Beautifully Broken by Sherry Soule
344 pages
Published August 30th 2011 by Moonlight Publishing
Age Group: YA
Source: Author
Series: Beautifully Broken #1
Summary:
Thirteenth daughter. Heritage witch. Demon slayer.
They say every town has its secrets, but that doesn’t even begin to describe Whispering Pines. The townsfolk are a superstitious lot and the mystical disappearance of a local teen has everyone murmuring about a centuries old witch’s curse…
Sixteen-year-old Shiloh Ravenwolf is a heritage witch from the Broussard family, a family both destined and cursed. After she takes a summer job at Ravenhurst Manor, she discovers a ghost with an agenda. That’s where she meets the new town hottie, Trent Donovan. But Trent may be the next victim on the supernatural hit list, and Shiloh is the only person with the power to save him.
Complicated much?
After receiving cryptic messages from a creepy wraith, and then frightening threats from a demon, Shiloh finally begins to understand the mysterious significance of the strange mark branded on her wrist. Now Shiloh must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice to protect the other teenagers in town.
Unfortunately, for Shiloh, not all ghosts want help crossing over. Some want vengeance.
Fans of the supernatural will enjoy this mixture of witches, ghosts and demons. Beautifully Broken is full of secrets, mystery and even a cute guy. The writing is very readable and conversational, which I enjoyed. I think a younger to middle YA audience will enjoy this book the most. The characters are very true to high school girls. And the language matches their age group perfectly. There is slang and lots of OMG’s. I thought it was realistic. These are 16/17 year old girls so they are going to gush over guys and they are going to talk in chat speak more often than not. None of the characters are very formal in Beautifully Broken, but none of them were overly immature either. I think they were just realistic, which is refreshing to see.
I love that this story revolves around Ravenhurst- an awesome and old mansion. I have this thing about big or cool houses. I just love them, so a story featuring one is going to get some pluses in my book. I want to visit! But the cool thing is that this secret goes deeper than just the house. It is one of those secrets that just keeps getting bigger and bigger as the story goes on. And it is one doozy of a secret. Shiloh was like a little sleuth. I am so excited to see what is going to happen with it in the next book.
So what did I not love about Beautifully Broken? The awful, awful mother! I know the evil mom (or traditionally step-mom) is a classic cliche in books and movies, but I just don’t care for it. I knew right away that Shiloh’s mom was involved somehow but my thoughts about halfway through the book about her were way off the mark about how she was involved. I love being surprised, so that was another plus for me. I still hate her though.
Other than the mother, I enjoyed Beautifully Broken. I think this will appeal to teens that are looking for a creepy supernatural read. I am really excited to see what is going to happen next in the second book.
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| 3/5 gavels |
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Alicia
It sounds like it would be a good read for this time of year. I understand the evil mother stereotype but at the same time if a character is too evil it just frustrates me and I want to see them die. The best villains to me are the ones that you love to hate (usually more complex characters), not the ones you hope get killed off.
Sherry Soule
I am honored that you took the time to read, and write this well-written review of my novel. And I am thrilled that you enjoyed my brand of storytelling.
I sincerely hope your followers will decide to read the thrilling YA Spellbound Series, too.
Happy reading,
~Sherry
Happy Reading,
~Sherry
Please Check out My Books!
Jenea Whittington
Great review. I think ?I might have to give this a try. 🙂
Jenea @ Books Live Forever