Broken Rival by Tessa Bailey: Brother Lovers, Time Travel & Dystopian Teen Brides
What happens when you take the dystopian romances we were obsessed with in the 2010s, add a morally gray military man, a very inconvenient love triangle, and Tessa Bailey-level spice?
You get Broken Rival. And we have things to say.
This week on Genre'd, Elyse and Katy are diving into Tessa Bailey's first dystopian romance, a time-travel love story that feels like The Hunger Games met The Vampire Diaries, except everyone is allowed to do a lot more than kiss.
We're talking brother lovers (Katy's least favorite trope), the return of the dangerously broody book boyfriend, and why a book featuring teenagers getting married might be a bridge too far, even for us.
Plus, before we get into the book, we're talking Fourth Wing casting news, Halloween costumes inspired by Dungeon Crawler Carl, and Katy officially crushing her Goodreads reading goal.
🚨 Spoiler Warning
As always, the first 20-ish minutes of the episode are spoiler-free! We'll introduce the book, break down the characters and tropes, and help you decide whether Broken Rival deserves a spot on your TBR.
After the spoiler alarm, we're getting into everything: major deaths, secret time travelers, romantic revelations, and that ending.
Consider this your warning.
What Is Broken Rival by Tessa Bailey About?
Magnolia Brown is an eighteen-year-old time traveler stranded fifty years in the past after her scientist parents are executed for inventing technology that helped destroy society.
Now living in a dystopian version of Kansas, she's caught between two brothers.
There's Fallon Willoughby, the beloved golden boy who has protected her since she arrived. And then there's Ramsey, his dangerous older half-brother, a military officer whose job is quite literally to hunt down people like Magnolia.
Naturally, things get complicated.
And because this is a Tessa Bailey book, there's also a considerable amount of spice.
Genre & Tropes
We have a new genre to introduce to the group chat: dystopiance.
Or dystopian romance. We're still workshopping it.
Here's what you're getting:
Dystopian romance
Time travel
Enemies to lovers
He falls first
Love triangle
Brother lovers
Morally gray love interest
Found family
Forbidden romance
And a very healthy dose of the kind of romantic intensity that defined an entire generation of YA readers.
It's Giving...
We had slightly different visions for this one.
Katy's comparisons: Silver Elite, Fourth Wing, The Hunger Games, and a little Exit Party.
Between the oppressive government, military power dynamics, and dangerously attractive men, there are plenty of similarities.
Elyse's comparisons: The Vampire Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and basically every CW show we were watching in the 2000s and 2010s.
Because Broken Rival feels like a return to the YA dystopian formula we grew up loving, except with adult romance scenes.
The angst. The love triangles. The boy who would burn down the world for you.
It's all here.
Meet the Characters
Magnolia Brown: A teenage time traveler whose parents accidentally helped destroy civilization. Everyone expects her to be a scientific genius like her parents, but unfortunately, science is not her strong suit.
Fallon Willoughby: The town's golden boy. Popular quarterback, seemingly perfect boyfriend, and Magnolia's biggest protector. A golden retriever boyfriend, at least on paper.
Ramsey: Fallon's older half-brother and the definition of a tortured, morally gray love interest. He's a soldier, he's dangerous, and he's so broody that we're honestly impressed he has time for anything else.
Pastor Willoughby and Camille: The family who takes Magnolia in after her parents' deaths and gives her something resembling a normal life.
Cyrus: Ramsey's father and the military leader responsible for hunting down time travelers. Not exactly someone you'd want to meet at a family dinner.
Who Should Read Broken Rival?
If you spent your teenage years obsessed with Twilight, Divergent, The Hunger Games, or The Vampire Diaries, there's a good chance this book will scratch a very specific nostalgic itch.
It's especially appealing if you love morally gray men, high-stakes romance, time-travel mysteries, and the kind of love story where everything feels like the end of the world.
And while the characters and setting feel very YA, this is an adult romance with explicit sexual content.
If you prefer your romance protagonists a little older, or if the brother love triangle trope makes you want to throw your book across the room, you might have some reservations.
We certainly did.
🚨 SPOILER ALARM: Let's Talk About That Ending
If you haven't finished Broken Rival, this is your cue to stop reading.
Because Tessa Bailey had a few tricks up her sleeve.
The Death That Made Us Love the Book
Let's start with the biggest surprise.
Fallon dies. And he dies early.
For Katy, this was excellent news.
