriptive location setting (North Dorset farming village 1968-1975) and a sprawling, at times heart wrenching storyline. First, let me say that while reading this it felt monumentally grand scale to me, and at 319 pages, how can that be, right? Hall has crafted a compact, concise portrait of the lives of three interconnected characters 🔻

Wow adebut novel so lucky to get an arc this one‘s gonna be a hit , it‘s out in March in the uk. With no spoilers - a story about the raw passion of first love , of mistakes , of loving two people at the same time , the discussions we make in youth and the consequences later in life , grief and the heartbreakof breavement, a crime , a thriller , a plot twist and ending you won‘t see coming,what more can I say , raced through itin 2days loved it

Mollie moonbeam (that is her actual kennel name 😆) and I have been lucky enough to receive an ARC of broken country & WOW 😮 a debut!it is fantastic.A love triangle, a reflection on grief,the age old question of can you be in love with 2 people at once? And a thriller/crime to boot, 76%into & it will be one of my favourite books of ‘25 already.not published here until March il be buying copies for myself & my friends. Compared to paper palace …..

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
What are you reading?
#boleybooks #brokencountry #clarelesliehall #bookbeast #NetGalley #bookbuds #bookchat

3/4

Well written and emotional.

What happens when the love of your life appears after thirteen years, but you are married and still grieving the death of your child?

It actually isn't a romance - this dual timeline read is filled with emotion, characters you won't forget, and events that will tug at your heartstrings. 5/5

This book was an ARC, written so beautifully! The details were so rich that you could close your eyes and put yourself right into the scenes in the book. I was totally engaged in this book from the start right through to the end. It has a lovely romance story line with tremendous depth to it. This book was compared to Where The Crawdads Sing.This book has all the feels of a truly phenomenal powerful well written book that is not to be missed!