Review: Fractured (Guards of the Shadowlands 2) by Sarah Fine

Lela's back on earth, but that doesn't mean her job is done; Mazikin have broken into her world, and it's her job -- and Malachi's -- to stop them. But between the monsters that breed like rabbits and the task of hiding the truth from their schoolmates, their task seems an impossible one.

It has been approximately five minutes since I finished reading this book, so excuse me if my words don't make any sense because I am currently in shock.
Every time I re-enter the world that Sarah Fine has created (either through this sequel or re-reading) I'm surprised again. I wrote in my review of the first book about how, when jaded by the YA genre as a whole, I found my love of it rejuvenated by a book that somehow stood out while keeping within the bounds of what you'd expect from a YA novel. Well, yet again, I was surprised. The book drew me in from the first chapter, and, somehow, although the idea of school and people and high-school dramas should have seemed ridiculous in a story so dark and disturbing and full of danger, it didn't. If anything, the high-school drama, love triangles, etc where heart-breakingly real and just added to the tension. I found myself devouring this book,staying up later than I planned for for the first time in years as I told myself 'one more chapter'. Even after I'd torn myself away from it, it was the first thing on my mind when I woke up in the morning and I pushed aside most of my plans (including mock revision) to find out what happened next.
I honestly can't rave enough about this series. No matter what plot point you come across, no matter how contrived it might seem in a similar book, how predictable, this series still manages to draw you in and choke you to death on feelings that you don't quite understand having for it. It is everything a novel should be: every single character has a story that makes you care for them; the monsters are evil, cruel, and scary; the romance and sexual tension can give you shivers; the overall feel is spine-tinglingly sinister; and even if you have a feeling of what might be coming, it still hits you like a freight-train. By the final battle,my heart was pounding and I felt sick at the thought of what seemed to be happening. It was earth-shatteringly horrific and I don't know if I'll be able to cope with reading the next book in the series. But I will.

As you can probably tell, I love this book and it most definitely is worth a 'read or die'. The only reason I would ever accept for someone not reading it is that they don't want to have to go through the pain of waiting for the next instalment.

Charlotte out!