Review: Broken by A. E. Rought

Broken by A. E. Rought
Paperback, 384 pages
Expected publication: January 8th 2013 by Strange Chemistry
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Imagine a modern spin on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein where a young couple’s undying love and the grief of a father pushed beyond sanity could spell the destruction of them all.

A string of suspicious deaths near a small Michigan town ends with a fall that claims the life of Emma Gentry's boyfriend, Daniel. Emma is broken, a hollow shell mechanically moving through her days. She and Daniel had been made for each other, complete only when they were together. Now she restlessly wanders the town in the late Fall gloom, haunting the cemetery and its white-marbled tombs, feeling Daniel everywhere, his spectre in the moonlight and the fog.

When she encounters newcomer Alex Franks, only son of a renowned widowed surgeon, she's intrigued despite herself. He's an enigma, melting into shadows, preferring to keep to himself. But he is as drawn to her as she is to him. He is strangely... familiar. From the way he knows how to open her locker when it sticks, to the nickname she shared only with Daniel, even his hazel eyes with brown flecks are just like Daniel's.

The closer they become, though, the more something inside her screams there's something very wrong with Alex Franks. And when Emma stumbles across a grotesque and terrifying menagerie of mangled but living animals within the walls of the Franks' estate, creatures she surely knows must have died from their injuries, she knows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, first off the synopsis gives away way too much. There is so much they could have (and should have) left out. Also, the fact that it is a Frankenstein retelling makes it rather predictable. The first half of the book is ok but it’s actually the last 40% that I really liked. It has more action and crazy stuff going on and kept my attention more.

The characters overall weren’t bad. Josh played a pretty good jerk and Alex did play a pretty good boyfriend even though some rather weird things happen. There is definitely some insta-love going on in this book, particularly by the character of Alex. Alex’s dad is super CRAZY!! Then again he plays the “mad scientist” role quiet well. Emma’s best friend is preppy and always dressed to a “T” and has perfect makeup while Emma doesn’t really care what she looks like. I think authors do this to much. Most best friends are more alike than that.

I found a couple things at the end that totally bug me because they don’t really make sense but it’s a pretty big spoiler so I’ll leave that out.

I had a couple notes written down, which I don’t normally do, but I really wanted to point this out. The writing throughout the book was fine. I didn’t have any problems with it. However, there are a couple details that the author repeats constantly that drive me nuts! One is whenever Emma, the main character, sees an apparition of her dead boyfriend. Sometimes she sees him alive and sometimes she sees him after his accident. That is fine except whenever she sees him after his accident it is always described as “He’s the Daniel after his fall, trail of red leaking from his skull over his eye.” (Don’t worry, not a spoiler.)  I can understand describing it the first time like that, but you don’t have to describe that he looks that way every time. I think just saying that she’s seeing the dead Daniel would be fine.

Another one that drove me nuts was when she was talking about her dead boyfriend’s gravestone. He didn’t have one so she would always say there is nothing to come look at with his name on it. We don’t find out why he doesn’t have one until over halfway through the book.  In the same moment we find out that we also finally find out how he died, before it’s always just referred to as “the fall”. I think a little back story at first would have been nice. The detailed account of his death could have been saved until later.

Last one, every time her phone goes off it is described as something to do with bees buzzing (it happens quite a few times). I don’t know why that bothers me but it does.

Overall it is not a bad book, especially the last half.

My Rating:

 

*This book was received for free from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.