Review-Not Easily Broken (spoilers)

Not Easily Broken: A Novel by T.D. Jakes

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Not Easily Broken tells the story of a married couple, David and Clarice. They have been married for 15 years, but lately there has been some strain in their marriage. A terrible car accident leaves Clarice with a badly broken leg and their marriage is put to the test even more.

Not Easily Broken was made into a movie that came out a year or so ago and it stars 3 of my favorite actors, Taraji P. Henson (or as she will forever be known as to me--Yvette from Baby Boy), Morris Chestnut, and Jenifer Lewis. They all did a fantastic job in an otherwise "just okay" movie. It's very rare that a movie is better than the book, but that is definitely the case with this one.

None of the characters in the book are well developed or sympathetic at all. We are left to wonder why Clarice and David love each other and why they should even stay together. Clarice just seems like a harping shrew. David is a spineless punk. And then there's Julie, who plays Clarice's physical therapist, whom David starts to have feelings for. They tried to make her sympathetic what with the situation with her son Bryce, but it just came across to me like she was using that tragedy to get closer to David. And then at the end, all of a sudden David and Clarice are going to stay together, and Julie is dating Brock? SO did David and Julie's feelings for each other just disappear? There is no way I'd want the woman that my husband developed feelings for anywhere around us, much less dating my husband's best friend.

Clarice's mother in the book didn't have nearly as large a role as she did in the movie, played by the fabulous Jenifer Lewis. She did a great job bringing some life to an otherwise boring and bland character, who again was never fully developed. All the actors did.

All in all, not a terrible book, but could've been much better. Skip the book and just rent the movie instead.



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