Broken beautiful hearts
Kami Garcia
Broken beautiful hearts
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by Kami Garcia
The text is written at a 8th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes.
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About This Book
Peyton Rios is one of the best soccer players in her high school, but her toughest game is off the field. After a painful breakup, she moves to a quiet southern town where everything feels different — and so does the new person she meets. What happens when your heart is broken but still ready to play?
Themes
Quick Assessment
This middle-grade novel follows Peyton, a talented high school soccer player recovering from an abusive relationship. It explores themes of resilience, healing, and new beginnings in a small-town setting, appropriate for ages 9-12. Parents should note the book addresses emotional challenges related to abuse sensitively, with no graphic content.
Why we rated Broken beautiful hearts 12ME
Broken beautiful hearts is written at a Level 8 reading level across 401 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 9.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Broken beautiful hearts works for readers up to grade 10.0.
We rate Broken beautiful hearts as 12ME ("Moderate — Emotional") because the content sits in the "Moderate" range — moderate conflict that may involve loss, scary scenes, or interpersonal stakes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Abusive Relationship.
Thematically, Broken beautiful hearts explores women soccer players, romance, high school athletes, coming of age, and friendship — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.
Good fit for
- ✓ Children in the Ages 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Patient readers who enjoy slower, character-driven stories.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about women soccer players, romance, high school athletes.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
12ME — Moderate — EmotionalReal stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.
Content Flags
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
1/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
3/10A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9781250079206
- Pages
- 401
- Publisher
- Imprint
- Published
- 2018
- Type
- Fiction