Broken Country is going to be the book of the year in my opinion. The chapters are really short and alternate timelines, which was a propulsive device that I really liked and made it hard for me to put down (I didn’t- I stayed up all night finishing it). It is being compared to Crawdads and Paper Palace, and that is spot on- it is a cross between the two (both also books I loved). I love that this is a romance, courtroom drama, and mystery all bundled into one. It was heartbreaking, infuriating, and surprising, and I couldn’t put it down.

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY! I definitely need to buy several copies of this book so that when someone asks me to suggest a book, I can grab a copy and excitedly say, "This one! You have to read this one!" I will be recommending it to everyone!

There is a lot to absorb in this emotional novel. It is a dramatic and tragic love story filled with secrets, lies, and infidelity that leads to destruction. I found myself asking, "Is a happy ending even possible for any of these characters?" Beautifully written, uniquely plotted, and tensely executed with a double shocking ending to put the icing on the cake! All I can really say is WOW!

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and the team at Simon & Schuster for so graciously providing me with the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this amazing book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Lies, secrets, and more lies. This is what this book is all about.

Set in the late '60s, this is a book about a poor girl falling in love with a rich boy. They are both out of their element, but it works...for a while.

I don't particularly like books that promote cheating on one's spouse, but there was a tiny bit of something that told me I should read this until the end. With that said, there are huge twists and turns in the final few chapters that sort of make the cheating make sense.

This was quite the emotional novel that deals with cheating, the death of a child, and another unexpected death.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Simon & Schuster, the author, and NetGalley.

Thank you @simonandschuster and @netgalley for the e-ARC.

Wow. Where do I even begin? First, this a shimmery, and glowing five star book for me. It’s a bit literary fiction, a bit mystery, a bit romance. Very genre bending. It’s described as a sweeping, sexy love story and I completely agree with that. However, do not be deterred if you don’t read romance. I’m not a big romance reader.

This book has taught me what it is about other books that just don’t sit right with me, and that is drama for the sake of drama, forced romantic connections, things that just don’t feel as if it’s naturally occurring as part of life. This book nails that feeling that these things happened because that’s just how life works sometimes.

Our protagonist is Beth. This is her story and her life. There’s a love triangle, there’s loss and travesty, and it’s haunting and emotional. And what I really want to say here is read the synopsis if you need more info. Or go in blind if that’s your thing. I don’t want to spoil a single thing about this reading experience for you.

Just know that I (predominantly a thriller and horror reader) was completely swept away by this love story. It’s going to stay with me for a long time.

A warning that there are very heavy topics and themes throughout this book, so check those out if you feel you need to.

This was a beautifully written, thought provoking story. I am now a huge fan of this author. The descriptions used by the author to portray the settings and the emotions were so good that I could hear the birds, see the land, feel the sun on my face, and feel the characters hopes and their pain. What a wonderful job she did!

The story starts off at the end. Does that make sense? It certainly does if this author has written it. You instantly know that someone has died and someone is standing trial for the murder. You are slowly introduced to the characters and their backstories. Piece by piece the story comes together like a jigsaw puzzle. Still there are pieces that are missing and the whole thing fails to make sense until that very last piece is found.

This is the story of Beth and the two men she has loved in her life. She loved Gabriel when she was young and she is now married to Frank. She discovers that Gabriel and his son have returned to the area after her brother-in-law shoots a dog attacking their sheep. The dog belonged to Gabriel's son. Things get complicated between the two families from that point on and emotions run high.

Please read this book. You won't regret it.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ebook copy of this fantastic book. All thoughts are my own.

Every so often, a book comes along that grabs my attention, where I feel so fortunate that I got to read it. This is such a story. It drew me in and didn't let go until the end, when we finally learn about everything that has happened.

The novel starts explosively on an English farm in 1968. Frank and Beth Johnson own and work this farm, along with Frank's brother Jimmy. We quickly learn that even before this incident, something horrible has happened to this family, and that there are a complicated chain of events that has brought everyone to this situation. And then we fast forward to a trial. I fear that if I write anymore I will give away something that is better discovered by each reader.

This "mystery" is slowly revealed throughout the novel with flashbacks and fast forwards. I was never confused throughout the back and forth time shifts. Clare Leslie Hall's writing evokes such a strong sense of place. She also expertly handles each character's complicated emotions where I did not feel manipulated into feeling one way or another.

Thank you #Simon&Schuster for providing me with a digital early copy of Broken Country in exchange for my honest review. This book comes out today, March 4th, and I will be recommending it to everyone. It will surely be one of my favorites of the year.

Reese’s Book Club March ‘25 pick.

5 stars. Loved loved loved! This may be my best read of the year. Hall has painted such a beautifully realistic, vivid picture on page that it appeared to be a true to life story. This talked about hard topics but Hall handled them so well and really gave you a look at its effect on those it impacts. BROKEN COUNTRY was such an intriguing, emotional, heartfelt and heartbreaking book that literally caught my breath, brought tears and is a story I won’t soon forget. If you’re looking for a read that will bring out all the feels look no further. An excellent debut that I highly recommend. Pub. 3/4/25

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this novel. I know everyone loves this one but the whole country boy vs aristocrat (or city slicker or whatever) thing is so overdone. There were some (predictable) twists on this one, but not enough to make me interested. The descriptions of farm life, the aristocratic family, etc, were so well-worn and were sketched out at only the highest level. I felt like I was reading a screenplay for much of the novel. I heard it has already been snatched up, which makes sense. It is being compared to Crawdads, but I thought that one had a lot more pathos, which made it more interesting. Clearly I am in the minority here.

