"Shhhh." His hand found mine. I absorbed the warm pressure of his fingers through my skin anbd drew my strength from it. "Focus."
We were going to have to fight out way out of here, and I was his only backup.
~Fractured
In the week since Lela returned to Rhode Island as Captain of the Guard with Malachi as her second in command, local news has been dominated by chilling sightings of human-like creatures running on all fours. Lela knows there’s only one explanation: the Mazikin have arrived in the land of the living.
Needing to maintain the appearance of a normal life for her foster mother, her probation officer, and her classmates, Lela returns to Warwick High along with Malachi. At night they secretly hunt for the Mazikin nest. To assist, two new Guards from very different parts of the Shadowlands are assigned to Lela’s unit, including the bad boy Jim, who repeatedly challenges Lela's authority. Lela struggles to keep all her Guards on the right side of the law, but their mistakes come at a terrible cost.
As one painful revelation follows another and the Mazikin start targeting those closest to her, Lela finds herself more vulnerable than she’s ever been, wanting a future more than she ever has. With an enemy determined to separate soul from body, one question remains: how much is she willing to sacrifice to protect those she loves?
Arya: I have to be honest when I say this: when I first started out with this book, I wasn't very sure what to think about it. Sure, I had an awesome time reading Sanctum, the first book in the Guards of the Shadowlands series, but while at first I was craving the second book desperately, when it finally got into my hands, I was a bit hesitant, mostly because I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Most series that I enjoy follow somewhat the same path, with the whole girl meets boy, they fall in love, forbidden romance, girl has to fight off some ancient evil / new nemesis, finished, happily ever after business, and yet, this one, while generally following the same sequence, had startling new aspects to it. I mean seriously, Sanctum and Fractured were just "... wait, what?" I can honestly say I've never seen anything even close to what Sarah Fine has done, and I really loved it more than I thought I could.
Fractured picks up right where Sanctum left off, which, for those who don't know, is when Malachi and Lela are forced back into the mortal world to face the Mazikin that have ventured into the land of the living. At first the book seemed a little slow to me, with exactly what was expected: them trying to pretend to be a normal couple and scouting. However, throw in some new characters with their own problems and bam! Suddenly you have a new plot, especially when you add in some characters from the last book that really weren't that important, and somehow suddenly are... Kinda strange, but I can swing with it.
As the story progressed, it's easy to see how Malachi and Lela each show different sides of themselves. Our male lead shows that he too has his own inner demons, and Lela proves to us that she really can be a leader, and is more than the rebel foster kid she once was. It's kinda touching, and in a way also really sad, especially with what Malachi does to her. I mean really! Sure, we all have our own problems, but you're going to break a girl's heart just so you can protect her? I mean, am I the only one seeing how him leaving her and flirting with other girls is just crushing her? Guys can be so cruel sometimes. Even though I say that, I can kind of understand his logic. Malachi just didn't want to kill another human, and in order to keep that from happening again, he thought he had to stop being so distracted by Lela. Mean, and yet so true. Really, the guy kinda did the best he could in the given situation, though he probably made the wrong decision.
When I got to the ending... that cliffhanger... I swear I mean it when I say I spent about five minutes looking at the screen of my phone going "what. the. hell." How can you just leave it like that?! I mean, I kinda get it, being an aspiring author myself, but man! For a reader, it just totally kills me. I need to know what happens! I have to know what happens to them in the next book! But Goodreads doesn't tell me when it's coming out, so I have to wait, and so do all of you. Believe me when I say this: you will be dying for the next book when you get to the ending, because I definitely was.
All in all though, I loved the way Sarah wrote the book; it was concise, it was alluring, and it had an amazingly original plot. The way the story flowed just seemed to work all on its own, and was definitely one of the better things I've read in the last month. Her writing style and her descriptions are just beautiful, to the point where I could really see myself in the town she described, and the terror as Lela faced down her worst nightmare. Really, it was just beautiful, and I would recommend it to all readers who enjoy supernatural combat and forbidden love.
Not very sure what to say, but I guess I'll stick with this:
8.5 stars! Congrats, and I can't wait to read the next book!
From the bloggers at Infinite Worlds to you,
much love,
~Kay and Arya
