Playlist for a Broken Heart, Cathy Hopkins

Pages: 281

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Release Date: 8^th May 2014

Edition: UK paperback, review copy

Other Titles by this Author: Million Dollar Mates series; Mates, Dates series; Truth, Dare, Kiss or Promise series; Zodiac Girls series; Cinnamon Girls series; Love at Second Sight

When Paige’s parents announce that they’re moving it seems as if her world is falling apart.

Forced to leave her old friends behind, Paige feels totally alone, then an old mix CD in a charity shop catches her eye and she starts to think again. The songs speak of love, longing and heartbreak, and capture everything Paige seems to be feeling. Whoever made the playlist sees the world just as she does, maybe they’re meant to be together...

Paige’s quest to find the boy who put the music together leads her on an unexpected journey of self-discovery, but is she destined to ever find him? And if she does, will he be everything she dreamed he would be?

Cathy Hopkins is known for her cute, fun, easy reads about friendships and first love and Playlist for a Broken Heart didn’t disappoint.

I have to admit that I wasn’t quite sure when I first started reading Playlist for a Broken Heart. I found Paige hard to connect with: she’s snobbish, which I did expect, but it bugged me, and her constant harassing her parents at such a difficult time made me cringe. Then I remembered that she’s a rich teen girl who’s been told she’s now broke and leaving behind her life and I remembered that Cathy Hopkins is a genius: Paige is perfectly on point with her character. She’s exactly what she should be. I quickly fell in love with her after that.

The friendship that blossomed between Paige, Tasmin and Clover, then later with FB, was my favourite part of the novel. Friendship is such an important part of a teen’s life and I don’t always see it have a strong enough focus in YA – it’s all about the boy. I loved how open they were with each other, the banter and the sheer fun they have together. It gave me a goofy smile and want to call all my besties for a gossipy catch-up and be all nostalgic with them.

Of course, the boys were important to the story. Though this is only the second of Hopkins’ novels I’ve read, I’m beginning to notice a theme of go-getting destiny. You stumble across something; an object, a clue, an idea, and if you follow it there’ll be the someone or something you were meant to have at the end. The idea of the anonymous mix-CD is one I loved as soon as I read the synopsis and it gives a real sense of connection between Paige and Mystery Boy from the start. The snippets of his journey of making the CD and his relationship with the recipient were excellent and made you realise how brilliant him and Paige will be together. I did guess his identity, but I wasn’t at all disappointed.

Though I loved the friendship the most, it also didn’t hurt that the place Paige is uprooted to is my favourite city on earth: Bath. It was so strange, so cool, to know exactly where the places where the characters were meeting, the sights they were seeing, the cafe they met up in! I could picture everything in minute detail and it really made Playlist for a Broken Heart come alive. I feel like the city was used as a proper part of the novel too. It did give me some serious Bath-sickness though. TAKE ME HOME.

Playlist for a Broken Heart is a sweet, uplifting tale of friendship, getting back on your feet and finding home in an unexpected place. I really hope to see another standalone from Cathy Hopkins soon.

Thanks to S&S for the review copy.

Sophie