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Broken

(Reflections #1)

Dean Murray (Goodreads Author)

3.60 · Rating details · 3,117 ratings · 235 reviews

Adri Paige is too busy dealing with the emotional fallout from losing half of her family to deal with boys. At least she thought so until the two most intriguing guys in her new school take an interest in her.

Both boys are gorgeous and blessed with obscene amounts of money. They should have the emotional depth of note cards, but instead display undercurrents she doesn't fu ...more

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Kindle Edition, 352 pages

Published December 25th 2011 by Fir'shan Publishing (first published October 1st 2011)

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Jul 18, 2012 CATHERINE rated it did not like it

I don't even know where to start when reviewing this. The heroine has experienced a personal trauma which has resulted in panic attacks which occur whenever she thinks about the past. So she spends a lot of the book passing out. This does not make her either an interesting or endearing character but rather pathetic but ties into the title "Broken" which apparently is what she is. She also does a lot of homework, when I say a lot I mean a lot and is described in minute detail. If you think that s I don't even know where to start when reviewing this. The heroine has experienced a personal trauma which has resulted in panic attacks which occur whenever she thinks about the past. So she spends a lot of the book passing out. This does not make her either an interesting or endearing character but rather pathetic but ties into the title "Broken" which apparently is what she is. She also does a lot of homework, when I say a lot I mean a lot and is described in minute detail. If you think that studying is boring reading about someone else studying is even worse! Then we find out that she used to be a bit on the plump side but since the trauma she doesn't really eat and makes decisions throughout the book not to eat. The message that this sends to readers about body issues etc. is definitely not positive and shows a lack of responsiblity on the part of the author when considering their female teenage readers. So the first 1000 or so pages all that happens is her passing out on numerous occasions, a vague attempt at a friendship which is shallow and self serving on both sides, our central character doing homework, doing more homework, doing more homework, and getting a ride to and from school. Her mother would be hauled off to social services in a heartbeat due to neglect. The other part of the book which is at least a bit more interesting although only a fraction of what it should be involves two good looking boys with rival gangs who both seem interested in our girl. The fact that she can barely string a sentence together, collapses every five seconds and does homework and she self describes herself as average does nothing to convince us that anyone in their right mind would be interested in her, or in fact make us as a reader interested in her. There is a rather febble love story that isn't very interesting and then everything accumulates to a big show down and what happens? She passes out and comes to when it is all over. This book makes Twilight look like Shakespere, the characters are one dimensional and boring, and there really does seem to be a massive shortage of good editors out there, this book should have been a fourth of what it actually was by the time you take out the homework sections. I kept thinking it would get better, that it had to go somewhere it did somewhere dull. ...more

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Apr 25, 2016 Rachel Aranda rated it liked it

Shelves: ebooks

I honestly was surprised that I liked Mr. Murray's novel as much as I did. After reading a few reviews, I knew I had to read Broken because EVERYONE had such strong opinions about it and the ratings were all over the place. I just had to form my own opinion.

The 3 biggest complaints that most people wrote in their reviews about Broken are about Adriana, the novel's pace, and the ending. To a point, I agree that there are valid issues with all these points, but the issues seem to have been exagger I honestly was surprised that I liked Mr. Murray's novel as much as I did. After reading a few reviews, I knew I had to read Broken because EVERYONE had such strong opinions about it and the ratings were all over the place. I just had to form my own opinion.

The 3 biggest complaints that most people wrote in their reviews about Broken are about Adriana, the novel's pace, and the ending. To a point, I agree that there are valid issues with all these points, but the issues seem to have been exaggerated by other reviewers.

Lots of readers feel Adriana is a terrible example of a female because of her eating, her studying often, fainting and panic attacks, and how her emotions change so quickly. Honestly, I know people like Adriana and am friends with some. They don't show emotions easily until they truly trust you, which is exactly what Adriana does. She's been out of school for a good while so it makes sense that she has to study to catch up on what she missed and is currently learning in school. The fainting and panic attacks are side effects of losing her father and twin sister who acted as staples of stability throughout her life. No one can control either of these events or their occurrence in real-life. Why does she have to? She has gone through a traumatic event that leaves her feeling a loss of control. It make sense that she reacts extreme when getting over such a loss and trying to find stability with a mother who can't seem to offer any. The biggest true issue with Adriana is how she belittles herself throughout the novel. As a former fat kid, I know body issue images are common even when you lose weight and get healthier. Heck I even know it's hard to not wish I could change something about my looks. Adriana does both these things to an extreme; it's annoying and depressing reading about someone putting them self in such negative light. I wish she would have improved or stopped voicing these opinions so often. It's very repetitive.

The pacing of this novel is kind of slow in the beginning because we're getting acquainted with life and people in Sanctuary, Nevada. Introductions to series can be a bit dull in the beginning but it serves a purpose in letting us know who we need to know for later on. The other reason the beginning is slow is that Adriana, whose point of view we're reading from, doesn't find out a major secret until halfway through the book. The latter half is truly when things become more clear and the characters are more interesting.