Not because we particularly wanted the man dead, but because it meant we weren't going to spend an entire book watching Magnolia debate which brother she wanted to date.
Katy has made her feelings about brother lovers abundantly clear. She hates this trope.
Elyse wasn't completely sold on the opening chapters either. The dystopian world felt strangely normal, with high school football games and everyday teenage drama happening alongside a society supposedly on the brink of collapse.
But when Fallon died, things got interesting.
And suddenly, this was a very different book.
Ramsey: The Broodiest Man to Ever Brood
Ramsey is not your typical bad boy with a heart of gold.
He's an actual killer.
He's spent years working for his father, hunting down time travelers, and doing things that are objectively terrible.
But he's also been secretly protecting Magnolia.
And eventually, we learn why.
Ramsey has traveled through time and discovered that he and Magnolia are married in the future.
Which certainly explains his unusual level of devotion to a girl he barely seems to know.
He's seen their future together. He knows they're meant to be.
And he's been trying to keep her alive long enough for that future to happen.
We loved the reveal, although we still had questions about the timeline and exactly when Ramsey learned about their future.
The time-travel logic required a little mental gymnastics.
But emotionally? We understood the assignment.
Fallon Was Never the Golden Boy We Thought
Remember how Fallon was supposed to be the perfect boyfriend?
Well.
It turns out Fallon was responsible for setting the fire that killed him.
He had a dangerous hero complex and planned to create a disaster so he could swoop in and save everyone.
Except things didn't go according to plan.
This revelation explained so much of the behavior that had felt off in the early chapters.
And when Magnolia eventually travels back in time to save him, she discovers that changing the past isn't nearly as simple as she'd hoped.
Even after she intervenes, Fallon still dies.
Sometimes, apparently, the timeline has other plans.
The Plot Twists Just Kept Coming
One thing we both appreciated about Broken Rival was how frequently the story revealed something that changed our understanding of what we'd already read.
Among the biggest surprises:
Pastor Willoughby has secretly been working with the Collective, a group helping time travelers.
Ramsey has made a deal with Cyrus, exchanging his military service for Magnolia's continued survival.
Magnolia discovers that she has a long-lost brother who was sent back in time.
Magnolia has an unusually powerful time-travel device implanted in her hand, allowing her to travel much farther and more precisely than other travelers.
And yes, Elyse insisted on calling that last one the "super seed."
Katy would like to object to that terminology.
We also briefly entertained the horrifying possibility that Magnolia's missing brother might turn out to be one of her romantic interests.
Thankfully, Tessa Bailey did not take us down that particular road.
The Scenes That Stole the Show
For Katy, one standout was Magnolia's attempt to retrieve her parents' buried time-travel suit.
She's being chased by bounty hunters, she's making decisions on the fly, and she is absolutely not a trained action hero.
But she's resourceful.
She improvises, makes mistakes, and somehow keeps herself alive.
We loved that she didn't suddenly become a super-spy. She was a regular teenager trying very hard not to die.
Elyse also loved Gizzard, one of Ramsey's fellow soldiers, who seemed to be the only person in Kansas appropriately fascinated by the fact that Magnolia was from the future.
Finally, someone asking the important questions.
And then there's the obstacle-course-style challenge in Purgatory, which reminded us of a deadly version of Nickelodeon's GUTS.
Nothing says dystopian romance quite like fighting for your life in the Aggro Crag.
Let's Talk About the Romance
Here's where things got complicated for both of us.
We liked Ramsey. We liked Magnolia. We liked their relationship.
But we struggled with how young they were.
Because Broken Rival has the emotional structure of a YA romance, complete with teenagers experiencing their first all-consuming love.
Except this time, the bedroom door is very much open.
And that felt strange.
Tessa Bailey writes excellent spice. That was never the issue.
The issue was that we felt like we were reading Twilight or Divergent with explicit scenes involving characters who were still teenagers.
Then came the marriage.
Magnolia is nineteen. Ramsey is barely older.
And suddenly we're dealing with a dystopian teen bride.
It's giving Bella and Edward, and not necessarily in a good way.
Katy was especially uncomfortable with the combination of very young characters, explicit romance, and the decision to get married so early.
Elyse understood what Bailey was going for, particularly given the heightened emotions of a dystopian setting, but ultimately felt similarly.
And don't even get us started on the lack of protection during one particular scene.
We were practically yelling at the book.
The takeaway: The romance worked, but we would have enjoyed it significantly more if the characters had been a few years older.
