{Review} Broken by A.E. Rought

Broken
Author: A.E. Rought
Release Date: January 8, 2013
by, Strange Chemistry
Source: Netgalley
Format: Kindle
Pages: 384

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.{Goodreads}

 ~Review:
  Ok....look at that cover...its gorgeous you guys! I know, I know...I start off like this 9 times out of 10 but hey! You have to give credit when credits are due....and this is due...And it totally has meaning to the story. I love the color scheme and the font and ya the whole thing is just unique and lovely!

  Now, on to the review actually for the book and not the cover. At first I was confused and I blame the synopsis. I hate the synopsis for only one reason. It gives way too much away and then you end up focusing on that one piece of information and it ruins the element of surprise....it ruins the building plot. Wait, I forgot to mention the part I mean? Oh! *slaps forehead* silly me! I mean the very beginning and I quote..."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. " I think they should totally delete that part. Mentioning that this book is a modern spin on Frankenstein completely ruins the book and the readers mind/thoughts going into this book.

  For one...when the story actually develops into a rendition of Frankenstein...I already saw it coming. There was no gasping and horror for me. Two...I was so focused on the Frankenstein part that I was pointing out things that related to Frankenstein and I was unable to just sit back and enjoy the developing plot. Ya, so...I hate that part of the synopsis and I wish they would have never put it on there. I wish I could have read this book over again with no knowledge of its relation to Frankenstein.

  Anyways!!! Other than my little rant on the synopsis...this book was good...no. It was better than good. It was great! I loved this book a lot. I was very pleasantly surprised. In fact, I have been "pleasantly surprised" with a lot of books lately. I don't know if it is because I don't read the synopsis right before and so I have forgotten what the book is about or cus I have become more untrustworthy in some ways. I don't know. This book wasn't at all what I was expecting. It chilled me more than I thought it would. I knew it was going to be semi-creepy because of the whole Frankenstein thing but I didn't think it would have this creepy fog hovering over it the entire book. It was like having those gloomy thunderstorm clouds with the lightening cackling every now and then. It gave me goosebumps I will admit. It also had my heart squeezing and flipping.

  If it wasn't for Frankenstein's gloomy storm hovering over the pages then I would have taken it as any other contemporary read. A girl loses her love to a tragic accident and along comes a boy who fixes her heart. Again any other mending-the-broken-heart contemporary book except...this was no ordinary contemporary book. It was so much more. Again this book would have been so much more fun if I hadn't known it was a modern spin on Frankenstein. I would have loved playing the guessing game. It would have added to the mystery, suspense, and creep factor. This book was all sorts of amazing. It totally peaked my interest in gothic novels and movies...the old ones. I want the originals baby! ;)

  Now, let me talk about Alex for a moment shall I? I mean, what kinda fictional-boy-obsessor would I be if I didn't set aside a paragraph to talk about the love interest?? Ok, so Alex is plain out gorgeous you guys! Tall, lean, hazel eyes, dark hair with natural highlights. He has scars and a wicked rumor about his past following him around like a ghost. He is mysterious, bad-boy-repped and a total charmer! And did I mention he was totally and completely smexy!? O my. I fell for Alex hard not only for his looks but his heart and words. Again, total charmer and complete eye candy. The makes of a perfect boy. His past is terrible and his father worse. He would do anything for Emma and looks at her as if she is a dream come true every..single...time. *swoon!*

  This book is very much well written. Rought has one heck of a writing hand. She damn well knows what she is doing, wants to do and how to fulfill that all to us readers. She had me feeling the creep factor, love factor, sick factor, every factor in this book. Haunting, emotional, and beautiful...those are the words that come to mind when thinking of Broken. I really did enjoy this book. Started off a bit slow but it didn't take long to get me hooked! Happy with the way it ended! ^-^ Sad too though... :( Dudes, that ending was crazy! I totally recommend this to anyone who loves gothic novels. Then to those who enjoy romance with the paranormal/gothic twist. SO good! All I got to say! Rought has officially made a fan out of me and I will be looking forward to future books from her! :D

~Rating:

4 of 5 stars!!

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! :D

<3 Jaiden