Other reviewers weren't wrong about how the ending is a bit of a let down. I was looking forward to the climax aka fight, but it seems like Mr. Murray wanted to entice readers to read about it in the the novel written from Alec's point of view. Personally, I dislike when authors do that because it takes away some of the book's power and the enjoyment of reading it.

I liked Broken but it is by no means a perfect book. The plot holes presented are explained, for the most part, as events progress and answers to questions are given. Beware that there are answers only reading Alec's point of view (which we don’t get to do in this story) and the continuation in the series called “Splintered” can provide. If you want an easy paranormal romance read with some folklore near the end then this could be a good match for you. ...more

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May 07, 2013 Rina Reviews rated it did not like it

When I first started to read this book I found it positively addictive. I found the initial premise surprisingly enticing; a girl broken by the death of her family members moves to a strange town complete with two handsome and obviously unnatural boys who both won't seem to leave her alone. However big revelation time comes halfway through and everything goes to hell.

For the first half of the book Dean Murray's writing was very well done, usually when books take place during school I find myself When I first started to read this book I found it positively addictive. I found the initial premise surprisingly enticing; a girl broken by the death of her family members moves to a strange town complete with two handsome and obviously unnatural boys who both won't seem to leave her alone. However big revelation time comes halfway through and everything goes to hell.

For the first half of the book Dean Murray's writing was very well done, usually when books take place during school I find myself slogging through it but Murray managed to give a personal and interesting feel to the school making the in school parts my favorite sections of the novel.

Deans characters started out as fantastic, even Adri's teacher had a likeable personality. Adri's initial character had me obsessed. She was intelligent (dont let her marks fool you!), obstinate, outgoing, compassionate, sensible and instantly likeable. Her past with the car crash gave her character depth and her fainting spells got me intrigued.

Thats where it went to hell. All of a sudden there were clans of freakish giant were jaguars (yes you heard me right I said were jaguars. Deans idea, not mine.) and werewol- I'm sorry 'shape shifters' and a dumb story about the kids of celestial bodies turning into animals (yes I am serious). The whole plot took a rushed and disorganized turn taking all common sense and potential with it as it spiraled confusingly into its horrid blackhole of an ending.

You know how I loved Adri's character? she apparently doesn't exist anymore. To hell with the fact that she hated Alec, now she wants him to kiss her. Now that Brandon went unexplainably sadistic she now has absolutely zero remaining animosity towards Alec and instantly acts candy apple sweet to him. She now acts like a freaking moron with a nonexistent backbone who would no longer give a damn if her family members had recently died, all that depth GONE!. Adri is now obsessed with the boy whose guts she recently hated and just discovered he was a freaking giant werewolf! She doesn't even ask for a solid explanation about these alleged 'shape shifters' despite the fact that many readers including myself felt the need to know for the story to for it to make sense, of course the likeable Adri seemed determined to figure what the heck was up before her new werewolf obsession reduced her character's to wibbling mush.

Dean also introduces some cool sounding lingo but never bothers to explain exactly what in the world it means.

Finally, the ending bombed. By the time I got there I was virtually lost in trying not to attempt walking into the book and slugging our stupefied protagonist in the face ( I had been trying in vain for the last half of the book to not hate her). The final battle was frighteningly anti-climactic, it ended within less than 5 pages because our protagonist was promptly knocked out by an (you guessed it) exploding werewolf.

NO, I'M NOT KIDDING. AN EXPLODING WEREWOLF.

This book left me alot of questions lots of which will most likely never be answered, and some i'd have to brave the sequel (why oh why is there a sequel to this horrendous book!!!) to answer. the idea was original and unique by executing it better and fixing the second half this book could've become amazing but because of what seemed like Dean's rushed second half combined with a plethora of ideas crammed into 100 pages was calamitous. However, the biggest question left standing is what idiot published this monstrosity? And better yet, WHO EDITED IT?! ...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Batmanfangirl rated it it was ok

Honestly I am not sure how I finished this novel. The author continued to repeat the same thing (the girl gets dizzy and/or faints all the time!) and the basic premise reminds me of Twilight. Oh, and I didn't' like Twilight either. In my opinion, the actual writing is pretty simplistic. I know it' a young adult novel but I think of past authors like Christopher Pike, or even authors such as J.K. Rowling, whom are able to write more complex ideas and thoughts.

If you liked Twilight you probably w ...more

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Mar 26, 2014 Kamy rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ok, so this isn't a review per say. I was going through the notes on my ipad and discovered this one, where i just sort of put all my thoughts down when I read this novel which was like a year ago. I'm not sure how much the novel has changed, and I'm pretty sure I've matured a little from then, or digressed, but either way, this was 9th grade Kami reading broken.

I sort of split my thoughts into numbers not annotating which parts of the novel exactly they came from so they might be sort of confus Ok, so this isn't a review per say. I was going through the notes on my ipad and discovered this one, where i just sort of put all my thoughts down when I read this novel which was like a year ago. I'm not sure how much the novel has changed, and I'm pretty sure I've matured a little from then, or digressed, but either way, this was 9th grade Kami reading broken.