It's been a while since I've picked up a book that wouldn't let me put it down. In <i>Broken Country</i>, we have the story of a woman in love with two men. But it's not a love story. It's a story about family, love, loss, and tough choices. The narrative alternates seamlessly between two timelines, the past and the present. The characters are written like people you might know, which makes the book all the more engaging. Beautifully written, I absolutely loved this book--it will be one of the best books I read this year!

This is a confusing one, but it is one that you can't put down. Clare L. Hall has written a fabulous book which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Beth Kennedy has grown up with parents that were farmers and not well to do people. She didn't let that stop her from being ever grateful and kind and a very hard worker. When she was in high school, she met and fell in love with Gabriel Wolfe. Gabriel fell in love with Beth as well. Gabriel came from a very wealthy family. He wasn't the guy the flaunted it, but he was the guy that got into the college that he wanted to go to, or I should say the one that both his father went to, and his grandfather went to as well.

Beth ended up marrying a man named Frank Johnson who loved her, and she loved him as well. Frank and his younger brother Jimmy, whom Frank raised for most of his life, they were both the sheep farmers of Blakely Farm. Frank and Beth had been married for quite some time when they had Bobby. Unfortunately, he passed away when he was nine years old. Both Beth and Frank are very close because of everything that they have been through.

One day the three of them are out watching the baby sheep and here comes a dog they have never seen, and it comes full force before they know it and rips the throats out of a few of the baby sheep. They end up shooting the dog and after they hear screaming from a young boy like they have never heard.

Gabriel and the young boy Leo, Gabriel's son, it was their dog. When things were explained to Gabriel and no one was paying any attention to the young boy, Beth walked over to him and tried to console him.
Beth couldn't believe that he was back and with a little boy. The got to know each other the boy and Beth and then Gabriel asked her to watch Leo after school a few days a week. Then other things were being said about them. Truth well I am not sure.

Jimmy met and married Nina. Then the trial begins. Who killed who....

This I will leave up to you to find out!

Happy Reading!!

Thank you @simonbooks for the ARC ♡ #simonbooksbuddy

*ೃ༄‧₊˚ An emotional love story about the one who was always there and the one who got away.

I went in with no expectations and was blown away. From beginning to end the story arc is crafted beautifully to come full circle.

Everyone here is going to make mistakes, including miscommunications and keeping secrets, but instead of annoying me to no end, this made the characters human and feel very real. There were some lucky coincidences, but then again, that’s why this is a work of fiction. I love complex characters!

Beth is a simple country girl who would have been content to live a humble but fulfilling life with the boy next door, raising animals and tending fields... until she meets Gabriel Wolfe.

Gabriel is broken and beautiful, elite and untouchable, slightly mysterious, and from the upper 1%. And he seems to be magnetically pulled to her as well.

With shades of The Notebook, get ready to bawl over the power of love, grief, forgiveness, and second chances. 🌳🌾😭

TW: Murder, Death of child, Classism

Broken Country is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching novel that's part love story, part family drama, and part mystery. Beth lives a quiet life in a sleepy English village, running a farm with her loyal and steadfast husband, Frank. But her quiet life starts to unravel when Gabriel, her first love and now a famous writer, returns to the village with his son Leo, a boy who reminds her of her dead son. Gabriel and Leo's arrival will trigger a chain of events, culminating in tragedy.

I found the book engrossing and easy to read. I wanted to keep turning pages to find out what would happen next. The author created complex and flawed characters who make mistakes and questionable choices. But as the story progresses and secrets are revealed, the characters' motivations make more sense. Beth is the main narrator, but I wish we had Frank's POV too. Out of the three main characters, he is the most interesting, in my opinion.

Many readers will enjoy Broken Country because it combines different genres and touches on a few interesting themes. It would be a great book club pick. I enjoyed the book very much, and I highly recommend it.

First love leads to scandals, secrets, and DRAMA!

This is a tangled web of characters where past and present overlap…
I don’t want to say too much but THIS WAS GOOD. The way the story is woven together makes it one of those books that you just can’t put down. You have to know what happens!!!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this as an ARC!

What a special book! The writing and story are superb! This one is told in dual timelines, both past and present.

Beth is a young woman dreaming about leaving her small farming town. She meets Gabriel Wolfe, a well off young man who has come to stay with his parents at a very large estate. The summer is filled with talking, getting to know each other and discovering love.

This is a sweeping love story with twists of a thriller. It is a novel of passion, impossible choices and explosive consequences. It goes between past and present to explore this "first love."

Love Triangle, Heartbreaking and Family Drama! 3.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy! This book will be released 3/4/25.

