Depressing Characters Who Can’t Seem to Do the Right Thing
By James Meek
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $28.00, 401 pages
In The Heart Broke In you will meet a varied cast of characters, such as Ritchie, a philandering husband, father, former rock band member and current TV show producer who cannot keep his hands off young girls. There is his wife Karin, the musician with the “real” talent, and his sister, Bec, the scientist working on a vaccine for malaria. There is also Val, Bec’s vindictive ex-boyfriend, and current boyfriend Alex, just to name a few. The story is divided into four parts, and each part focuses on one of the characters. Each character is faced with their demons and how those demons affect others, as well as how they justify their demons to others.
The Heart Broke In became depressing after a while, and I was never able to connect with the various characters. At times it even felt mundane. If you like to read about characters facing all-time lows and being hypocrites and cheats, this is the book for you. This reviewer wanted to read something a bit more entertaining and fast-paced.
Reviewed by Seniye Groff
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