Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Beautifully Broken by Sherry Soule



Beautifully Broken (Spellbound #1)
Published August 30th 2011 by Moonlight Publishing

Sherry's: Amazon / Official Blog / Twitter 



Synopsis:
Thirteenth daughter. Heritage witch. Demon slayer. 
They say every town has its secrets, but that doesn’t even begin to describe Whispering Pines. The townsfolk are a superstitious lot and the mystical disappearance of a local teen has everyone murmuring about a centuries old witch’s curse. 

Sixteen-year-old Shiloh Ravenwolf is a heritage witch from the Broussard family, a family both destined and cursed. After she takes a summer job at Ravenhurst Manor, she discovers a ghost with an agenda. That’s where she meets the new town hottie, Trent Donovan. But Trent may be the next victim on the supernatural hit list, and Shiloh is the only person with the power to save him. Complicated much?

After receiving cryptic messages from a creepy wraith and frightening threats from a demon, Shiloh finally begins to understand the mysterious significance of the strange mark branded on her wrist. Now Shiloh must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice to protect the other teenagers in town.

Unfortunately, for Shiloh, not all ghosts want help crossing over. Some want vengeance.


My Review:
Beautifully Broken has the creepy haunted house, dark secret and a strong female character with witchy powers, all wrapped up in this amazing book! This is something that you will be unable to put down. But be careful with what might lurk in the dark so you might want to have a light on while you read. Just saying. Actually, think of a younger Winchester sister, if there was one. 
The beginning of the book starts with a scary encounter with something that most teenagers wouldn't find in their bedrooms before going to church: a demon.Yeah. A freaking demon and everything goes downhill from then on.
 After getting that dream job as an assistant for a talented architect at (haunted) Ravenhurst Manor where a hottie lives, stuff gets weird.Shiloh was the best part of the book. Aside from the amazingly crafted plot that kept me on edge, that girl is what kept me going. Her sense of humor made me laugh out loud, and her references to different shows dealing with the supernatural were also a source of amusement for me.Kudos for that. 
As the thirteenth witch in her family, she has a destiny. She has power. But she just wants to be normal. Did she give up? No, of course not. Shiloh, like a certain family with a particular last name, has that sense of duty that she has to help people. So she does. The mystery in Whispering Pines is just too great and threatening that if she wants to survive it, she has to figure it out and fight it.
Throughout the novel I was able to see her interact with her mother and the rest of the characters, and I realized how normal it all was. Aside from the whole ghost and demon thing, of course. There's nothing normal about that. So, yeah, I was able to relate to her. That's what I always like about characters in YA. Being able to realize that,"Hey, I once went through similar stuff, too," is always a plus in my opinion. Then the supernatural aspect of the novel comes into place to wreak havoc and it makes me happy because of my ordinary life. 
Now, let's talk about actual relationships. Trent was cool and all, seemed realistic as an individual. He was moody and all like every other teenager, right? But as much as I found him attractive and all (I'll always look twice at a muscled, leather-jacket-wearing bad boy), I wasn't exactly swooning over him. He's hot, I get it. Sweet sometimes, too. But I didn't see much of a connection between him and Shiloh. He was always in my mind, of course, Shiloh thought a lot about him, but that was it. The romance also happened quite fast. First time she sees him at church and instant connection? Probable, though not quite believable. This was my only problem with the book. But he was honest, that much I'll give him. Oh, wait, no. I'm lying. The other thing that I had a problem with was the fact that most of the tragedies were quickly swept up under a rug. I won't say what exactly the accident was, might spoil stuff for people, but it was something that should have gotten more attention. 
Since we are now talking about male characters that are important, let me mention Evans. Oh, Ms. Soule, I so love you for this one, you know? In my despair over a certain mentor from SPN, I so agree on the fact that every ghost/demon hunter needs some help from someone with experience. Shiloh, wasn't alone, thankfully, and received help from Evans. I always love this particular archetype thrown in, too. Specially when the stakes are high in the creepy town of Whispering Pines. 
The next best thing was the writing. The detail and the voice with which the characters were introduced was what I enjoyed. Details, people, details! When it comes to describing a haunted house, Ms. Soule did creep me out. It was like watching an episode of my favorite show. It was the showing AND telling combination.  
For a first book in the series, Beautifully Broken was an amazing introduction and I do hope to see more development between Trent and Shiloh because there's something there. There really is, I just didn't feel it as much as I would have liked it. 
In conclusion my friends, Shiloh kept me spellbound with her Supernatural Diaries and Charmed me from the very first page. (Yeah, I stalked her on Twitter). 


Trailer: 

Rating: 4.5

                                  GenLia