Love the cover! (and the plot sounds fascinating) :)

4.5 stars

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
( )

I'm a big fan of retellings. I was excited because this was a spin on Frankenstein, which is probably one of my favorite novels of all time. I ended up not caring for this book all that much. I think I was expecting something completely different.

I did love certain aspects of the main character, Emma. She's strong when it comes to dealing with the mean girls at school. They typically make her life hell, and she does her best to not let it effect her. She also questions things. She doesn't take answers at face value. I didn't like how self-centered she is. She makes everything about her, and it was annoying. Alex was going through a lot of things too, and she didn't really take into consideration how he was handling things. Emma's mom reminds me of how my mom was toward me when I was that age. I loved her strength, and firm actions. Emma may not understand how much her mom truly loves her. I was ecstatic that there was a father present. There aren't many books that have a complete family unit. I didn't feel a connection to him though. It seems like he was just kind of there. He didn't add anything to the story except for his presence.

For me the story line was dragging. We get too many mundane details. There wasn't a lot of depth to the story or characters either. And the series of killings mentioned in the blurb is only touched on twice. I also feel we get just a little too much insight into the major plot arcs from the blurb. I might have liked it more if there wasn't so much information given from the beginning.

The concept was great, I just don't feel she hit the nail on the head. Had there been more mystery to the story, or even the characters, I think I would have enjoyed it more. ( )

What a story, I loved it. I sat up all night reading it, I just couldn't put it down. It is a beautiful and horrible tale a new fresh version of Frankenstein. I didn't think it possible to re-vision this old tale but this author has dine it beautifully. Her characters are well developed and believable. It's a love story and a horror story. Fans of Twilight will love this, all ages will love it.

Emma has just suffered a devastating loss, months ago her boyfriend/love died from a terrible accident. She is depressed and just starting to try to find a new life for herself. She starts to come back to the living world when she meets a new student Alex. There is something off about Alex, something not right. She is drawn to him, and yet want to run and never look back. What is going on in her heart, to feel again so soon ?

Alex, he has been gone a long time. He used to live in this town, he used to do a lot of things before the accident that almost took his life. His father is a doctor or he might not have lived. He hides under his hoodie, his scars too visible. He finds a friend in Emma, against his father wishes.

In the end..... ( )

My most prevalent thought during the first 100 plus pages of Broken was “Enough with the emo moping around!” At a certain point I just hit my threshold point of Emma moaning over her deceased boyfriend. Maybe I’m just insensitive? I understand it was very recent, having only happened four months ago, but still I couldn’t handle it after awhile. Luckily a lot of that changes once Alex enters the picture. It was close to being instant love but not quite. Due to the circumstances behind Alex’s accident and recovery certain things worked for me that normally would have irked me. Instead here I found Alex very endearing and even Emma’s inclination to gravitate towards him completely understandable.

I believe Broken would appeal more so to actual teens/young adults than it would to adults who enjoy reading YA fiction. That is because the bulk of this book read like “a day in the life of any highschooler.” She gets up, gets ready for school, has breakfast, walks to school, goes through classes, has lunch, more classes, school ends, goes home…then Rinse, Repeat. This happens several times with not a whole lot happening between those things. Spoilers? – Except, a short field trip, two trips to the local med clinic, a school dance and then a short night on the town.

I found Emma’s classifications of all the different groups at school pretty funny. I’m sure everyone knows and understands all about those. Given that I ripped through it in a day this was definitely a smooth easy read. The later part of the book thankfully picked up the pace and pulled away more from the hum drum school life. I’d definitely be open to reading more of A.E. Rought’s work in the future. ( )