Overall, Break This House is a powerful exploration of identity and the importance of understanding where we come from while forging our own paths. Candice Iloh dives deep into the life of a young Nigerian American girl, navigating the tension between her cultural roots and the life she longs to create.

Break This House by Candice Iloh follows Yaminah Okar, a teen who thought she'd left her troubled past behind when she moved to Brooklyn. But when she gets a message about her estranged mother, old memories come flooding back. Yaminah has to face the secrets of her family and her hometown, Obsidian, while also dealing with the grief of her mother's death.

The book's premise is intriguing, but it starts off slowly, and some questions are left unanswered, making the ending feel rushed. That said, Yaminah is a well-written character, and her emotions feel raw and real as she processes the pain and loss of her mom. If you enjoy stories about family and coming to terms with the past, Break This House might be for you, though it may leave you wanting a bit more closure.

I enjoyed this authors other book written in verse. For some reason I struggled to find my momentum reading this one.

This story gave everything it was supposed to give! There was no holding back and it shook me. I think it is going to do well and I'll definitely be buying some copies.

We follow Yaminah who just found out her estranged mother passed away. She returns to her hometown to see family she left behind when her dad abs she moved away and starts to learn there were family secrets being kept, including about her mother.


Although i like yaminah and the sort of mystery set up, something was missing for me. I felt like every time we got close to a connection the story would break off abd i couldn’t stay with the characters quite long enough to really feel what was going on.

Candice Iloh’s sophomore novel BREAK THIS HOUSE gifts, readers, with Yaminah, a teenager attempting to balance the life she has been rebuilding since she and her father moved from their hometown of Obsidian, MI., to Brooklyn, NY. In an attempt to maintain her close relationships, Yaminah is suddenly struck with news that leaves her blindsided and reeling from grief.Candice's craft of writing young adult fiction embodies the true essence and voice of teenagers. Their desire to write characters that are perfectly imperfect can be seen throughout the novel, allowing young readers to approach issues of grief and addiction by giving space for readers to gain perspective about life's lessons.

Thank you Dutton for allowing us to read BREAK THIS HOUSE.

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️
TW: grief, death, mental illness, addiction & drug use, cancer, family estrangement, racism, and possible suicide

“From the very first day that you’re born you’re already dying anyway. But just as soon as you learn words, everybody around you is using them to lie. To pretend that it’ll be okay. That the pain will end. That there is an explanation for everything if you’re patient, if you just wait and see.”

Yaminah Okar left Obsidian and the wreckage of her family years ago. She and her father have made lives for themselves in Brooklyn. She thinks she’s moved on to bigger and better things. She thinks she's finally left behind that city she would rather forget. But when a Facebook message about her estranged mother pierces Yaminah’s new bubble, memories of everything that happened before her parents' divorce come roaring back. Now, Yaminah must finally reckon with the truth about her mother and the growing collapse of a place she once called home.

Starting off this novel I had a difficult time relating to Yaminah, most likely because we’ve had every different life experiences, but towards the last third of the novel I found myself deeply connecting to her story. Beautifully written in verse, Iloh did an incredible job creating genuine, complex characters in a deeply moving story. My only wish is that certain characters and plots were expanded on and explored a bit more. Overall, Iloh wrote a wonderful novel which handled sensitive topics with grace.

I recommend this one to anyone dealing with the complex emotions of grief, fans of “The Mothers” and “Clap When You Land,” and readers looking for a deeply moving story about learning to understand your emotions in a world that teaches you to bury them.

I absolutely loved Iloh’s verse debut, Everybody Looking, and so I was really eager for their prose debut. Break this House is a coming of age story about grief, divorce and familial estrangement. This book was set up to be a new favorite for me, but my brain constantly kept getting distracted. So while I did enjoy what I recall from this one, I am putting this one aside with a mini review of Not Right Now (NRN). The themes of grief and family tension were well done, but it was almost too evocative. I think with all the chaos of the past month, I couldn’t devote the time and brain power a serious book like this one needs. Iloh still has the gripping writing I came to admire from their debut, so I am excited when I do get a chance to pick this one back up.

