Review: Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan

Published Date: Febuary 8th, 2012
Finished Date: December 6th, 2011
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Format: eARC via Netgalley
My Rating: 4.5/5!

Blurb from Goodreads:
I’m dying, I thought. This was unexpected and not at all how I envisioned my death. I was supposed to die gardening in a flowerbed as a hundred-year-old woman, not as a seventeen-year-old trapped in a lake beneath inches of ice.

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something even bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.

In this breathtaking and romantic adventure, Rachel McClellan delivers a truly mesmerizing story that will keep you guessing to the very end.

My Review

The first thing that came to me after I read the The End was: Perfect. Actually no, scratch that. The first thing that came were actually incoherent "WOWOWOWOWOWOW" then came the finality of "Perfect". I think that this book is definitely well-deserving of that adjective. And shortly after that came the shoutings (still in my head, of course) demanding the sequel for FRACTURED LIGHT.

**Minor spoiler minefield alert**

Llona Reese has been an orphan since she was ten - her mother died when she was but a toddler by a Vyken, a demon who can walk in sunlight only if it drank the blood of an Aura, and her dad when she was ten hunting down the Vyken who killed his Aura wife. She's been on the move with her uncle, Jake, who was more of an older brother, trying not to stay in one place for too long and not making any friends who would just become a burden in her heart. But this time, Llona doesn't feel like moving. She's found a friend in May, and was saved from a painful fall by Christian, who quickly won her trust and subsequently, her heart.

People are dying one-by-one in Bountiful, and they all somehow has a connection to Llona - the high heel of the victim ends up on her lawn, the victim's body left in her car and blood splattered onto her car. And with her guard slipping, her luck doesn't hold up for too long, cause now that she's settled down in Bountiful, Utah, it makes her easy prey, and the Vyken that made her an orphan all those years back isn't going to let her slip through his fingers quite so easily this time..

**End of spoiler region**

Let me just say this again cause I can hardly contain the excitement within me: I loved, absolutely adored FRACTURED LIGHT. Even though it took some time to immerse myself into the scenes, it was still an attention-grabber and after the initial few pages, I was honestly hooked! It is a magnificent story with very realistic and relatable characters, and a fantastic yet believable plot that was simply filled with action, suspense, thrill, romance, and surprises. And a little fear added into the mix along with the aforementioned thrill. The best thing I liked about the plot was that I couldn't guess what was about to happen next! Y'know usually (and almost always for YA novels) readers would be able to predict or have an idea of how a story will play out and who would end up how, but I couldn't, at all, for FL. That was how good it was, and it literally kept me glued to its pages, turning it as fast as my brain could read. It was amazing, really.

I loved McClellan's writing style, I really do. It was mature, humorous, witty, and really entertaining. An example:

[Christian (male protagonist) is speaking to Llona]

“I never told you, but the first time I saw you, I thought I was looking at an angel. You were walking to school wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. You’d taken off your hat when you thought no one was looking and your hair fell down your back like wings unfolding. I think this was one of the rare times I saw you as your true self.”

If I could talk, I would’ve been speechless.

A little cheesy at the start, but I was stunned for a few minutes then I started cracking up. Hah! The irony is epic. You have to be in the moment to have found as much humor in it like I did. Ohoh, and another one (but this one's a little more somber):

" That night I focused more on my light bullets, and with the moon’s cycle no longer affecting my strength, thanks to Christian’s very dangerous, yet highly effective training on the mountain, it came much easier. In a matter of days, I had them piercing through just about anything. And it couldn’t have come at a better time, because I couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was coming. The tick tock of death’s clock was growing louder. "

I loved the way she phrased things, it gave it a very sophisticated feel, and I had such an enjoyable time reading it. Unlike those YA, and sometimes Adult Fiction novels, who employs a more informal (and a little childish) writing style.

I loved the cast. As I've mentioned before, the entire cast is made up of very realistic and relatable characters. Which means that I would probably have acted and chosen the things that they chose to do at any specific circumstance. I'm not explaining this right. Y'know how sometimes authors make heroines (or heroes) choose an option which is obviously the wrong, and most of the time the stupid one, just so that there can be a plot to elaborate on where there was now an obstacle to be overcomed by the protagonists? But FL wasn't like that. Even though Llona (properly pronounced as E-o-na, by the way) was mature and always picked the sensible option, shit just somehow manages to find a fan to hit, and trouble always ends up at her door. It made it all the more engrossing to read.

Oh, and don't let me get started on Christian. He is one hot Guardian. Yes, he is Llona's guardian! AHHH, haha! Every Aura out in the world is assigned a guardian, and Christian's Llona's!! Lol, Christian's Llona's. Sounds funny. (Random musing: Why are all the Christians I'm reading about so hot? The book I'm reading now, FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, is about one Christian Grey, whom I feel obliged to say, is a goddamned alpha male. Trust me on it; I can hardly keep my attention away from the book - and him - for more than a few minutes! But I'm digressing) Because of his enhanced genetic makeup, Christian moves faster than normal human beings, and is stronger. Please don't compare him with a vamp cause that's totally de-cooling him. He's so much more awesome than them. And way, waaaay, more awesome.

The only thing I found odd was the cover. It's beautiful, yes that it is, but it misled me to think that this was going to be a Fantasy novel, but it turned out to be URBAN-Fantasy. Lol, not that I minded, not at all actually, just... It was misleading. This may be a for me only, but just saying.

I'd love for all of you good readers to be able to read FRACTURED LIGHT also, but it's only going to be released approximately 2 months from now..:( Haha, do I sound like I'm gloating?XP Anyway, since you're reading this review (past all my verbosity before), I assume that you and I have similar tastes in books, so I humbly beseech you to get your hand on a copy of FL when it's out. I assure you it's totally worth your money, time, effort, living space, and brain space.

Random Musings:

I went on to read the bio on the author, and was pleasntly shocked! LOL! I have to quote this since I know most readers won't go on back to read the acknowledgements:

" Rachel McClellan was born and raised in Idaho, a place secretly known for its supernatural creatures. When she’s not in her writing lair, she’s partying with her husband and four small children. Her love for storytelling began as a child when the moon first possessed the night. For when the lights went out, her imagination painted a whole new world. And what a scary world it is . . . "

It's so unique..and cool! And the picture she posted was very ghost-like, mind you. I freaked out a little when I flipped the page and a big, half the page, ghost-Rachel was staring out at me. *shudder*

Oh and McClellan replied to my email saying that there will be a sequel!!!!! SQUEAALLLL! But it's only going to be out Feb, 2013. *sobs uncontrollably* Lol, my rep is totally tarnished with the sobs.

My Rating

Loved it to bits and pieces and munches and crumbs!;D