Yes, yes, 100x yes!!! This was a beautifully layered story with romance, heartbreak, grief and suspense. All set on a quiet farm, but the events unfolding are anything but quiet.

Beth is still grieving the death of her son when she is caught in a love triangle between her husband and first love. She knows it will blow up, but it ends worse than she feared.

I loved everything about this book. The writing was great and propulsive. There was so much heart in this story that I couldn’t help but be sucked in. This will be one of the biggest hits of the year, in my opinion.

I received a eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is probably my favorite book of this year so far! The depiction of the incredible impact of grief on the characters is well written and described masterfully. The book is really more of a slow burn that builds gradually to an unexpected but very emotional conclusion. And as with many books that I find to be my favorites, things don’t necessarily turn out to be happy for all the characters but the story is probably more realistic than most. The book covers two timelines that create a love triangle. In the 1950s, Beth, a “country bumpkin” local and Gabriel, the son of the aristocratic landowner fall in love as 18 year olds after finding that they have much in common. They are set to attend Oxford University together and envision a bright future until other people and their social status differences make this seemingly impossible. I will add here that a lack of communication is the “nail in the coffin” to their relationship and although I often hate this trope in romance novels, the author writes this issue very realistically into Beth and Gabriel’s story.
In the second timeline, about 16 years later, Beth is married to and very much in love with Frank, a local farmer who has loved Beth since they were 13 years old. But the couple has been dealt a tragic blow in the death of their son, Bobby two years prior. At this time, a divorced Gabriel returns to the manor with his young son, Leo and Beth finds herself in love with both Frank and Gabriel so the triangle begins only to quickly progress into more tragedy.
In spite of this description, in my opinion, this is definitely not a romance novel and certainly not a Rom Com. The characters are very well developed and all the main characters are likable and the situation is impossible. I love the way the author very gradually reveals the circumstances behind Bobby’s death and the tragedy of the outcome of the love triangle that is alluded to throughout the book by the sporadic inclusions of courtroom scenes that remain mysterious to the reader until late in the story. This book is so engaging in spite of the slow burn but the surprises in the end make it even more impactful. I highly recommend it with a warning that it may make you cry.

Thank you @SimonBooks for my #gifted copy of Broken Country! #simonbooksbuddy #BrokenCountry #ClareLeslieHall

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

Have you ever finished a book and knew that it was going to be one that everyone was going to be talking about? That’s Broken Country. This book is going to be a hit. This book will shatter you, but somehow you will walk away feeling whole. This is literary fiction at its best.

Broken Country is a love story intertwined with a thriller. There is family drama and a love triangle, and so many secrets. It’s told in a dual timeline format and it’s a page-turner. This book puts a whole new meaning to ‘just one more chapter.’ I won’t summarize the whole book, but just know that Clare Leslie Hall has developed intricate characters and a complex plot. The very first line of the book is: “The farmer is dead. He is dead and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.” It’s impossible to not be hooked after reading that first line. The entire book keeps you so engaged and guessing. With twists you cannot see coming, this book is guaranteed to stick with readers for a very long time.

Posted on Goodreads on March 3, 2025: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around March 3, 2025: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on March 4, 2025
**-will post on designated date

THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK OF 2025! This book. It’s soooo good, I read it in 48 hours. It reads like Defending Jacob, because there is a trial, only you don’t find out who is on trial or what for until the story reveals itself in bits and pieces. It’s a little bit thriller, little bit romance, little bit family/contemporary fiction. I’m a lot a bit obsessed with it and will be that crazy lady yelling about it to anyone who will listen to read this when it comes out TOMORROW!

This is what reading is all about. It’s been a very long time since a book has captured my attention the way that “Broken Country” has. I was captivated by each page. In fact, I was sad to see this story end. This is by far my favorite book of the year, and I am recommending that everyone add it to your list now. I was filled with every raw emotion available. There was love, heartbreak, grief, anger, intensity, and sadness. In fact, have tissues handy because the ending will probably leave you needing some.

This story takes place in the ‘Before’ of 1955, and also during the present time (of the story) of 1968. There is also a Trial taking place, but we really don’t get a full description of this trial until near the end of the story. Everything flows so seamlessly and flawlessly, that there were no questions left unanswered or any type of confusion. The chapters were short, which in turn made this mesmerizing story easy to keep wanting more. Each character was easy to resonate with, and you couldn’t help but to feel like you personally knew each and every one of them.

I won’t get too much into this story as you can easily read the synopsis, and besides I literally have no words. All I know is that the characters of Beth and her husband Frank (and that of Gabriel) will stay with me for a long while after this.
This book deserves All. The. Stars. 🌟

Many, many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and the author for an ARC of this book which I had the pleasure of reading. All opinions are my own.
Publication date: March 4, 2025
Genre~ General Fiction (Adult), Romance, Mystery & Thriller

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Beth and Frank are married and live in a small farming town. When her old flame, Gabriel, returns to town with his young son, Leo, events are set in motion that threaten love held secrets and infidelity.

This is a well written, fast paced story about a love triangle and a long kept secret at its core. The characters are very relatable and very well portrayed through love and tragedy. Although the secrets were not revealed until the very end, I was definitely surprised!

Highly recommend!