I sort of split my thoughts into numbers not annotating which parts of the novel exactly they came from so they might be sort of confusing to read if you haven't read the novel. Which I guess makes it moot and/or stupid to put it as a review...but I have the space and you don't! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

So here it is:

1. Good grammar. Good start. 1 star.

2. Continuously make your heroine subtly think she's cooler than people because she's socially awkward, doesn't care what she looks like and can't take a joke. Nice. 1star. Not.

3. A typical plain, clumsy, socially-awkward girl with simply no redeeming qualities, who falls for the handsome Greek god, that originally had a beautiful, probably more fun girlfriend but, further down along the book, ditches her for the aforementioned plain clumsy socially-awkward girl with no redeeming qualities. I am honestly beginning to believe, originality is dead.

4. Why do they always fall for the jerks? I don't get it! What are nice guys doing wrong?

5. I have never met a guy so hot I wanted to pause and describe his hair structure for a whole paragraph. I mean, is it blonde, or is it more golden brown? Better question: Who the hell cares? He has nice hair , we get it. He's super super fine, and even Damon Salvatore pales in comparison to his beauty. point, taken. Can we please move on now?

6. Distaste? Really, dude. Can you say, attitude? Jerk face. Sorry Adri, (pats on back) you win some, you lose some.
Right, right, 'Adrianna!' of course.

7. Am I the only one who thinks a guy with perfectly styled hair, perfect clothes perfect skin tone and so called "perfect" face is a kind of a turn-off. Seriously? The only one, you say? Wow.

8. Hmm, Brandon. Not as utterly, beautifully " perfect" as Alec, but nice. Perfect other guy. I like him already. Too bad, he's probably not going to get the girl, since it's so obviously against YA rules somewhere. I mean, being not the hottest, and nice? One of those, maybe. Two of the, no freaking way man.

9. I can finally sympathize with heroine! I totally the whole annoyance with everyone calling you Adri thing. For a while, my nickname was KamKam. I accidentally put it as my Skype username , not knowing we weren't allowed to change usernames on skype and now I'm stuck being kamcan for the rest of my skype existence. Can you say annoying?

10. That awkward moment when the hottie of your dreams has almost the same name as your biology teacher. I mean Alec, and Ms Alexander? Am I right? Am I right?
Ok, shutting up now.

11. Oh no. She had a break down in front of the whole class. Em-barassing. Adri, this is just not your day.
Adrianna, sorry.

12. Oh, Mr hot-shot "distaste" Alec just carried her out of the classroom, macho caveman style I'm assuming. Hmm, maybe he's not such a bad guy after all.

13. Oh sorry, I take that back, he's a jerk.

14. Adri's beginning to seem more and more like the teenage version of Bella, except she actual,y has a reason to be depressed.......
Oh wait I'm sorry, Bella was a teenager?
Oops, my bad. It's just with the whole being a vampire thing, I just assumed she'd be a lot older..... Wait, she wasn't a vampire till halfway through the last book? Really?
Damn, I've got to start reading these books, instead of just reading reviews and wikis.

15. "...pale, cold, light of the moon..."
Um, just so we're clear, the moon is not cold. He's fairly warm. But, I mean, like, the sun is, literally, this big, ball of fire, I mean, there's just no comparison, really. So not the moons fault.
Sorry, it just irks me when people pick on the moon.

16. "Of course, if I had legs like some of these girls, I'd probably be joining in."
Wait... Are you telling me you've been leg-less this whole time? All those things, with you tripping, and walking into classrooms...those were all lies? You've been in a wheelchair? Or you've been tied to a bed, disemboweled, and just imagining you have been walking around and meeting people, like Jake Gyllenhall in that movie.....what was it called again?

18. Trend-follower Britney, listens to rap music now. Word and Respect, girl.

19. Oh no, depressing legless Adianna, did not just call rap music " horrendous"!. Because If she did, shit is going down, and little Miss Prissy pants is going into the ground, like a sound, with a mound, lost-and-found...
Ok, I'll stop now.

20. A monster? No way, this is horror? I accidentally stumbled on horror unknowingly? No way, iBooks told me this was romance. And iBooks never lies.

21. I don't think teachers should ever start their sentences with the words, "I was prepared to tear into you". A tad bit creepy, and inappropriate is all.

22. Surrounded by females? Really? Have we so little respect for ourselves women.?

23. What the f- this is a werewolf novel?! How come nobody every told me this was a werewolf novel?! So I just spend the last two hours of my life on some sort of.... Twilight fanfic? Oh, so I'm guessing Alec is like Edward, and kept smelling Adri's blood everywhere . I bet that's why he was so grumpy... Because he wanted to eat Adri! But he couldn't, because all the other werewolf kids would start calling him the Edward-Cullen-wannabe, and then they'd kick him out of the official cool werewolf kids club, and revoke his membership and shiny hair privileges.
Poor, poor, Alec. I think I finally understand you.

