Skunk Cunningham lives in a modern British suburbia neighbourhood with her caring father, Archie, her chaotic au-pair, Cerys, and her troublemaking brother, Jed. The Cunningham house is mostly ordinary and quiet, and Skunk and Jed spend their days playing Xbox and hanging out with Dillon, a kid living nearby with few friends and a stealing tendency. 

Their neighbours, however, are far from ordinary. Bob Oswald and his five daughters, who the Cunninghams and their other neighbours, the Buckleys, live in fear of, terrorise their otherwise peaceful neighbourhood square. One day, Saskia Oswald asks the shy Rick Buckley to take her for a ride in his new car. Without thinking, Saskia broadcasts Rick’s flaws to her sisters, which in a chain reaction of events leads to Rick being arrested, thoroughly humiliated and “broken” by the police. In the aftermath, the Oswald family begins to self-destruct, “Broken” Buckley spirals into madness, and Skunk is taken to the hospital in a coma and on the verge of death. 

Broken chronicles the lives of three families as the consequences of one callous action tear them apart and their lives are changed forever. 
 

I appreciated the choice to have Skunk narrate part of the book, as her innocence is heartbreaking at times; her insistence on protecting her father from Bob Oswald is tragic yet slightly wholesome to read about. I do wish they focused more on her relationship with Dillon, as I feel that their story could have been a good conversation for treating people different from us more kindly. 

The storyline with Rick Buckley seems somewhat irrelevant at first but is much more upsetting when told from Skunk’s point of view, as she does not understand what is happening. I felt like his story is a good discussion of the consequences of false allegations but I feel like it would have been a good topic for another book, especially since it is mostly independent of Skunk’s narration and her storyline. 

In general, the characters are well-written, and all of them feel complete, especially the antagonists. The logic behind their actions is clearly outlined and not ignored like in many other books I’ve read, which I enjoyed. Many of the antagonists are depicted as morally complex instead of purely evil, which was also a nice change from other books I’ve read. 

The story is set mostly in the past, with the beginning, ending and some parts in the middle of the book narrated by Skunk in the present. While the background story did eventually provide context for Skunk being in a coma, it felt a bit messy at times, as it jumped between different events even in very intense situations (a major example being near the end of the book). 

Broken contains depictions of abuse, some mild violence, and mentions of rape. Also, there is occasionally some British slang that may need to be looked up as the reader progresses through the book.

Overall, I would rate this book a 9.5 out of 10 - the characters all feel fully developed, even the minor characters, and despite some initial confusion all the individual character arcs tie together very well. While it is not a casual read, it is a beautiful story about innocence and family.