Broken Knight by LJ Shen

Narrated by Savannah Peachwood, Jacob Morgan, CJ Bloom, and Christian Rummel

2nd in a Related Series. Can Stand Alone

Angsty, Ugly Cry New Adult

So many people have written raving reviews for Broken Knight by LJ Shen that despite my misgivings about reading a New Adult book again, I went for it anyway without reading the blurb because it was free in Audible Escape. I can see why everyone loved it, but OMG the angst! I should have read the blurb! If you like an angstfest, holy cow, you’ll get one here.

NOTE: I read this as a standalone because the title doesn’t have a series name, so I didn’t realize. I only found out while writing this review that Dean and Rosie had their own book in Ruckus, and Knight is their child, now grown. I was going to write about how I wished they had their own book! I also did not read the first in the series, Pretty Reckless, and I was still an emotional basket case reading this.

“There were two Knight Coles. One was mine. The other everyone else’s. And although he always spent recess with me, continuously protected me, forever treated me like a queen, I knew he was everyone’s king, and I only reigned in a small part of his life.”

I loved Knight the protector and I loved Luna, the selective mute. Knight was so loyal and amazing to both Luna and his mom that you couldn’t not love him, but this poor boy has had such a rough life, and it killed me to read about such a young man self destructing the way he did.

OMG, the push and pull between these two! The lack of real communication between these best friends was tragic. They wasted so much time and angst because of it.

“Every day of my life, since the moment I’d laid eyes on this broken, beautiful boy, I had dreamed of him being mine.”

Despite being the school “playboy” Knight only had eyes for Luna, and she for him, but they broke each other’s hearts over and over.

“I didn’t want to kiss her. I wanted to zip open my skin and tuck her into me. Hide her from the world and keep her mine.”

It got to the point that I kind of got bored with Luna and Knight. The story I was most interested in was about Knight’s parents. Here is where I wrote originally about how I wished there was a book about his parents, and now I know there was. I’m not sure I can go backwards and read it now though. Rosie and Dean’s relationship completely wrecked me, I think possibly because of my own situation, knowing that since I’m going through a divorce, I won’t have anyone to care for me the way Dean does Rosie. They were a beautiful couple, and I loved Rosie so much as a mother, and I loved how big, tough Knight was just her little boy.

“I’ve always loved you just a tiny bit more. My regal, rebel boy. My legendary hellraiser, my sad prince, my unlikely savior, my beautiful, broken Knight.”

Likes:

Dean and Rosie, Knight’s parents.
Very, very realistic.
The pure and unconditional love between both Luna and Knight and Dean and Rosie.
Amazing writing and storytelling.
I loved the childhood connection between Luna and Knight.

Dislikes:

Way too angsty for me, but that’s just me.
THIS BOOK BROKE ME too much. Again, I think my own personal situation played into that.
I found it to be a little bit slow.
So much back and forth I have whiplash.
Knight never gave any idea of his feelings then had the nerve to get mad? Ugh.
The epilogue was a little ridiculous.

The Narration:

The narration was phenomenal. Jacob Morgan captured every emotion in Knights voice beautifully. I think it may be one of his best performances. In fact, they were both phenomenal, and these two actors kept me listening to a book a may have put aside if I read it. I loved the guest narrators for Dean & Rosie as well! This was some of the best narrations I’ve heard.

The Down & Dirty:

Fans of LJ Shen who have read her other books are the ones who will truly love Broken Knight. While this story stood alone fine for me, I think it’s important to read Ruckus first as well as Pretty Reckless to have a better experience. Since I did not read either, I may have missed some of the finer plot points, but honestly, it may have wrecked me even more, because I was DESTROYED from this book. It put me in a head space that I really never want to be in again. It was all too much and too close to home for me. One of the reasons I chose this book is because at over 11 hours, it’s a long listen, which I usually love if there story warrants it. I felt Broken Knight just dragged a bit at times. While overall it was a great story with great writing, and I see why its was #1 with so many 5-star reviews, it really wasn’t for me. The ages, the angst, the emotions, the slow torture…it was all a bit too much for me.