24. I'm sorry, Adri, you might not think Britney is quite cool enough to be your friend, but she is the only one who bothered to talk to you since you came. And she lost two people, who she cared about, just like you, Adri, did. The, absolute least you can do, is empathize,and not imply you're to self involved or "fragile" to bother about her problems. Sheesh, Bella was way better than this right?

25. "I'd noticed Britney liked to position herself so she was closest to the middle of the hall. Admittedly, dodging all the people trying to get into their lockers wasn't much fun, but I suspected her real motivation was a desire to ensure she could see and be seen, which was much more easily accomplished by relegating me to the outside position.
Normally I'd have just viewed her theatrics with amusement, "

Am I the only one who can taste, the condescending tone in this statement? Really. You got all that from her liking to walk in the middle? I don't know what school you came from, but it's not that fun bumping into people on the sides getting to their lockers, or even accidentally frenching a guy because someone bumped into your back and he had been coincidentally leaning by his locker, yawning.
You damn judger.

28. Of Course he's not smiling at you Adri. He has X Ray vision, and is smiling at the fly he can see lodged in your throat from lunch, making you rasp and speak absolute rubbish.
Or, and this is just to explore all possibilities, he was actually smiling at you. Idiot.

29. I'm sorry, you don't use "grace" and "masculinity" in the same sentence. You just don't.

30. Oh God, Adri, can you just leave Britney alone? She's just trying to belong, can you blame her? At least shes trying to have a life and move on from losing her two best friends.

31. Britney's clingy neediness? I'm sorry, was it,or was it not, you, who in fact begged her to tell oh what she knew about the the hot *buying schoo (EN: I'm not sure what I meant by this) and his supposed girlfriend, and then made her...you know what, I can't even do this anymore. I quit!

32. Okay,apparently, I cant quit,because I promised myself I would do this. So here goes. I'm continuing.

33. You know, not every shy awkward person, is bad and friendless. I'm shy, and awkward. Do I have friends? Heck yeah! You know why? Because I don't approach people automatically assuming they're going to hate me for being fat,shy or awkward, because most of the time, they don't. In fact, most of them have said, Im cute, and wierd, and funny. But you, Adri, are always going around saying stuff like, oh boo, I'm a social reject. Fine. You're a social reject. Happy?

34. I'm sorry, did she just imply that guys from the debate and chess clubs are as boring as "watching paint dry"? I'm sorry have you, Adri, ever talked with a guy from the debate and or chess club before, or did you just make this assumption by watching stereotypical American daytime shows such as, Mean Girls, and Saved by the Bell? Do you know that the chess club and or debate club guys are one of the most interesting conversationalists I know? That you can literally spend two hours with those guys talking about virtually nothing, and then suddenly move on to philosophical,mintelligent conversation, the kind of which made Window, Apple, and play station 3? Never, ever, bag chess and or debate club members. And seriously where does she get off calling Britney a trend follower, when she's just as bad? She acts all high and might, "into like everybody else" when in reality, she's just a shallow little teenage girl.

35. This girl must have been a bitchy cheerleader in her past life.

36. Jeez, guys her name's Adrianna. It's really not that hard to learn.

37. When a werewolf "marks their territory", do they just go around peeing on everyone within mile radius of it? Hmmm...yet another mystery
of life.

At which point I guess either I stopped reading or stopped taking notes. I'm guessing it's the latter though. Still for all it's fault I got a little sadistic pleasure from this. I didn't exactly hate it. I'm weird like that. ...more

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Sep 15, 2014 Grace rated it did not like it

Shelves: main-character-tstl, just-plain-boring, gave-up, unlikable-mc

I read this was a twilight knock off and since I like twilight and some twilight fan fiction I thought fun! But this book is horrible! Completely unlikable MC and really all other characters too. If you want to read about someone who has extreme self pity while being selfish and condescending then this book is for you. She doesn't even do anything interesting, just goes to school, faints because life is just too hard, does homework, dis the only girl who made an effort to be friendly to her, fai ...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Ashleigh Kuhns rated it it was amazing

Broken is an amazing book. I loved how Adrianna is so strong willed and believes in what is right. I really liked how Alec and Brandon seem to one person and turn out to be a completely different one. Anyone who reads this book will abslutly enjoy it!

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Dec 09, 2014 P.A. Lupton rated it did not like it

I wish I could go back in time and unread this book. What a waste of time…time that I could’ve used to read something enjoyable. I don’t even know how to write a review for this one without tearing it apart. It definitely wasn't for me.

First of all, I thought the character development in this book was weak. One minute the heroine is falling for one guy who is sweet and thoughtful and she loathes another (of course gorgeous) guy who is a jerk. Then everything flip flops and the jerk is the nice g
I wish I could go back in time and unread this book. What a waste of time…time that I could’ve used to read something enjoyable. I don’t even know how to write a review for this one without tearing it apart. It definitely wasn't for me.

