MINI REVIEWS – FRACTURE by Megan Miranda & THE KILLING WOODS by Lucy Christopher

Posted March 11, 2014 by Emma in Blog / 9 Comments

Fracture (Fracture #1)
by Megan Miranda
Publisher – Bloomsbury
Release Date – 13th February 2014 (Re-Printed)
Buy – Amazon | Book Depository

Fracture is a very different concept of YA that I haven’t read before. I’m watch mysteries and thrillers, I enjoy my weekly fix of Revenge, Bones, NCIS, CSI, I know these are crime dramas but still you get the point. It’s a book that you can’t really put down if you want to read and experience the full effect of the novel. But in a real world I couldn’t do that so I settled for two. This novel oddly reminded me of my review of Blink Once but from a very different perspective.

It begins with Delaney Maxwell, your average teenager who enjoys her life and the company of her best friend, Decker, who has likes her a lot more that ‘just being friends’. But after a incident with her so called ‘boyfriend’, Carson, that pulled them apart. After Delaney suffered a horrible accident by falling in a iced lake, she hasn’t been right since. She was in a coma for less than two weeks, who shouldn’t have woken up at all, but she did and she’s being pulled towards death ever since. Delaney was quite a handful, I think for me to really relate too, there was no connection after all she was a dead girl walking. But that doesn’t necessarily stop me from enjoying the book. For me it was the premise and the characters place in the plot. There was so many twists and turns I didn’t know what was going to happen and I think that’s when I really started separate this genre of books to all the others that I have read recently. I had to use ‘the little grey cells’ *french accent* as it were.

What I enjoyed the most was the use of secondary characters, the likes of Decker and Troy. Two totally different personas, yet both have Delaney stuck in the middle. Out of the two I really wanted Troy to be the romantic interest, yet boy was I wrong. He’s the twist to this whole story and I was deeply shocked, annoyed, frustrated, angry and anything negative against. I was totally enthralled by his character. Then the frustrating feeling then turned to Decker because of his issue with Carson and how he was a total idiot too confront her when she really needed him the most.

Aside from the negative feeling towards some of the characters, I was fully open to it and that’s what made me enjoy it overall. Megan Miranda has begun this series with a exceptional debut novel and I’m equally looking forward to reading the sequel, Vengeance.

Rating – 3.5

The Killing Woods
by Lucy Christopher
Publisher – Chicken House Ltd
Release Date – October 3rd 2013
Buy – Amazon | Book Depository

The similarities between these novels is that they are YA Mystery/Thriller. Unlike Fracture, I was very much more hesitant to read this. It was recommended me to me several times and I read some highly appraised reviews. This one had hype written all over it. So I didn’t read it straight away, I read it when I felt comfortable and wasn’t forced too because of the hype and the release date. I knew what I was getting into and for me that lowers my overall rating of this book. 
When Emily Shepard’s dad returns from Afghanistan he is subjected to reliving his memories, reliving his flashbacks. He had been classed unfit for duty, so when he returns one night with a body of a girl in his hands, they think he killed her, they think he’s crazy. But Emily doesn’t believe the word or rumours on the street, not will she succumb to them even if her mum has. She is determined to fight for her, even if it takes her a very dark and dangerous path. At first Emily was a different and challenging character to contend with. I found her quite a strong and profound character despite having her moments of weakness. 
However, alongside Emily’s story was Damon Hilary’s, Ashlee Parker’s aka the victim’s boyfriend. I admired Damon’s side of the story, I saw a very distinct contrast between the main character’s even though this tragic death brings all the more together. Damon is the key and that’s why I enjoyed his side a lot more. His loss of memory on the night of Ashlee’s death makes it that much more thrilling and intriguing. Although its ‘the Game’ presents an even more desirable nature to the mystery of The Killing Woods.

At first I found Lucy’s writing quite daring and not all something I would find myself reading. But once the two perspectives begun to entwine together that was when I started to really started to feel part of the chase, the person between both stories try to figure them out. Although what was really inspiring was the ending, it was tied together in a neat little knot with know unanswered questions. Just knowing that everything will be ok…
Despite the hype, I thought that Lucy Christopher created a very moving, chilling atmospheric and adrenaline fueled psychological thriller.
Rating – 3.5/4
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9 responses to “MINI REVIEWS – FRACTURE by Megan Miranda & THE KILLING WOODS by Lucy Christopher”

  2. Jasprit

    Whist I wasn't able to enjoy The Killing Woods as much as you did Emma, I still loved Christopher's gorgeous writing in this story, it really had a way of luring you into the story from the very beginning. Also I've been curious about Fracture for sometime now, but just not given it a go, I really need to rectify this immediately! Great reviews Emma! 🙂

  3. Keertana

    I'm glad to see you enjoyed The Killing Woods, Emma – I wasn't a fan, especially after Stolen which completely impressed me. Lovely mini-reviews, Emma; beautifully written! 🙂

  4. Rachel

    I can't wait to read The Killing Woods and I hope I enjoy it more than most have. I love mysteries.

    Fracture was a completely different story for me. I was beyond frustrated with all the love interests. It's bad enough when there's a love triangle but there were like 5 different people entwined. Ugh! Plus, as you say, the non-communication with Decker was annoying.

    Great minis, Emma! 🙂

  5. Aman

    I won Killing Woods from Goodreads firstreads and I'm so happy to know that it worked for you. I'm was a bit skeptical about the mystery and how the author was going to handle the father's issues, but it's so great that everything tied smoothly in the end and you didn't have any problems with the overall story. Great reviews, Emma! 🙂

  6. Glass

    I still haven't read this novels, but I am afraid to pick up Killing Woods. Stolen is one of my favorites and I'm afraid that I'll have same experience like with Tabitha Suzuma. After Frobidden her other books were just meh.
    Great reviews.

  7. Alicia♥

    Fracture is possibly the most unique book I've read in the world of YA, I just find myself reeling back into psychology/deep questions about life that the book posed. Certainly enjoyed the food for thought! Just found out that there's a sequel, *EXCITE*

    Alicia @ Summer Next Top Story

  8. Alicia♥

    Fracture is possibly the most unique book I've read in the world of YA, I just find myself reeling back into psychology/deep questions about life that the book posed. Certainly enjoyed the food for thought! Just found out that there's a sequel, *EXCITE*

    Alicia @ Summer Next Top Story

  9. Pili

    I really like the sound of both books and since your reviews for both are quite positive, I hope I can bump them up the TBR list soon!
    I also watch a lot of CSI, NCIS and the like but don't read as many books of the genre, so I think I need to correct that!