A review by yvo_about_books
The Shattering by Karen Healey

3.0

Finished reading: January 29th 2019

“The world shouldn't work like this; that was why I made plans, to be ready for every eventuality. Adding the impossible to the things I had t obe prepared for was really unfair.”

Spoiler

This one had been on my TBR for quite some time and it probably would have been even longer if it wouldn't have been for my TBR jar. It's not that I didn't like the sound of the story, especially with a New Zealand setting and the promise of a paranormal mystery, but older titles tend to get pushed into the background as other titles demand attention... Even though The Shattering didn't turn out to be a big hit for me, I'm still glad I finally picked it up. This probably has a lot to do with the setting, since I hardly ever seem to read books set in New Zealand. It also doubles as a negative though, because I would have loved to see more local culture and descriptions included. As it is, The Shattering feels more like a melting pot filled to the brim with different story elements and bits and pieces, making each feel superficial and underdeveloped. The story itself has a lot of potential, with the paranormal aspect, the secrets of Summerton and three different POVs to follow. But with so many different elements distracting you, the story didn't come out as strong as I thought it would be. The characters, while interesting and in general not that difficult to like, felt a bit underdeveloped and cliche at points. The plot, while entertaining and engaging, didn't feel all that original to me and I think this has a lot to do with those cliches popping up everywhere. It's an interesting mystery with a paranormal touch, the three different POVs bringing some dept to the story, but I wish the story would have focused on only a select few important topics instead of trying to squeeze in as many as possible... This way, for example the focus on teenage suicide is kind of lost and that is really a shame. All in all The Shattering isn't a bad read and quite entertaining, but sadly it failed to blow me away.

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