Companion novel to Burning.
Prep school gets a twist of supernatural suspense in this commercial YA thriller.
Charlotte has always been content in the shadow of her two best friends at the prestigious Underhill Preparatory Institute. Ariel is daring and mysterious. Devon is beautiful and brilliant. Although Charlotte never lived up to the standards of the school—or her demanding mother—her two best friends became the family she never had. When Ariel and Devon suddenly commit suicide within a month of each other, Charlotte refuses to accept it as a coincidence. But as the clues point to a dangerous secret about Underhill Prep, Charlotte is suddenly in over her head. There’s a reason the students of Underhill are so exceptional, and the people responsible are willing to kill to protect the truth…
Suspenseful and scintillating, with hints of the supernatural, this fast-paced thriller will keep readers hooked.
I received this ARC from the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.
Breaking is the exciting follow-up to Danielle Rollins' Burning! Though, it's considered a companion novel, I would still recommend reading Burning first. There will be characters and events from there that will be mentioned in this one that without prior knowledge of them, it might leave you a bit confused. I found Breaking to be a bit more...mysterious than its predecessor. Granted, it's probably the mystery itself that had me more hooked! It's definitely different from the first book in a lot of ways, but there's still that air of familiarity that will have you linking the two together within time!
Charlotte is having a rough go of it lately, her two best friends, Ariel and Devon, have both committed suicide a month apart. Charlotte is left feeling lonely, confused, and all other sorts of messy emotions. Her mother is ready to withdraw her from her very elite private school since her grades are suffering and she's skipping classes. It's the night before she's set to leave that she finds a strange bottle among Ariel's, her roommate and best friend, things. She drinks it, thinking it was nothing more than booze that her bestie hid from her. It's not until the next morning that she realizes it was a clue left behind for her. Ont he bottle is 2/3. She and Ariel would play a game where Ariel would leave clues behind that were labeled 1/6 or such and at the end would be the prize! Charlotte thinks that maybe by finding the clues, she might be able to figure out why Ariel (and Devon) committed suicide.
Charlotte tries to dig through her friends' things, struggling to find clues. While around her, it seems other weird things are happening. Her new roommate, Zoe, seems to be keeping secrets from her, not that they were close anyway. Her friend's ex-boyfriend, who she had a serious crush on, starts paying her more attention. And she can't help but feel like something is definitely off. There's this overall sense of weirdness and secretiveness going on throughout the whole story. Even when we start to get an inkling of an idea, it's nothing concrete, the mystery at large is still a mystery!
The suspense to this one was pretty awesome! As I said, you know something is off, something weird. Even Charlotte know this, but she can't quite fit the pieces together. We get quite the startling surprise fairly early too. One that will slowly begin to tie this book and Burning together. We get little hints, little tastes, and by the end, we're going to get one big picture! But alas, there's still questions! Those annoying little questions. And worse yet, I don't know if there are any more books! There has to be more books! I wouldn't say we entered detrimental territory, but pretty close!
It's always the little things that get left unanswered. Wondering who all was involved with this mystery that was happening! Why was it happening? What exactly were they trying to do? Perhaps there are more books to come and those questions can't be answered yet. But at the same time, I feel like we're missing something! There were way more details to this situation than I can really divulge in. So sorry for my vagueness, again!
As before, we have a little bit of romance going on in this one. I mentioned Charlotte crushing on her friend's ex-boyfriend, Jack. Like before, its very little. Hardly even there. I can't really say if I liked it or not. Jack and Charlotte have a history that we aren't really privy to, we get little hints of flashbacks, but I don't feel like it was enough for me to care about these two as a couple. I'm not sure if they're being a couple was meant to add to the story. Jack isn't quite meant to be written off though.
This book, you guys!! There is soooo much I am wanting to talk to you about it, but I can't because of spoilers. Errg! The ending though, it will really send you through a trip! It's mind boggling!! So many questions! So few answers. There has got to be another book! There just has to be!! yet' it's still too early to really know for sure! I just hope there is! My sanity is at risk here!
Breaking was a remarkably twisted read that will leave your head spinning, but I mean this in all the best ways! Who doesn't love a mind-twister? A book that leaves you guessing through its very end! Yes, through the ending, not until, because as I said, I still have sooo many questions! I truly hope Danielle isn't done with this world yet, there is still so much to know from it and I hoping that next year will bring us a conclusion! If you love twisted read that intrigue and captivate you, this is one you will not want to pass up!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
Breaking releases June 6, 2017
Author of the best-selling MERCILESS series, SURVIVE THE NIGHT, BURNING, and BREAKING. I'm currently working on the last installment of the Merciless books, & starting a new series to be announced later this year.
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Oh my this sounds thrilling! And I hear you -- spoilers, aRGH! I have so many questions!
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