Series: -
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Release Date: January 8th 2013
My Rating:4.5 cups
Source:Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
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.
I have to be honest and say that this was another one of those "Oooh, pretty cover *clicks for request*" situations. I had already read a review on this book and I had read the blurb, but since I haven't read the original Frankenstein, I had no idea what it was about. Oh, sure, I've heard about Frankenstein and his monster before (I think I might have seen this monster in a cartoon or so before, too) but hey, I don't like the classics *shrugs*.
I did love this book, though. There's a mixture of cute, funny, dramatic, creepy, romantic, sad, mysterious, dark, with some teenage angst and fights with overprotective parents. And it was a good mix. It had basically everything I could wish for.
I really liked Emma. She started out as a sad teenager, mourning the loss of her boyfriend, and blossomed towards the end of the book. I also liked her dreams. Those were very creepy.
Alex is one of those mysterious until the end character. I couldn't figure him out. I liked the way he treated Emma and how he helped her when she needed it. And he seemed kind of old school, with the proper attitude towards her and their relationship and towards her parents. I liked that.
Something happened while I was reading this book. See, if you read the blurb closely, you might realize what I'm talking about. It's practically like a mantra: "Alex, Daniel, Daniel, Alex, Alex, Daniel". But this is one of those moments where my brain reverses the information it receives. For more than half of this book I thought the connection between the two boys was the exact opposite. So when I got to the ending of the book, I think I had my eyes open very, very wide (think about those big, round plates they bring you when you order pizza in a restaurant). Yes, I was that surprised by the ending. It really is good when a book surprises me that much.
There's another character in this book that surprised me, but this time not in a good way. I thought Josh was a nice guy at first. Then things happened and I realized how wrong I was. Part of me was sad about it. I mean, I loved the initial banter between him and Emma, they were quite funny. Oh well.
The reason why I can't give this book 5 cups is a small one, really: the ending felt too... abrupt. Part of me wanted a "Years later" chapter. I wanted to see them safe, still together, sure that they do in fact love each other and not a memory or an idea of what the other should/could be.
I have to say I was surprised by this book. I feel more open to "classic tale" retellings now, than I was before I read Broken. So if you like the story of Frankenstein and want a more modern spin on it, or even if you're like me and have no idea of how the original story goes but you want something different, try this book. I think you'll like it :D
