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January 09, 2013

Review: Broken by A.E. Rought

Title: Broken
Author: A.E. Rought
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Publication date: January 8th, 2013
Source: NetGalley
Format: eBook
Pages: 384
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.
I am very well acquainted with Mary Shelly's Frankenstein novel. It was a requirement reading that I resisted at the beginning but then devoured. So to say I was excited to read a modern retelling of it is accurate. The synopsis doesn't even tell you much other than hinting on who Frankenstein's creation is and who he was reconstructed from. However I was both impressed by the direction the plot took but also disappointed by how the plot itself was handled. I might not be making much sense but to say it simply, Broken had potential, but towards the end my disappointment took over. 
The story revolves around Emma Gentry and the loss of her boyfriend Daniel. Emma really mourns him to the point that she spends everyday after school at the cemetery where she wished Daniel was buried (his parents cremated him). However, Alex Franks comes along and confuses Emma. I liked that she didn't feel guilty about liking someone else but she still remembers Daniel whenever she is with Alex because somehow Alex knows things about her that only Daniel knew. I found that to be a bit creepy and added to the mystery of the novel. However then the romance blooms and the cheesy texts between them that I would rather have not read were written. We also encounter Alex's dad who is supposedly a doctor but I would rather suffer through any sickness than go to him. We also have Daniel's best friend who can't seem to stop harassing Emma, because they are not seniors but kids who show their feelings towards each other by being mean *rolls eyes*. I honestly couldn't stand the dad, the best friend and the cheesy romance, but I did like Alex, Emma, and her best friend. 
A pet peeve of mine whenever I read a novel is the amount of detail an author puts in describing inanimate objects. I just tend to skip these unimportant paragraphs that take me away from the novel. The problem is that Broken had a lot of those; I wanted more dialogue but got more repetitive contemplation and worry from Emma. The mystery gets unraveled way too late in the story and by then I have honestly lost my interest and just wanted the story to end. The mystery was well planned but the execution took some of the enjoyment level out of it. 

21 comments:

  1. I thought this had a lot of potential too, but for me also, it failed to deliver. Sorry it didn't impress, Juhina! I hope your next read is less disappointing.

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  2. I was very excited to read this one, but lately I'm seeing more reviews like yours, and I lost some of my enthusiasm. Great review :)

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  3. I heard some great things about this book but I'm not sure if it's for me or not. Sorry to hear you were disappointed with it. Nonetheless thanks for your honest review.

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  4. I found myself bored with the first like 80% of this book. Lol!! Barely anything happened between the on and on of the school day. I hated Emma's mom. She was just so freaking mean all the time and so rude. Who's that rude to people they don't even know! Seriously? Alex was about the only character I did like. Oh, and Bree. And I loved the last 5% of the book where stuff actually happens. That was fun. I gave this one a two also. Great review!!

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  5. Too bad on this one Juhina! I really like the sound of the premise but I completely get what you're saying about all the paragraphs of just description - that can definitely slow a story down and I find myself simply skimming them as well. Hope the next book you pick up just blows you away!

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  6. Thanks for the honest review. Yours is not the only review I've read like this. I hate the sounds of the cheesy dialogue and some of the characters. I think I may have to pass on this one.

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  7. Sorry you didn't like this one, I have noticed reviews are all over for this one. Not sure bad dialogue would work for me.

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  8. I had a lot of troubles with this book. I felt like I knew the complete story, so the mystery was already gone. I liked the creepy ending, but overall.. it was just disappointing. Nice review! :)

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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  9. Aw... too bad it didn't rock. It really does sound like it had so much potential! The blurb is fantastic. Hope your next one rocks.

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  10. I also have the tendency to skip over paragraphs that shares too much description on inanimate objects. I can understand the disappointment esp. when you liked Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Hope you'll like your next-read better!

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  11. Aww, too bad. I have this book to read, now I might change my mind. Thank you for being honest.

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  12. Oh Juhina, I really had high hopes for this book too, but so far the reviews seem to be really disappointing, that I may have to skip this! Sorry this didn't work out for you, pages and pages of description on inanimate objects tends to bug me big time too!

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  13. Thanks for the review! You are not the first person to be disappointed by the plot. I just read another review that said that mentioning Frankenstein in the summery really threw her off, as if, if it wasn't mentioned at all, she probably would have like it better. There are associations with big names like that one, and sometimes the novel is better off not compared to them.

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  14. Too bad you didn't enjoy it so much :( I may still give it a shot, but I'm not entirely sure. Thanks for the honest review! :)

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  15. Hahaa like you, I was forced to read Frankenstein for my English class, but ended up really liking it :) That was the only reason I was interested in picking this up, but after reading Sam's review and now yours, I have a feeling I won't like it much either :/ Urghhh cheesy texts really annoy me...and I'm laughing at how grown up 'boys' still act like little kids around girls they like *snicker* Anyway, thanks for the honest review, hun!

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  16. I've read few reviews for this one and mostly all say the things you do. It's good at the start but later it tends to disappoint. I'm sad to hear that. I'm not the fan of retelling so I'll skip this one either way. Still thank for the honest review :)

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  17. Sorry this didn't work out for you! It seems a lot of people have felt the same way. I can see why though - a cheesy romance and unnecessary descriptions? Ughh!

    Great review. :)

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  18. Great, honest review! I wasn't too thrilled when I first heard about this book. I mean, I love the story of Frankenstien and everything, but this sounds a little creepy and--ughh!--I hate romantic, cheesy banter! It's so annoying. With this review, I definitely know I won't be reading this one.
    Cheers!

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  19. I've actually read reviews similar to yours about this book. Too bad you didn't enjoy this as much. I'm not sure I'm going to pick this up, anytime soon! Thanks for the honest, amazing review, Juhina! :)

    ~ Maida @ Literary Love Affair 

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  20. I've seen many disappointing reviews for this so I think I'm going to pass. I would find a lot of detail describing inanimate objects boring as well.

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  21. I haven't finished Broken yet (bad blogger) and I'm still pushing myself to finish it. It's kinda slow when we already know it's an adaptation of Frankenstein, what with the blurb telling us that. Kinda sad that the blurb kinda spoiled it for readers. Thanks for the honest review, Juhina!

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