A strong page-turner where the setting almost becomes a character.

The cover copy says it’s “perfect for fans of THE PAPER PALACE and WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING” and that couldn’t be more true.

Synopsis: Beth and Frank are happily married and farm in a small village community along with Frank’s brother, Jimmy. They have no idea that their lives are about to implode when Beth’s old boyfriend, Gabriel (who years ago broke her heart and drove her into Frank’s arms) returns to the village with his young son, Leo. Beth is immediately drawn to Leo as he is about the same age that her son, Bobby was when he was tragically killed on the farm. Tensions start to rise between these parties until a shooting occurs and a trial begins.

My thoughts: I was blown away by this book. I immediately fell into the pages and found it very difficult to put down. I was totally invested in the characters and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out the truth of what happened. I also liked how the author drew out the story line of the murder in that the reader doesn’t find out until approximately two-thirds of the way into the book as to who is killed and who is on trial for it. It is a book about love, grief, forgiveness and atonement. I loved it and gave it 5/5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for a review copy.

Wow! This novel has all the feels! I am going to be honest it took me a bit to get into this book (as I read the first part in small bits of time and I think I didn't get all of the details). I am so glad that I kept going! This story of family, love, loss and a murder trial on top of it all kept me guessing. It is told in a dual timeline and the twists at the end shocked me! Put this historical fiction at the top of your TBR, you won't be disappointed!

Thank you Net Galley, Clare Leslie Hall and Simon and Schuster Canada for the opportunity to preview this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

Broken Country is expected to be released March 4, 2025.

Another book added to my Holy Shooty Balls shelf!! Some books don’t just tell a story—they consume you, and this was one of them. Gripping, haunting, and unforgettable.

Absolutely outstanding! Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall gave me absolutely all the feels—tragic, heartfelt, and so emotionally affecting yet powerful. I loved how this story was told, with anticipation and anxiety building at every turn. The tension was through the roof, and I could feel the weight of every decision, every lingering emotion, every unspoken truth pressing in.

Set in an English farming community, this novel masterfully weaves a deadly love triangle with the consequences that ripple through every life it touches. The past and present collide in ways that feel both inevitable and shocking, leading to a trial, a twisty murder mystery, and choices that can never be undone. The story is thick with longing, regret, and the quiet, unshakable pull of first love—wrapped inside a narrative so immersive I lived inside it.

These characters completely captured my heart, and the storyline shattered it. The writing was breathtaking, pulling me deep into the characters’ lives, their histories, and the quiet struggles that shaped them. The way it all unfolded kept me on edge, second-guessing everything I thought I knew.

By the end, I was in tears. This book pulled at my heartstrings, all my emotions were thick while reading. It was haunting. It was powerful. It was everything.

Well, Holy Shooty Diggity Dang! The Sisters are sleeping off one book hangover but that didn’t stop us from rambling about our newest read/review Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

My ramblings

I had one doozy book hangover this morning. The kind that leaves you wandering through your day like a ghost, still half-trapped in the world you just left. The kind where you wake up in the middle of the night, dazed and disoriented, because your mind is still chasing the shadows of the story.

And the book responsible for this spell? Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Fever Fiction: When a Book Consumes You

You know that feeling, don’t you? When a book hooks into your soul and refuses to let go? Your heart races, your breath shallows, and the outside world becomes a distant memory. You find yourself hiding out, avoiding responsibilities, because all you want to do is get lost in the words you are reading.

That, is the fever of fiction every book lover craves. A delicious torment. And Broken Country had me burning with it.

The Ache of the Aftermath

When the book ends. You close the cover, but the story refuses to close inside you. The characters linger in your mind, their voices whispering through the quiet spaces of your day. You feel sorry for your next book, because how can anything possibly compare?

A Love Triangle and a Book Crush

Let’s talk about the characters, because hot damn, I have a book crush.

Frank.

Broken Country intertwines Beth’s past and present, crafting a tale of love, loss, and consequence. As a teenager, Beth meets Gabriel, a passionate, aspiring writer from a wealthy family. Then there’s Frank—her husband in the present. A tragedy has shaped their relationship, and instead of tearing them apart, they come together. This story shattered my heart and then stitched it back together with warmth and love

.The tension between past and present crackles like a fire ready to burn out of control.