First of all, I thought the character development in this book was weak. One minute the heroine is falling for one guy who is sweet and thoughtful and she loathes another (of course gorgeous) guy who is a jerk. Then everything flip flops and the jerk is the nice guy and nice guy is the jerk. There is no explanation as to their motives. And Adri was annoying as hell. One wrong breeze and that girl was fainting, it was so stupid. At first I tried to be patient, but I think she must have fainted at least 30 times in this book. To top off the fainting, she was so indecisive. One minute she thinks she’s in love with Brandon and the very next day she’s in love with Alec (never mind they have barely spoken two words.) Even more ridiculous is her mother. Here you have a daughter so fragile she can’t even keep conscious, and her mother takes off to Italy for 3 weeks, with only 5 minutes’ notice and no thought to her daughter’s wellbeing and no checkup calls to make sure she hasn’t finally fallen and bashed in her head while fainting. I found every single action from every single character in this book to be completely and utterly unbelievable.

The other thing I felt could’ve been better was dialogue. There was barely any dialogue. Most of the relationship that develops between Adri and Brandon and Adri and Alec is told in recaps. Example: The author will write things like, we talked and talked for hours, but the reader doesn't actually “see” much talking; we just hear that it happened. I read about every minute detail of Adri’s homework. I mean, I actually read about quadratic equations and triangles and conjugating verbs. God, I wanted to pull my hair out with boredom. If the author had spent even 1/10th of the descriptions of homework on dialogue, I may have actually felt some chemistry between characters.

Overall, I disliked pretty much everything about this book, and I had to force myself to finish. Since reading The Fault in Our Stars and loving it, I thought I’d be more open minded to male authors writing romance. Well that experiment is over. I will not be continuing with this series.
...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Bridget Bowers rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, vampires-werewolves-supernatural, shapeshifters

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up a copy of Dean Murray's Broken and began to read. The idea of a troubled young girl being dropped into the middle of a new school and being torn between two rich, handsome and powerful young men was a fairly common idea.

Murray took that idea and made it new and fresh in several ways. The power struggle in Sanctuary between Brandon and Alec was dished out in small doses leaving us, the reader, and Adriana, our POV, completely in the dark. We pick up ...more

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May 29, 2014 Tracy Watts rated it did not like it

Shelves: romance, supernatural, not-recommended

Well, If I had paid for this, I would be asking for my money back. I got this as a free download for Kindle.

This was listed as a "supernatural romance" - it was almost two thirds of the way through before it was revealed that the town is home to two rival "packs" of shape shifting wolves, and the female lead character is as dull as ditchwater - when she's not studying, she's having these pathetic fainting/panic attacks. Clearly that's what attracts gorgeous male shape shifters these days as she ...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Shannon rated it it was ok

I found myself really bored by this. However I have never given up on a book no matter how painful it starts to get. This story dragged in the beginning. Adri, was cranky and crabby and was a brat. She bothered me (almost as much as the writing of this book) However the Brandon storyline I liked, I liked Alec and I liked Rachel. at about 60% of the book it got good. It had a great substance at that point and if the writer had planned harder he could have made this whole thing as great as the lat ...more

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Dec 21, 2014 Kindra Erickson rated it did not like it

Man. I don't even think I can write a review about this book (it was bad). Umm... I got this book for free on iBooks thinking that it sounded interesting, but it just ended up confusing. The thought and dreams and actions just jumbled up into something that I couldn't follow. I do not recommend this book to anyone regardless whether you like supernatural, wolves, and hot guys (which I normally do). So if you are a person that doesn't want to waste their precious time on earth, do not read this b ...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Cheryl McIntyre rated it liked it

Broken was a decent read. My only issue was it was way too wordy. Some paragraphs went on and on, but never really went anywhere. And there was a lot of repetitiveness, especially when it came to the negative ways the main character, Adri, viewed herself. Other than that, I enjoyed the story line and truly liked the characters.

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Dec 30, 2019 Vicki rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, paranormal, kindle-freebies, romance, audible-escape

I really enjoyed book 1 in the /reflections series, so I will continue the series.

Adriana (Adri) Paige moves to a new home/school and feels like a misfit. She realizes something is off and that the school kids appear to be split in half, like to opposing teams. The "leaders" are both hot and sexy and each one has their own specific sexy/beautiful characteristics.

As the story progresses, Adriana learns about some of the girls, such as Britney, Rachel, and Cassie, and how their relationships are ...more

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Mar 13, 2019 Britt rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, indie, reviewed, young-adult, female-mc, fiction, romance, dnf, love-triangle, dark

DNF @ 30%

MAN, I haven’t DNFed a book in awhile. (But I’m still counting it toward my reading challenge 👀)

This was just so... boring. 150 pages in and the narration was dull, it read like a carbon copy of Twilight, and the love triangle was among the most clichè love triangles to have ever love triangled.

Why’d I download this book again?

Not worth it.

