Book Review (Arc) ~ Broken

Broken
by A.E. Rought
published by Strange Chemistry
expected release date: January 8, 2013
genre: YA, Retelling, PNR

**received from publisher in exchange for honest review

Summary (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.

My Thoughts: Going into this I had not read the full blurb and was glad. I had no idea that this was a retelling and had no expectations. I think this helped me enjoy it more.
I liked Emma for the most part. She had some moments that didn't make sense for her character. The romance part of this story would have worked better if it had been a slow build up with Alex helping her get through her grief rather than the instant draw based on a few character quirks.
What worked the best and made me give this 4 instead of 3 stars was the creep factor. Everything that happens from the time Emma sneaks onto The Franks' estate kept me reading to the end. The creepy science experiments roaming the property to the insane Dr and his sidekick are what I read this for.
While there were some predictable parts, overall I enjoyed the story and there was enough to keep me reading past the YA romance.

Rating: 4