The Structure: Twists, and Cliffhangers

This book is structured like a beautifully crafted spell—meticulously layered, unraveling its secrets one carefully timed revelation at a time.

From the start, you know that something terrible has happened. Someone is dead. Someone is on trial. But who? And why?

Every chapter tightens the noose, leading you deeper into the mystery. And those cliffhanger chapter endings? Absolute perfect torture. The kind that makes you promise yourself just one more chapter until suddenly, the sun is rising and you’ve devoured the whole book.

Clare Leslie Hall: A Word Witch Supreme

I have officially added Clare Leslie Hall to my self-appointed coven of Word Witches. She wields language like a blade—sharp, precise, and devastatingly effective. The emotions, the pacing, the gut-punch twists—I was completely under her spell.

Now What?

Now, I wander the earth, haunted. Every book I pick up feels like a rebound relationship, doomed to fail because Broken Country still owns my soul.

If you need us, We’ll be clutching our copies of this book, whispering, “Just one more page…"

This is a really good story, emotional at times, and I loved the way the author pieced out details that kept me turning the pages, very good. Beth lives in a small village in 1955, she's going to school and has aspirations of going to University. She meets Gabriel Wolfe the son of a wealthy family and they begin seeing each other. The story goes forward to a time in the 60's and back to present day when the details of a trial are slowly pieced out (you don't know who is on trial, only that a murder had occurred). Gabriel heads off to Harvard and promises Beth that he'll wait for her, she goes to visit him once and realizes that he is involved with another young girl and in a fit she tells him they are done. In the 60's Beth is married to Frank, who is someone she has known her whole life, he too is from the small village, their young son Bobby, had died a few years back and both are still dealing with grief. Jimmy Frank's brother, also lives with them and helps them with farming and sheep rearing. One day a dog races into the yard where several lambs are and kills some of them, Jimmy shots the dog dead, a boy, Leo, and his father Gabriel, show up soon after, the boy is devastated, but when explained why the dog was shot, and sees the dead lambs, he understands. Gabriel is the same one that Beth had a relationship with years previously, he has moved back to the village after splitting with his wife (the same one that Beth assumed he was having relations with in Harvard), and wants the quiet of the village to write, he's become a famous author. Beth and Gabriel rekindle their romance which consumes both of them. This is a wonderful story and I would highly recommend it, you won't be disappointed. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Simon & Schuster for the ARC. All views are my own.

I really enjoyed reading this intriguing love triangle/mystery novel and I went through many different emotions as I read it. Usually I don’t like books with themes of grief, but this one has themes of loss and it still captivated me. Definitely reminded me abit of Where the Crawdads Sing which I loved. This has been the best ARC I’ve received to date and I would recommend it to others. I didn’t love Beth the main character, but the book pulled on my heartstrings and I did love other characters like Frank who were flawed but compelling.

Thank you Simon and Schuster and netgalley for the e-ARC!

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Really really enjoyed this love story/mystery/thriller coming out in March by @clarelesliehall
I was very eager to get my hands on it after seeing early reviews. Thank you @simonschusterca for the #gifted copy.
#BrokenCountry is about a woman named Beth who is happily married, lives on a farm but from the outset of the novel its apparent that what binds her and her husband is the death of their young son. The return of a neighbour and his son - a man Beth loved as a teenager creates tension and a yearning that she thought was long forgotten.
I really enjoyed this novel, quickly turning the pages over the course of two sittings. I was completely absorbed in learning about Beth’s past and with excellent pacing was captivated with figuring out the mystery. What I loved was how fragile these characters were and how Hall really makes you feel so deeply for each one. A complicated love story most definitely. This is a tender, emotional read… I see this being on many best book lists this year

This book really had me hooked from the beginning!