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Jul 08, 2019 Jaime rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

4.8 stars
The only negative of this book is that the start was a bit slow. Otherwise it's a great book that I really enjoyed.
I'm excited to see what happens next. ...more

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Sep 29, 2014 Rachael Mills rated it it was amazing

When I first got this book I was so excited since it was titled a "paranormal romance" which to be honest is my FAV. The book starts with a girl who has moved to a new city and her mother is an artist. Right away you get the message that something is wrong mentally. For instance, she is always passing out or just going through the motions of her life.

On her first day of school to say she was having a hard day would be an understatement. Her teachers were rude, gave her way too much homework tha When I first got this book I was so excited since it was titled a "paranormal romance" which to be honest is my FAV. The book starts with a girl who has moved to a new city and her mother is an artist. Right away you get the message that something is wrong mentally. For instance, she is always passing out or just going through the motions of her life.

On her first day of school to say she was having a hard day would be an understatement. Her teachers were rude, gave her way too much homework that she had to do in order to catch up, and there was already rumors about her until she meets her first friend Britney. Britney seems harmless enough.. not necessarily your BFF&E&E type girl but it was someone for Adri Paige to talk to. The only plus is someone is clearly helping her family out by helping her mom keep her job and sending her presents on her boyfriend. It was kind of like her guardian angel.

"When it's all you can do to get through the day yourself, it's impossible to be a pillar of strength for someone else."

Eventually a boy named Brandon starts hanging out with her after she broke up a fight with a girl who is clearly a bully named Cassie and a shy girl named Rachel. Brandon seems like the typical jock that is obv the most popular guy in the book who Adri seems to trust after a few weeks of him bringing her to school. There is also another boy name Alec who is just soooo snobby and seems so rude. I really did not care for him and found myself rooting for Brandon for about 60% of the book.

Adri starts working in the Math Tutoring Lab for her first job where she gets to know the shy girl named Rachel and finds herself liking her more and more as she feels that they are kindred spirits. They hang out a few times when Rachel offers her a ride home. Who couldn't like the innocent that is Rachel.. Plus we have the same name ;)

What I didn't expect was to find out that Brandon was a soulless bastard who would not stop trying to molest Adri at a party he brought her to in the middle of nowhere. After she somewhat used some self defense skills Brandon's pack kicks her out where she ends up getting hurt and crying on the side of the road until she hears something howling. When she tries to run away she ends up just getting even more hurt and then sees that wolves are after her. Luckily Alec just happened to be near to save her from two wolves from Brandon's pack.

Alec essentially takes care of her from then on out.. making sure her mother was safe, making sure she didn't get killed at school ( not dramatic is was totally possibly), and protecting her from himself also.

"Deny everything. It's essentially the motto of two entire generations now. Make them tell you exactly how much they know before you admit to anything, and then only admit to the parts they already know about. It's a crappy way to run a society, but I'm just one kid."

My problem with this book is that it just seems like such a quick turn that the story was not developed like it should have. One second everyone is team Brandon then all of a sudden he is the enemy.. idk maybe it was just me but I wish there would have been more of a development...also the mom was never around LIKE WHAT your daughter lost her father and twin and you think you can just be gone every night and every weekend when your daughter just passes out whenever she thinks of them. And I still do not understand why she was passing out all the damn time like girl get it together. Lastly, I still want to know why she is producing this light that draws in shifters to her.

But other than that the book was amazing and I flew through it very quickly. It is a series and maybe my questions will be answered soon. I do wish that we saw more of the shifters world but I guess that is what Torn is for (Alec's story) . I think everyone should read this book. This novel captivated me and made me forget about everything else that mattered except the characters in this series. I would give it a 4/5 and will continue to pray my questions are answered in the next book :)

STAY READING <3 ...more

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Apr 06, 2015 Nina rated it did not like it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Possibly one of the worst books I have read. And I read a lot. Let's start from the beginning. The book starts with a lot of potential as the main character, Adri, has gone through an extremely hard time and has just moved to a new town with her mother. There she attends a new school and struggles to fit in a small town where everyone seem to know each other. So far so good. Then it goes south: She becomes the object of interest for the two hottest guys in her school, Brandon and Alec. She start ...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Rebecca rated it liked it

I won't comment on the Twilight-esque parts of the book. It is kind of hard to not have similarities in YA books that involve supernatural beings, so we'll just leave it at that. I liked this book, but was distracted by several issues. First, she was so annoying. I understand it was to demonstrate how broken she was, but it really just felt like it went on and on and on. I had a hard time seeing what redeeming qualities Adri possessed that made the hunky men want her. Fortunately, the author was I won't comment on the Twilight-esque parts of the book. It is kind of hard to not have similarities in YA books that involve supernatural beings, so we'll just leave it at that. I liked this book, but was distracted by several issues. First, she was so annoying. I understand it was to demonstrate how broken she was, but it really just felt like it went on and on and on. I had a hard time seeing what redeeming qualities Adri possessed that made the hunky men want her. Fortunately, the author was able to pull that together in the second half of the book and I could buy the explanation. Second, the language was a little much for high schoolers. There were quite a few conversations that I guarantee used words no normal high-schooler would have used. Still, I consider it much better than when an author tries to use slang or tries too hard to use teen age vernacular. It was just a little distracting for me, but not enough to dislike the book. (And I really do prefer well written conversations, even if a kid wouldn't really talk like that.) The last thing that bothered me was the lack of adults. No parents at all, for all intents and purposes. How on earth do 2 rival shape shifter packs exist that are made up entirely of high school students? Really? There were no grown ups to teach and guide and direct them? If that was the premise, I would have liked an explanation. How hard would it have been to explain that whatever happened to Alec's dad involved the killing of all other adult members. Okay, that would be hard, because it still makes no sense. Brandon has no adult pack leadership? There wasn't any one else over the age of 18 in the packs? No other packs had come in to take over the leaderless packs before? I really had a hard time with this lack of adults.

