Book Review: Fractured by Dani Atkins

What it’s about:

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?

Review:

I decided to buy this book after reading Megan’s review of it on her blog (you can find her review here). Once I bought it, I found lots of other bloggers had also read it and reviewed it very highly so I was eager to see what all the hullaballoo was about! Fractured is about a girl called Rachel who along with her friends witnesses a freak accident when a man loses control of his car and goes hurtling into the restaurant where they are have their last meal together before leaving for university. In order to save Rachel’s life, her best friend Jimmy risked his and 5 years later, Rachel still feels guilty about her best friend’s death on that fateful night and the scar on her face from the debris reminds her every day. Rachel would give anything to turn back the clock and for everything to be different, then in a weird twist of fate – it is and Rachel has the perfect life, her dream job and loving friends and family around her.

Other than the wonderful, unique storyline I think the thing that drew me in and allowed me to finish this book so quick was how easy it was to read. Everything just flowed perfectly from one chapter to the next and all aspects of the book came into balance. Rachel was a great main character – she was so identifiable. Sometimes when reading a book you question what the main character is doing, what their motives are and how if you were in their situation you’d do things differently but I felt so in sync with Rachel the whole way through and was behind her every move. I also loved Jimmy – he is one of the best characters I’ve read in a long time and is officially at the top of my book boyfriend list. In both alternate realities, he plays the hero and I love that he is so willing to do anything for Rachel because he cares about her so much – enough to hide his true feelings from her. Although the initial impression I got was that this isn’t really a romance story, I loved Rachel and Jimmy’s relationship and was rooting for them the whole way through. Some of the other characters and scenarios were a bit cliché e.g. the handsome fiancé and the stuck-up, big-boobed slut sleeping with your fiancé but it worked nevertheless.

I equally loved and hated that author ends some of the chapters on a complete gasp-worthy cliff-hanger moment. It was the perfect strategy to get you to not stop reading. On more than one occasion, I found myself coming to the end of a chapter and I was reading so fast to try and find out what was going to happen I managed to skip over half a page to the last line. I then sheepishly had to go back and re-read everything I just missed but I literally couldn’t stop myself because the story was so compelling. This is one of the very few books I’ve read where the story could have gone any which way possible. There was so many different outcomes that could have happened and not once did guess what the ending was going to be. I thought I did – then something would happen that’d flush that idea down the toilet. This thought-provoking and tear-jerking story left me not only with a tear-stained pillow but in absolute awe of the authors incredible talent. It will make you laugh and cry and leave you wondering one question: What if?

I give Fractured 5 ginormous cupcakes

About Dani Atkins

Dani Atkins was born in London in 1958, and grew up in North London with her parents and younger brother in Cat Hill and Cockfosters. She moved to rural Hertfordshire in 1985, where she has lived in a small village ever since with her husband, two (now grown-up) children, two elderly cats and one insane Border Collie.

Although Dani has been writing for fun all her life, Fractured is her first novel.

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And you can find Fractured in Paperback and eBook on Amazon