Review: Broken by Dean Murray

Posted December 16th, 2011 in book review / 1 comment

Broken

Publisher: Self-Published (Release date is the last week of December)
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Pages: ebook
Source: Author Review Request (ARC)

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Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

Summary

Adri Paige is too busy dealing with emotional fallout from losing half of her family to deal with boys. At least she thought so until the two most intriguing guys in her new school take an interest in her.

Both boys are gorgeous and blessed with obscene amounts of money. They should have the emotional depth of note cards, but instead display undercurrents she doesn’t fully understand. Rumors the pair destroys peoples’ livelihoods seem ludicrous until she gets caught in the crossfire and her family almost loses their home. She’s increasingly unsure either boy is really human, and their rivalry is rapidly turning deadly.

The Good
This book has a companion of sorts. Torn is the same story as Broken but with the point of view of Alec. In Broken we get to read the story through Adriana’s eyes. I have to say I found Adri’s view more intriguing. Adri is this broken (lol, just like the title, now I get it) character who has lost some of her family. She is forced to move to this small town and now has to make friends with people who just don’t seem to like her. And through all this she has to deal with debilitating panic attacks.

There was something about Adri that called to me. A girl with not so simple problems that can’t seem to find her place in the world. I really felt for her the whole time. Though she feels her world is somewhat crumbling around her, she maintains this strength and determination that you have to admire.

I found it very interesting how her relationship with Brandon and Alec change to such extremes. We are never quite sure who Adriana can trust, so you can never really relax when she is with either character. There are so many questions on what is going on in this town and with these strange people that we are constantly left on the edge of our seats most of the book.

I love the gentleness Alec and Adri share. It is such a quiet love that seems to run deeper than either want to admit. I just wish we got to see more of it because they are very adorable together.

With Torn I felt there was a lot unanswered that bugged me to no end. This time around I got most of my questions answered so I enjoyed the book more. But if you are going to read these books, I’d suggest reading Broken first then Torn. And just in case you’re thinking that reading two books with the same story will be boring, this is not the case. While I was reading Broken, I never felt like I was reading the same exact story. The repetition was only in some of the dialogue and even then it felt like it had a new spin because we were experiencing everything through Adri’s eyes.

The Bad
I wanted to give this book more stars, since I really did enjoy it, but there were a few things that bothered me.

With Adri’s point of view, we learn that this story is actually about shapeshifters only 60% into the book. This made the action a very small part of the novel. We don’t get to see the shapeshifters fight until the end. I just felt the book was less paranormal this time around.

Broken is very much focused on inner monologue. Very few conversations happen in the first half. Though it did help me relate to Adri’s seclusion from the rest of the world a lot more, it also made some parts a little boring.

Overall I really missed the action, the grit of the last book. If these two books were combined, I know I would have given it more stars. Separated, they don’t give the same punch that’s needed to enthrall the reader. If combined into one book, we would get more even amounts of action, love, and the supernatural.

The Snuggly
A very clean book for young adults.

Overall
I did enjoy reading both books. I think a lot of young adult paranormal romance readers would find Broken very interesting. But I would highly suggest reading both books to get the full impact of what Murray was trying to accomplish. Happy reading.

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