I did enjoy the book enough to suspend reality and gloss over the issues, and I very much enjoyed some of the poetic descriptions, and there was some lovely writing. I love-love-love that the book has an actual ending, with the potential for more, rather than the stupid cliff hanger endings that are so popular with authors lately. I very much appreciate a good ending. I found it a little sparse on climatic details, and had expected a little more of a fight scene.

I appreciated a responsible main character who was diligent in school. I appreciated that there was no foul language and no sex.

I will read the next book. ...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Cary Morton rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-own

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Although I've read some really fantastic werewolf fiction and i wouldn't place this in those top ranks, there's a lot that can be said about this book that made me put it at four stars. I like that atypical of the books usually in this genre, the author didn't tell us right away that the supernatural beings in this book were werewolves. A good portion of this book was spent speculating what was going on in this messed up school because obviously, something big was happening. And like adriana, we Although I've read some really fantastic werewolf fiction and i wouldn't place this in those top ranks, there's a lot that can be said about this book that made me put it at four stars. I like that atypical of the books usually in this genre, the author didn't tell us right away that the supernatural beings in this book were werewolves. A good portion of this book was spent speculating what was going on in this messed up school because obviously, something big was happening. And like adriana, we weren't privy to the behind the scenes stuff going on with alec and brandon. It was refreshing to be kept out of the loop for once. I liked the characters, and there was an attempt at depth with them, unfortunately i don't think it was quite there. There wasn't a lot of explanation or visuals for what was going on with the supernatural beings in this book, and on one hand i wish there had been. I didn't really feel the connection between alec and adriana like i wanted to. I was actually rooting for brandon - and that's bad. On the other hand it was sort of fitting up to a point. I was falling for brandon and mad at alec because that's what adriana was feeling... and that's good writing. I just don't think that in the end there was enough time or narrative given to switch that love/hate relationship in alec's favor. Another sore point was the lack of depth to Adriana's character. She was a bit too weak and gullible for my tastes. She was constantly being harassed by teachers, friends, classmates, and the guys in her life and very rarely, if ever, stuck up for herself or strived fo fix her problems. She was always feinting and freaking out and being shoved out of conversations. It got irritating to watch her be a doormat. I also wish more time had been spent on the situation with her twin and her ptsd. As an identical twin myself, this part of the story was intriguing to me, but other than a few mentions, adriana never really had to explain her issues with the past to anyone, or even face them. I think an incredible opportunity for conflict and situations related to her past were skipped over in favor of petty highschool drama that was rather irrelevant to the story. Still, i these issues aside, i really did enjoy this story. I'll definitely be reading torn and the next book in the series as soon as i can get my hands on them. ...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Alana rated it liked it

This contains spoilers - I started Dean Murray's Reflections series with this book after being introduced to it on Goodreads... It has been my first experience with Dean Murray and my very first male author since starting my obsession with YA Paranormal Romances...

I really enjoyed it - This particular story is the "She Said" version of Murray's first book, Torn. The book relays the love story of Alec and Adrianna - two teenagers from different worlds. Adrianna has lost a lot and Alec has an eno This contains spoilers - I started Dean Murray's Reflections series with this book after being introduced to it on Goodreads... It has been my first experience with Dean Murray and my very first male author since starting my obsession with YA Paranormal Romances...

I really enjoyed it - This particular story is the "She Said" version of Murray's first book, Torn. The book relays the love story of Alec and Adrianna - two teenagers from different worlds. Adrianna has lost a lot and Alec has an enormous amount of responsibility placed upon him as leader of a pack shape-shifters. There's a ton of twists and it kept me intrigued until the end.

