The Unbroken Hearts Club

Our narrator, 17-year-old Logan, is in her final year of high school and approaching the first anniversary of her mother’s death as a result of Huntington’s disease. In spite of the challenges facing Logan and her father (David), they have a strong relationship and are working through their grief in their own way. David belongs to a bereavement group while Logan is working through things on her own with support from her long-time friend and wanna-be boyfriend Cole. Logan’s grief is compounded by the knowledge she could carry the gene mutation that signals she has Huntington’s disease.

Logan uses her artistic talents, photography, to work through her anguish. Taking photos, developing them, and finally using them to complete her final Arts Media course project which ensures she will graduate from high school.

Coming to terms with the unknown, Logan decides to take a genetic test the day of her eighteenth birthday. The results free her from the knowledge she is condemned to end her days in agony from the disease. The news is also a relief to her father. It also opens the door for her to pursue a relationship with Cole.

The Unbroken Hearts Club is a sweet story. As is the case with the “Orca Soundings” series, this novel is straightforward with a direct plot line, characters that move the plot forward and familiar settings and contemporary references. The author, Brooke Carter, has a knack for keeping things simple, yet engaging the reader emotionally. The secondary characters, mostly members of the bereavement group, are unique one from the other, adding emotional and narrative depth to the novel. The information on Huntington’s Disease is frank without being gruesome.

The Unbroken Hearts Club is a welcome addition to the high interest, low vocabulary genre as it is different from the “in trouble with the law” or sports titles in this series.