Yaminah has grown up in a broken family. Growing up with her father hasn’t always been easy, but one day her estranged mother reappears and she’s left having to come back home and pick up the shattered pieces left by the divorce. Life isn’t rose colored glasses and sometimes leaving isn’t always the answer you really needed.

This own voice story was emotional. It was a fast read that left me emotionally questioning. The story deals with relationships and how to process emotions. Getting a look into the character and her mother who really never wanted to be a mother; I mean thats devastating to anyone. The feeling of the character kept off the page and just made for emotional read all together.

This was Candice Iloh's second novel and I was excited to read it. we are following Yaminah who lives in NY with her Dad. We learn that her and her Dad has moved from her old town and one day gets the opportunity to go back when she learns of some sad news.

This is told in normal prose whereas ILoh's first novel was told in verse. I enjoyed how this book focuses on parental grief and trying to navigate those feelings when it seems like everyone around you wants to protect your feelings. Yaminah didn't have a great relationship with her mom and when she had to return to her hometown she was forced to get answers from her family as to why her mother basically abandoned her and how to come to terms with being around her family again,

Break This House focuses on the complexity of family dynamics, coming to terms with parental death and trying to figure out who you are and where you fit in.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO BREAK THIS HOUSE BY CANDICE ILOH?
Break This House by Candice Iloh seemed like a no brainer when it came to picking something to read/listen to. I thought Iloh’s debut, Every Body Looking was excellent. Also — more people should absolutely be picking up and reading Every Body Looking. And so, seeing as how I need to get through my Volumes app review copies before the app shuts down, this was my pick. By the way, I also love picking up contemporary young adult books about marginalized characters.

Break This House by Candice Iloh seemed like a no brainer when it came to picking something to read/listen to. I thought Iloh's debut, Every Body Looking was excellent.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Iloh’s Break This House is about Yaminah Okar who left the town of Obsidian and lives in Brooklyn with her father. She is pretty sure she has put her life in Obsidian behind her. That is, until she receives a facebook message inviting her to a family reunion/memorial for her mother. Yaminah returns to Obsidian, Michigan and has to really rumble with what happened before her parents divorce. She also must come to terms with the changes Obsidian is going through — gentrification. Also, that her grandmother is selling the family home. So, truly you can never come home again. There are plenty of triggers in this book, but I think Iloh handles those and the plot with such sensitivity.

HOW DID I LIKE BREAK THIS HOUSE?
Honestly, I thought Break This House was an excellent read. It was just as good as Every Body Looking. Iloh has a bright career ahead. Yaminah has really been through it — particularly in her relationship with her mother. As I mentioned, her mother passed away. Before she passed though, she had her issues. We also see other members of Yaminah’s family struggling with addiction and poverty when she makes the return to Obsidian. Of course, there’s also the big theme of gentrification too. I liked that this book goes into depth on that as it is something I don’t really see a lot in what I read. After this book, I felt like I had a better understanding.


HOW’S THE NARRATION?
As for the audiobook piece — I definitely had the narration too fast. At one point I had it at 2x because I felt pressure to get through my Volumes books fast. That, friends, was a terrible idea. I am so out of practice with 2x narration. Right now, 1.5x is my max. When I listened to this at a normal for me speed, I thought the narration was perfect. The audiobook is narrated by Ashley August. Ashley August has the perfect voice and cadence for this book. It is 7 hours and 7 minutes long. Do NOT listen to it sped up to 2x, you’ll miss out on the cadences.

Break this House brought so much to the table and while I couldn't put it down at first I definitely felt myself with a bit of an emotional toll afterward, which to be honest, I loved. I knew this book really impacted me because it hit me heavily. Break this House features two very sensitive topics - parental divorce and the death of a mother, which partially lead to the emotional drainage I was feeling. Overall, I felt the characters could have been a little more fleshed out - that being said I understand why it was done this way.