Nearly Broken by Devon Ashley

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Nearly Broken by Devon Ashley

Nearly Broken

by: Devon Ashley
My Rating: four-half-stars



June 4th 2013
Genres: New Adult, Contemporary

ISBN: 1482565080

Pages: 367
Content Warning: sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence make this title appropriate for readers 18 and over.



Synopsis


We’d both gone missing at one point, but Claire had one thing I didn’t. Someone to notice. So why was I the one still here and she the one still gone?

Nineteen-year-old Megan Smith has spent the past year working in a small town diner in the middle of nowhere. Life is quiet, simple, safe. Then comes the news that her look-a-like has gone missing.

Claire.

Still damaged both physically and mentally, Megan's not looking to be noticed. Wherever she goes from here, it's a road she needs to take alone. But when Nickolas Ellis takes the job as the new night shift cook, it scares her how easily her defenses crumble down, down, down for him. But there are secrets she can't bear to share with just anyone, unspeakable acts that continue to haunt, and when the similarities of Claire’s abduction couples with the fear of an unwanted visitor in town, the urge to run before it all happens again intensifies, threatening the only happiness Megan's ever found.

New Adult Romantic Suspense / Dark Realistic FictionRecommended for 17+ for mature and disturbing situations, language and sexual content.






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“I methodically tugged at the bottom of my sleeves, pulling them down as far as they stretched, covering the horrors hidden beneath its thick cotton.” (First sentence, Nearly Broken)

I liked Nearly Broken, but I’m not going to lie; the subject matter is dark, deep and very, very, emotional. Some people may be turned off by it. Others may learn something from it. And to others it may be freeing.

I fell somewhere in the middle of the scale. It dealt with a subject I knew existed, but attributed it as “something that happens to someone else.” I never let myself see how much it happened right here in my own state…my own hometown, even. It was sobering.

In Nearly Broken we meet Megan. She’s running from something. Hiding in a small town waiting tables at a diner, barely making enough money to survive, but she’s too scared to venture anywhere else. Because like I said, she’s running from something…and someone.

I liked Megan’s character. She was damaged, both physically, which is odd to find in NA contemporary. They’re normally filled with beautiful people who are slightly damaged on the inside, leaving their beauty intact outside. Megan wore her scars, even if she did try to hide them.

Megan is also damaged mentally. So much so it’s almost hard to read. But when you know Megan’s story and the events that bring her to the point in her life the story focuses on telling, you understand her and it’s almost impossible to stop reading. Because she’s the type of protagonist you don’t just want to root for, you HAVE to root for.

Nick was a good character, as well. Although I felt a slight disconnect with him. When we first meet Nick at the diner he’s kind, compassionate, funny and protective of Megan. Afterward, he remains all these things, but something about him changes. I just didn’t get the same “feel” for his character. It was like there were two sides to him.

Some of the secondary characters I really loved and others I felt oddly detached from. Again, this could almost be labeled the first part of the story and the second. The first part of the story there were a few great characters that I loved. The second part of the story, the characters fell a little flat. Although they had a scene here and there that was touching, it wasn’t enough to draw me in. But overall I think the secondary characters of the book were likable.

I’m not a big fan of giving away too much of the story when I write reviews, so I’m going to end here. I enjoyed Nearly Broken. Would I recommend it? Probably, to a mature YA 17+. Would I reread the book? No. Not because it’s a bad book, but it’s a heavy book. I think it was a strong story, with good writing. My biggest complaint is the ending was very rushed. Otherwise, Nearly Broken was a great, but not light, read.

Michelle
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