A love-triangle that follows the characters from childhood to adulthood, takes place in the English countryside, and has a mystery element? Sign me up! I love a good non-linear timeline and this one worked really well to keep the pacing and hold the reader in suspense. Now while I did really enjoy this book, past the 80% mark I started to see where the story was going and it wasn't in the way I wanted it (in terms of the romance). While I do not condone the actions of some of the characters in this book, I was really hoping for my side of the love triangle to win out in the end. I felt one side just had so much more chemistry that reading the romantic scenes between the two love interests were like night and day. That being said, my love triangle team not winning did not diminish the fact that I needed to know how the story would end. The results of the trial kept me on edge and the ending almost made me cry.

A big thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing this ARC through NetGalley!

⭐️ M U S T R E A D M O N D A Y review ⭐️ featuring “Broken Country” by Clare Leslie Hall!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

1955 (Before): Beth Kennedy falls madly inlove with Gabriel Wolfe but is told by his mother that they will never marry because they come from two different worlds.

1968 (Present): Beth Johnson is now happily married to a farmer and still mourning the death of their young son. Gabriel moves back into town and they start to rekindle their relationship and spark up old feelings for one another.

The Trial: someone is on trial for murder but you’ll have to follow the breadcrumbs to find out who …

W O W! What an intense rollercoaster of raw emotions including grief, suspense, heartbreak, courtroom drama and forbidden love!! The dual timelines and genre mash up (thriller, romance and mystery) is expertly written and one you will be thinking about for a LONG time after. Go in blindly, grab some tissues and be prepared to mend your broken heart after reading 🥹!

“It’s strange, the patchwork stories we tell someone when we want them to catch up, a shortcut to knowing us, as if such a thing were possible”.

Thank you kindly to @clarelesliehall @simonschusterca @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on March 4, 2025!

My heart is broken. The death of her son, Bobby, changed Beth forever. And when her first love returns to town, she forgets who she is and blows up her life. I can not tell you how much I cried about Bobby in this book. His birth story. All the stories of his life. His death. And Beth and Frank. Gah, they are a love story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advance digital copy.

This was a gripping, heartbreaking yet hopeful novel of grief, marriage and first loves. While I do not enjoy reading about affairs and love triangles the characters in this novel had me in their grip from the beginning. I enjoyed the simple farm life, the portrayals of marriage and family life. It is a story I don't think I will soon forget.

Not sure how to review this but since my page is for me to be able to go back and read what I thought or how a book made me feel, I’m just going to say what it’s left me with.

It’s an uncomfortable story.

I will say that I struggle with the love triangle that bends marriage vows into justification. Don’t make sense?! What I mean is the subject or actions of the MC left me feeling uncomfortable and just not ok.

Beyond that. The story is easy to get into. A life on the farm and the boy who got away. A love triangle that is equal parts nostalgia and equal parts grief. Where I struggled with it, had nothing to do with the writing or plot, but rather my own lens of where it went.

Beth was flawed. We all are.
Frank was gentle. The epitome of kindness.
Gabriel was addictive and selfish. A life that began as pampered and his ego led his actions.
Beth was grief walking. Her son being blurred by Gabriel’s own son Leo.
The twist made me just sad at the end.

Cryptic: indeed.
Writing: excellent.
Storyline: made me sad.

I’m not shocked at all that it’s already been optioned by Sony pictures and @hellosunshine . I just hope it doesn’t glorify Gabriel and Beth’s choices.

Oh my goodness, Broken Country isn’t a romance in the traditional sense, but it is one of the most profound love stories. It’s a tale of love in its many forms: the fierce, unyielding love of family, the tender connection between parent and child, and the complicated, love surrounding Beth, a woman caught between two men willing to sacrifice everything for her. Who could have foreseen the stunning way this story unfolds?

The author masterfully juxtaposes the demanding, often unforgiving realities of farm life with the breathtaking serenity of the natural world. She contrasts the solace and strength found in love with the brutality of alcoholism and the interference of meddlesome family members.

The story is beautifully written and the non-linear format leaves you rooting first one way and then another. In the end, it is a moving meditation on resilience, healing, and the enduring power of hope. Because, in the end, this is what matters.

This book is bound to be on many top reads of the year lists. I feel like this isn’t just a book, it’s an experience.

