Fractured - Dani Atkins
Published: 07/11/13
Publisher: Head Of Zeus
Pages: 300
When it comes to reviewing books, I always like to give an outline of the plot and discuss how the story progresses but I feel if I do that with this book, I will ruin it for you and I really don’t want to do that. So, I will quote the blurb from the back of the book as this sums it up perfectly and then I’ll tell you why I loved it so much!
What would you do if life gave you a second chance?
The night of the accident changed everything... Now, five years on, Rachel's life is crumbling. She lives alone in a tiny flat, working in a dead-end job, desperate with guilt over her best friend's death. She would give anything to turn back the clock. But life doesn't work like that... Does it?
The night of the accident was a lucky escape... Now, five years on, Rachel's life is perfect. She has a wonderful fiancé, loving family and friends around her, and the career she always wanted. But why can't Rachel shake the memory of a very different life?
Gripping, romantic and heartbreaking, Fractured is a magical love story that asks: can two different stories lead to the same happy ending?
Discovering new authors is always exciting and I knew from the very first sentence of Fractured that Dani was a fabulous author. I find opening lines SO important because they capture your attention and set a precedent for the rest of the novel. I was far from disappointed in this case; the first sentence gripped me and so did every sentence after. It was just fabulous. Being a book reviewer means I read every single day resulting in numerous books each week and therefore I get a little good at guessing where authors are going to take plots and how situations will resolve themselves. Sometimes though you stumble across a book that is just not like that; you can’t tell what is going to happen and you don’t want to guess either because you’re enjoying the narrative voice more than your own. Fractured isn’t a long book, in fact, it’s less than 300 pages, which made me a little dubious about whether the content would be as detailed and explored as it should be. But Dani has proved that you don’t need superfluous words to tell a story and you don’t need an extra 100 pages of text when you can tell it in so few. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of tangible descriptions, raw emotions and interesting mysteries, but they weren’t talked about to death which was perfect.
Throughout the novel we meet a whole host of interesting characters; some of who we see in two different lights. Rachel was a challenging protagonist; in the sense at times I didn’t know whether to trust her version of events or whether to listen to the other characters around her. I like a protagonist to do this though: I want to be challenged. I want to be kept on my toes and have a debate with myself about whether I should trust her as much as I want to or not. The other characters were well written but it was strange because not a lot of them really developed over the course of the novel but that didn’t seem to matter.
Dani writes well for a debut and as I mentioned above she had me gripped from the first sentence. I liked the pace with which the novel moved along, it was fast and had me turning pages rapidly. I honestly cannot find anything to criticise about this novel; it’s perfect just the way it is!
I am so eager to see what comes from Dani’s pen next and wait in anticipation for her next novel which is due in 2014. She’ll have to work hard to surpass this one!
Join Rachel as she navigates through a confusing period in her life and discover what happens when dreams and reality all merge into one.
Publisher: Head Of Zeus
Pages: 300
When it comes to reviewing books, I always like to give an outline of the plot and discuss how the story progresses but I feel if I do that with this book, I will ruin it for you and I really don’t want to do that. So, I will quote the blurb from the back of the book as this sums it up perfectly and then I’ll tell you why I loved it so much!
What would you do if life gave you a second chance?
The night of the accident changed everything... Now, five years on, Rachel's life is crumbling. She lives alone in a tiny flat, working in a dead-end job, desperate with guilt over her best friend's death. She would give anything to turn back the clock. But life doesn't work like that... Does it?
The night of the accident was a lucky escape... Now, five years on, Rachel's life is perfect. She has a wonderful fiancé, loving family and friends around her, and the career she always wanted. But why can't Rachel shake the memory of a very different life?
Gripping, romantic and heartbreaking, Fractured is a magical love story that asks: can two different stories lead to the same happy ending?
Discovering new authors is always exciting and I knew from the very first sentence of Fractured that Dani was a fabulous author. I find opening lines SO important because they capture your attention and set a precedent for the rest of the novel. I was far from disappointed in this case; the first sentence gripped me and so did every sentence after. It was just fabulous. Being a book reviewer means I read every single day resulting in numerous books each week and therefore I get a little good at guessing where authors are going to take plots and how situations will resolve themselves. Sometimes though you stumble across a book that is just not like that; you can’t tell what is going to happen and you don’t want to guess either because you’re enjoying the narrative voice more than your own. Fractured isn’t a long book, in fact, it’s less than 300 pages, which made me a little dubious about whether the content would be as detailed and explored as it should be. But Dani has proved that you don’t need superfluous words to tell a story and you don’t need an extra 100 pages of text when you can tell it in so few. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of tangible descriptions, raw emotions and interesting mysteries, but they weren’t talked about to death which was perfect.
Throughout the novel we meet a whole host of interesting characters; some of who we see in two different lights. Rachel was a challenging protagonist; in the sense at times I didn’t know whether to trust her version of events or whether to listen to the other characters around her. I like a protagonist to do this though: I want to be challenged. I want to be kept on my toes and have a debate with myself about whether I should trust her as much as I want to or not. The other characters were well written but it was strange because not a lot of them really developed over the course of the novel but that didn’t seem to matter.
Dani writes well for a debut and as I mentioned above she had me gripped from the first sentence. I liked the pace with which the novel moved along, it was fast and had me turning pages rapidly. I honestly cannot find anything to criticise about this novel; it’s perfect just the way it is!
I am so eager to see what comes from Dani’s pen next and wait in anticipation for her next novel which is due in 2014. She’ll have to work hard to surpass this one!
Join Rachel as she navigates through a confusing period in her life and discover what happens when dreams and reality all merge into one.
Laura