"Fractured Light" by Rachel McClellan

Okay after a day of indecision, I finally thought it was time to write this review. First though, let me tell you that giving my rating to this book wasn't an easy thing to do. The reasons were several. For one, I loved the story - it was super original and incredibly well structured. I also loved the characters and the depth they were created on. And, I could hardly put the book down to sleep and eat. So yeah, it was pretty addictive.

But.

It felt too predictable. I knew who the villain was from the very beginning and this sort of took a bit of the shine. But hey, there were plenty of times when I doubted my own judgment and wondered if I was right about the villain at all. I would've preferred to be surprised, to be honest.

So the concept of this book spins around Llona, who is an Aura - a carrier of Light, and Christian - who is ... incredibly irritating. Even though the book begins with a tragedy, and we're introduced to Llona's pain and anger and loneliness, it progresses from there. The more familiar Llona becomes with her Light, the stronger she feels. And then Christian comes out of nowhere and slowly grows on her, like moss on rock.

It's all well, until the murders, and the dark shadow outside her window, which is capable of controlling Llona even from great distance. So the question is - who's the shadow, and what does it want?

Now, let's talk about the characters.

*Llona - I liked her spunk, her energy. I liked that she wasn't ready to give up, no matter the odds. She was strong, yet not so much that she couldn't be weak as well. That made her personality full of nuances, gave her depth and made her loveable.

*Christian - he was so irritating!! He was running hot and cold all the time! One moment he was drawing Llona close, the next - he was pushing her away. Ughh! Sure, he was caring (to the point of stalking Llona outside her house), and mysterious, and extremely gorgeous. But so what? I wanted to kick him in the face half the time. And when Llona actually did, I was extremely proud of her!

I can't say much about the rest of the characters. I mean, Matt was a weird geeky guy, who gave off a weird vibe and May was a devoted friend, but beyond that there's nothing. Perhaps the next installment will tell us more about May at least.


My rating is