Can We Talk About the Ending?
By the end of the book, Magnolia has become instrumental in helping displaced time travelers return to their original timelines.
Her special abilities allow her to do what almost nobody else can.
And rather than ending on a massive cliffhanger, Broken Rival gives us something increasingly rare in dystopian romance.
An ending.
A real ending.
At the time of recording, this appears to be a standalone novel, and we couldn't be happier about that.
We love a sprawling fantasy series as much as anyone, but sometimes it's nice to read a complete story without committing to six additional books.
Although we wouldn't say no to a story about Magnolia's missing brother.
Final Thoughts: Is Broken Rival Worth Reading?
Katy's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
Katy loved the story, the plot twists, and the fact that it appears to be a standalone. Fallon dying early also eliminated one of her biggest concerns about the brother love triangle.
Her main issue was the age of the characters, particularly when it came to the explicit romance and marriage.
If Magnolia and Ramsey had been in their twenties, this might have been a five-star read.
Elyse's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
Elyse also loved the nostalgic dystopian atmosphere, the surprising plot developments, and Tessa Bailey's ability to bring her signature romance writing into a completely different genre.
But like Katy, she struggled with the combination of YA-style characters and adult-level spice.
The scenes themselves were well written. The characters just felt too young for her personal reading preferences.
Our verdict: Broken Rival is a fun, twisty, surprisingly nostalgic dystopian romance that reminded us why we fell in love with this genre in the first place.
We just wish everyone had been old enough to rent a car.
Fast Facts: Broken Rival
Book | Broken Rival |
Author | Tessa Bailey |
Genre | Dystopian Romance / Adult Romance |
Tropes | Enemies to Lovers, He Falls First, Love Triangle, Morally Gray MMC, Found Family |
Spice | Explicit, open-door romance |
Genre'd Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 from both hosts |
Best For | Readers nostalgic for 2010s YA dystopia who want an adult romance |
Read If You Liked | Silver Elite, The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Vampire Diaries |
Join the Conversation
We need to know:
Is the brother lovers trope an automatic dealbreaker for you?
And how do you feel about adult romance novels featuring teenage protagonists?
Because apparently we have a lot of opinions about both.
Come find us on Instagram and TikTok @genredpodcast and tell us whether Broken Rival worked for you.
And while we're asking important questions: If you could time travel anywhere, would you visit the dinosaurs like Elyse, or head back to ancient history to find out whether being a princess was actually glamorous or just incredibly smelly, like Katy?
What We're Reading Next
Next up on Genre'd: Fruit Fly by Josh Silver.
We've been hearing about this book for months, and the reviews have us intrigued.
Gripping? Funny? A little unhinged?
Sounds like something we need to investigate.
We're going in as blind as possible, so come read along with us!
Listen & Follow Genre'd
Listen to the full Broken Rival episode wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow Elyse and Katy for weekly book reviews, author interviews, reading recommendations, and opinions nobody technically asked for.
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Website: genredpodcast.com
Read widely. Judge freely.
And remember, no genre shaming unless it's funny.
Frequently Asked Questions About Broken Rival by Tessa Bailey
What is Broken Rival by Tessa Bailey about?
Broken Rival follows Magnolia Brown, a young time traveler stranded in a dystopian version of Kansas after her scientist parents are executed. As she navigates a society that hates time travelers, she becomes entangled with two brothers, one a beloved golden boy and the other a dangerous military officer.
Is Broken Rival a standalone?
At the time of our recording, Broken Rival appears to be a standalone novel. The central story reaches a conclusion, although there are opportunities for future stories involving supporting characters.
Is Broken Rival spicy?
Yes. Broken Rival contains explicit, open-door romance scenes in Tessa Bailey's signature style. Although the story has a YA dystopian feel, it is an adult romance.
What tropes are in Broken Rival?
The book features enemies to lovers, he falls first, a love triangle, morally gray characters, forbidden romance, time travel, and found family.
Is Broken Rival like The Hunger Games or Divergent?
It shares elements with popular 2010s YA dystopian fiction, including oppressive governments, dangerous military structures, young protagonists, and high-stakes romance. However, Broken Rival includes considerably more explicit romantic content.
Is Broken Rival worth reading?
Both Genre'd hosts rated it four out of five stars. We particularly enjoyed the plot twists, nostalgic dystopian atmosphere, and complete story. Our biggest reservation was the young age of the characters in an otherwise adult romance.
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