Once Broken

Once Broken by D. M. Hamblin   350 pages

First published, according to Amazon, in 2016, author D.M. Hamblin contacted me in 2018 to review her debut novel, “Once Broken.” I don’t remember what drew me to this story. Perhaps it was the revenge element; perhaps it was the forgiveness element.  It doesn’t really matter at this point.

When Jackie Martin was ten years old, her father died suddenly and her once sturdy family life fell apart. For whatever reason that I couldn’t understand, Jackie was not allowed to go to the funeral home nor attend the funeral. This is the root of her abandonment issues, which she suffers from until she is approximately in her forties.

In high school, she falls for Tony Salvucci. Her clinginess results in their breakup, but Jackie has fallen in love…for life. The two come together and breakup almost as often as the seasons change. Jackie is always plotting on how to get revenge with Tony; most of the time she wants him to feel the same pain as she has. Finally, she sees Tony for the man he truly is and learns to move on with her life.

I love the bones of this story. They are great. But one Hamlin employs more tell rather than show, which gets in the way of the plot. I can’t help but feel that this story is more autobiographical than fiction, but writers must write what they know.  This would have been a much different book had Hamblin shown the action instead of describing it, “Once Broken,” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.