The good - there was some action and romance. The folklore associated with shape-shifters was new to me and I enjoyed how Murray dropped little snippets in this book. It made me want to read the other books in the reflection series - seriously, I've now read Torn and Splintered over this weekend! Adrianna is a smart girl and she's sassy. The way in which Murray wrote her character led me to understand what motivated her. Having read Torn now too I totally get Adrianna more - the way that Alec grows to love her is so endearing... kinda made me like her more despite that my first impressions of her made me do the eye-roll every time she fainted

The bad - there wasn't enough romance for me - I'm into the gushy mushy stuff but Murray doesn't seem to roll that way but I was fine with it as there was lots of other interesting things happening with pack dynamics, pending doom and the little snippets of mush was just enough to keep me going... While I appreciate the action, the viciousness sometimes was too much but again, with wolves / shape-shifters I totally understand the need for it, I just didn't personally enjoy it that much

The truly awesome - as mentioned before, this book started my craze with reading all the other books in the Reflection series... It was good - I've just bought Intrusion and am hoping that I'll enjoy it as much as the others... ...more

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Jun 23, 2014 Seanean rated it did not like it

Adriana Paige's mother moved them both out to Utah for a fresh start after her father and sister died in a tragic car accident. She also hoped that getting away from the familiar would help Adriana get past the constant memories that overwhelm her and cause panic attacks that can last for days.

It isn't too long before Adriana realizes that a new place to live doesn't mean a new start on life. The panic attacks continue and often cause fainting spells. She also starts having extremely lucid dream ...more

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Feb 24, 2015 Maddie O’Kelly rated it it was ok

It was alright... (Spoilers below)

I think the hardest part about reading this book for me was the fact that I really disliked Adri. She made all the decisions I wouldn't make and I found her a little obnoxious at some points. I understand she was trying to get over what happened to her dad and sister. I was a little confused about whether we were supposed to know that Cyndi was her twin until she talked about the bracelet or if that was supposed to be some sort of surprise. Also I was waiting th ...more

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Dec 28, 2013 Lacey rated it did not like it

I've never read a book with such flowery descriptions. When the two male leads were introduced the author dedicated at least two paragraphs to EACH of their physical appearances. Every time they were brought up thereafter, their muscles, eyes and shirts were described. Again.

There was so much potential for the protagonist, Adriana, to grow. She suffered a very traumatic past, but all she did was turn into a Bella character. No growth. Just pining after one of the two male leads.

The book is ove ...more

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Dec 27, 2013 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011, kindle

I have only one word after reading this...WOW! That was a real ride! The main character had numerous ups and downs that you couldn't help but feel a part of.

The love triangle theme was used in this book, but it was put into play a bit differently. In this book, both guys were gorgeous, but one of them was evil! Normally with novels that contain love triangles authors pull you toward both guys so you just CAN'T make a decision. Dean Murray makes sure you are rooting for the right boy by the end. ...more

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Jan 02, 2014 Sherreka Burton rated it did not like it

I can't with this book. Matter of fact, I'm surprised I even finished the doggone thing, believe me it was a true struggle. First of all, I didn't even know this book was even remotely related to werewolves/shape shifters/paranormal nonsense; the durn synopsis didn't say anything about all that. I thought it was about a teenage girl getting over the death of her family members, but she moves to a new town, falls in love, and learns to accept her grief. But nooooo, I had to suffer through this cr ...more

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May 05, 2015 Tessa rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, series

I enjoyed Broken. The story takes place with a girl who was unwillingly moved due to the death of her twin sister and father.

The big plus is the main characters are well developed and the story moved rather well. I loved how even the main secondary characters had multiple levels. The romance isn't instant beyond "Oh, he's cute" and then forming an opinion based on personality. Also, the plot moved rather quick, and was enjoyable.

The minuses are simple. The main mystery is rather easy to figure ...more

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May 23, 2016 Gerry rated it it was ok

Shelves: awlb-challenge-2016

Tw0-and-one-half stars for the first half, which included the beginnings of a decent story of a young girl who inexplicably moved with her mother to the town of Sanctuary after the never-explained deaths of her father and sister, and her difficult adjustment, both academically and socially, to a new high school. Dropped to one star for the second half, mostly because this paranormal shape-shifter stuff is just not for me. The author also needs some lessons in pronoun use (subjective vs. objectiv ...more

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Aug 26, 2016 KatReads rated it did not like it

Shelves: gave-up-on, hahaha-no, winter-reads

DNF at 10%

OH DEAR GOD LET THIS NOT BE ANOTHER TWILIGHT NOVEL!!!

I think I'll probably stake myself. I couldn't determine if they were vampires or werewolves (or something of the like) but I didn't have it in me to keep going.

My critique for the book would be the amount of homework that the main character does. At first it was fine - oh she's doing inequalities. That's cool. I remember doing that in high school. But then there's the bulk of several chapters of her talking about probabilities, the ...more

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Apr 17, 2014 Janna rated it did not like it

Let me get right to the point (something this book fails to do) no one character stands out above the rest, the first half of the book talks about absolutely nothing and then keeps repeating itself, and the final climactic scene lasts about a page. This book is no different from any other teen angst, paranormal romance.
The writing isn't necessarily the worst part, most of the problems this book has relate to the plot. The mother that is hardly there, the constant anxiety attacks that appear to ...more

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About Dean Murray

Dean Murray

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Reflections (1 - 10 of 12 books)

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“knowing look flashed across Britney's face. "Oh, their royal highnesses Alec and Jasmin. They're pretty distracting all right, but don't waste your time. They'll never waste a thought on you or me, or pretty much anyone.” — 1 likes

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