Break This House, Candice Iloh
Break This House, Candice Iloh
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
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Break This House

Author: Candice Iloh

Narrator: Ashley August

Unabridged: 7 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/24/2022


Synopsis

The author of National Book Award finalist Everybody Looking presents a poignant novel about a teenager reckoning with her family’s—and her home town’s—secrets.

“A tender, poetic story about what it’s like to experience loss and learn to continue living anyway.”—Bookpage

“Iloh’s meditation on grief, individuals’ capacity for change, and perseverance of family [is] a thought-provoking read.”—Publishers Weekly

Yaminah Okar left Obsidian and the wreckage of her family years ago. She and her father have made lives for themselves in Brooklyn. She thinks she’s moved on to bigger and better things. She thinks she’s finally left behind that city she would rather forget. But when a Facebook message about her estranged mother pierces Yaminah’s new bubble, memories of everything that happened before her parents’ divorce come roaring back. Now Yaminah must finally reckon with the truth about her mother and the looming collapse of a place she once called home.

About The Author

Candice Iloh is a first-generation Nigerian American writer whose books center home. They are from the Midwest by way of Washington, DC, and Brooklyn, New York. They are a proud alumna of the Rhode Island Writers Colony, and their work has earned fellowships from Lambda Literary, VONA, and Kimbilio Fiction and a residency with Hi-ARTS, where they debuted their first one-person show in 2018. Candice became a 2020 National Book Award Finalist and, in 2021, a Printz Award Honoree for their debut novel, Every Body Looking. Salt the Water is their third novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Provin on October 31, 2022

The thing I love the most about Break This House by Candice Iloh is the strong female characters and their ability to be REAL. Yaminah Okar lives with her father in Brooklyn. She grew up in Obsidian, but she and her father left that life behind when her mom and dad divorced. They have built a new li......more

Goodreads review by Mallory on June 11, 2022

Yaminah and her father have relocated to Brooklyn and she thought she left her old life and her extended family behind. All of her unresolved feelings come back when she gets a facebook message referencing her estranged mother and a family reunion. Yaminah reflects back on what happened before her p......more

Goodreads review by Leah on May 12, 2022

CONTENT WARNING: grief, death of a parent After reading the sneak peek of this on BookishFirst, I was desperately hoping to get a copy. And when it arrived, I couldn’t wait to start it. It doesn’t hurt that it makes me feel like I’m making some progress on my never-ending and constantly expanding lis......more

Goodreads review by Artemisa on May 21, 2022

*Thank you, Penguin & BookishFirst, for this ARC of Break This House, by Candice Iloh in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and ideas are my own.* This story starts off in Brooklyn, where 16-year-old Yaminah (Minah) is living her life alongside her young father. Right away you feel the raw e......more

Goodreads review by Melanie on May 25, 2022

Thank you to BookishFirst and Penguin Teen for a finished copy of this book. I loved Candice Iloh's debut, Every Body Looking, and knew I needed to read their second. Yaminah has been living in Brooklyn with her father for years, trying to stay away from the wreckage of the rest of her family. But wh......more


Quotes

“Candice Iloh is a writer to watch.”—Jason Reynolds, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Long Way Down

“A unique bildungsroman about growing up with an inconsistent and absent mother that is grounded in Iloh’s expert craftsmanship for character and setting.”School Library Journal, starred review

“Iloh’s meditation on grief, individuals’ capacity for change, and perseverance of family [is] a thought-provoking read.”Publishers Weekly

“Iloh’s coming-of-age story deconstructs the tropes of Black familial life and shines a glaring light onto the importance of addressing trauma.”—Booklist

“A tender, poetic story about what it’s like to experience loss and learn to continue living anyway.”BookPage