It’s out March 4. Also, whoever designed the cover did an amazing job.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for the ARC.

Broken Country will definitely be a choice of many Book Clubs and justifiably so.

It is a captivating read that holds your attention from the first to the last page.

I did not want this book to end.

Broken Country is an suspensful and emotional read with characters that you cant help but love.

It is told in the before (1955) and the present (1968).

There is a trial about to take place for murder but the reader doesnt know who or why.

I dont want to give anything away so that's all I will say except I dont know how I can pick my next book after this amazing read.

Clare Leslie Hall takes the reader on a journey they wont soon forget and you will be turning the pages as quickly as you can.

My review could never do this book justice: it's that good.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada/Simon & Schuster for the privilege of reading and reviewing Broken Country.

What a sensational novel! Emotive, heartbreaking, raw and devastating.
Beth and her husband Frank are happily married but their happiness relies upon not speaking of the past. When Beth's brother in law shoots a dog straying on their property, none of them could know this would change their lives forever. For the dog belonged to Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth first loved, now returned to the town years later with his son Leo. As Beth is pulled back into his life, tensions rise in the town and the consequences are deadly.

Get your tissues ready friends, as you will need them with this one! The author cleverly wove together the threads from 1955, 1968 and their lives now. I was thoroughly immersed in the imagery in this story, farm life and the characters stories. While the synopsis does provide a lot of detail, there were still plenty of surprises and twists along the way. I could not stop reading and think this may be one of my favourites this year.

The classification for this one on NetGalley was Women's Fiction and it was in part, as there was romance, but it was also part family drama, mystery, historical fiction and suspense in places.

I thought that my reading for 2025 was off to a great start, but after finishing Broken Country, I would have to say that it is off to an absolutely wonderful start!

Whenever I read a book that is as stunning as this one, I often feel as though my review can’t possibly do it justice and convey everything that it made me feel. I knew very early on that this book was going to be a 5-star read, and I wasn’t wrong.

Broken Country was beautiful, passionate, heartbreaking, and tragic. There was never a moment where I wasn’t completely immersed in the characters’ lives. You always know that a love triangle is going to be messy and rife with complications and emotions, but Beth, Gabriel, and Frank’s stories were shrouded in deception, secrets, and longing.

The novel was told from different points in time. This allowed the reader to see how Beth and Gabriel’s love story unfolded. We also get to see Beth’s life in 1968, in which she is happily married to her loving husband Frank, whose lives are filled with hard work and dedication to their family farm, but also the grief from the untimely loss of their dear son. We also know that someone is on trial for murder, however, the whole story needs to unfold before we get any answers about what had actually transpired that tragic evening.

When Gabriel returns to his family’s estate, it brings a rush of feelings back for Beth, and in turn, wreaks havoc on the lives of those she loves the most. I must admit that I felt every emotion right down to my core. This was a visceral, powerful story of family, love, and redemption.

Broken Country was a beautifully written novel that touched my heart immensely. It will definitely be gracing my list of favorite books of 2025. I am looking forward to reading more novels by this talented author.

*5 Stars

It’s been a while since a book captured my attention the way Broken Country did. I was completely drawn in and genuinely sad when it ended. Without a doubt, this is my favourite book of the year, and I’m recommending it to everyone—add it to your list! The story takes you on such an emotional journey, with moments of love, heartbreak, grief, anger, and sadness. You might want to keep some tissues nearby because the ending packs a punch.

The story moves between two timelines: the “Before” of 1955 and the “present” of 1968. There’s also a trial playing an important role, though the full details aren’t revealed until later in the book. Everything flows so smoothly that there’s no confusion, and all the questions are wrapped up perfectly by the end. The short chapters make it easy to keep reading “just one more,” and before you know it, you’ve finished the whole thing.

The characters are so well written that they feel real. Beth, her husband Frank, and Gabriel especially will stay with me for a long time.

What a beautiful, emotional, well developed story. The ending wrecked me. I loved every moment of this- i could not put it down and i didn’t want to!

This was fine but didn't fully take it there for me. I just could not connect to the characters after a while which is a bummer as the first quarter really had me hooked.