Reviewed by HootRated editorial · Last updated
Everything breaks
Vicki Grove
Everything breaks
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by Vicki Grove
The text is written at a 7th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes. Its HootRating code, ME, means moderate content, mostly emotional.
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About This Book
What would you do if everything you loved suddenly broke? Seventeen-year-old Tucker faces a heartbreaking choice after losing his three best friends in a crash he feels responsible for. When he meets Charon, the mysterious Ferryman of Hades, the line between life and death blurs—can Tucker find a reason to keep going?
Themes
Quick Assessment
After a night of drinking ends with a fatal car crash that kills his three best friends, seventeen-year-old Tucker meets Charon, the Ferryman of Hades, and must decide whether to keep living with his guilt. The novel deals directly with grief, survivor's guilt, heavy teen drinking, and suicidal thoughts, so parents may want to talk with teens about these topics. It is written for older teen readers and treats its heavy subject with seriousness and emotional depth.
Why we rated Everything breaks ME (Moderate)
Everything breaks is written at a Level 7-8 reading level across 242 pages. Upper Grades (Ages 13+) is the typical interest range for this book — readers in that age band have the maturity and attention span suited to the story, separate from whether they can decode the words.
We rate Everything breaks as ME (Moderate, mostly 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, social complexity, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the moderate intensity score.
Thematically, Everything breaks explores grief, social issues, greek mythology, native american culture, and coming of age — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.
Good fit for
- ✓ Children in the Ages 13+ range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about grief, social issues, greek mythology.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
For Parents
Content Intensity
ME · Moderate · EmotionalReading the HootRating code: the first letter is the content intensity (C = Gentle · L = Mild · M = Moderate · I = Intense · V = Very Intense); the second, when there is one, is the kind of content that drives it (E = Emotional · P = Physical · S = Social · T = Thematic). Reading level and age range are rated separately. How we rate
Real stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Discussion Potential
3/10A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9780399250880
- Pages
- 242
- Publisher
- G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
- Published
- 2013
- Type
- Fiction