Review: The World Breaks Everyone

'' ''Ah, my dear, everyone has secrets.'' ''

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

From Goodreads:

A Gripping Cat-and-Mouse Suspense Novel

Every day, I wake up certain of only three things:
I am responsible for my mother’s death.
My father has vanished.
Someone wants me dead.

 
I’m on the run. It’s me against the world.
I cannot let it break me.

When sixteen-year-old Olivia Jacobs and her celebrity chef father are brutally attacked after his French Quarter restaurant opening, the shell-shocked Olivia finds herself on the run on the streets of New Orleans.

Who wants her dead? And why?

Fasten your seatbelt and prepare yourself, this family has more secrets to hide than the eye can see. Olivia has carried blame from her mother's death on her shoulders of her own will, and just when her life has begun to normalize itself, an unknown attacker puts her life in shambles again. Now, she has no other option but to run if she wants to stay alive.

I was supposed to read only the first two chapters the night I started The World Breaks Everyone. The quick reading session turned out to be a little longer one, me having read a third of the book before taking my eyes off the first time. The plot will keep you in its grip tightly, and the book will just fly past. 
Olivia's father, Theo, is about to open a new restaurant in New Orleans. The opening night attracted media like a flame attracts moths. The night is big not just because of the opening but because Theo plans to introduce Olivia to his girlfriend of one year, Kate. The big night turns into a disaster in the blink of an eye, with Theo being kidnapped and Olivia running for her life.

The book is told in dual-perspectives of Olivia and Kate when they try to unravel the secrets of Theo's disappearance and the lies surrounding their lives.

The way Olivia's character was written kept me intrigued from the beginning. How she saw the world was quite different from others her age. She dreamt of a better life, away from the endless seeming self-blame because of her mother's death. Olivia goes through a lot. In the beginning, she seems like someone who doesn't even want to live, and her escape plan is a desperate plan to extract herself from the lives of her inner circle. She comes out her shell a little as the plot progresses and in the end, she gives the reader something we all want in horrible situations; Hope for the future. 

Kate is almost the opposite of Olivia. While Olivia lets herself be broken and sad, Kate buries those feelings deep inside of her, afraid of showing them to anyone. Where Olivia runs away from a problem, Kate runs towards it. Kate is the one glueing the plot together and keeping it running forward. 

I loved how the book explored the harsh reality of lying and telling half-truths. How one individual can affect other's opinions and perception with carefully orchestrated wordings. Olivia is told so many lies in the book, it's no wonder she doesn't trust anyone. Add to that the dislike between her father and her maternal grandparents. How could she navigate the traps set for her when she doesn't know even a fraction of the original story. This was a masterful way to keep the suspense going on and on.

There were a few open ends to a couple of characters that I would have liked to hear more about in the end. What happened to them and how are they faring after the entire situation unravelled?

The World Breaks Everyone and some don't come out of it alive and well. But like Olivia saw, there's hope even in the darkest night if you aren't afraid to step out of your comfort zone.