[Review] Fractured by Sarah Fine

Fractured
Guards of the Shadowlands, Book Two
Sarah Fine
October 29, 2013
Amazon Children's Publishing

Copy provided by Amazon Children's
Publishing for honest review


Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

Book Two in the Guards of the Shadowlands series In the week since Lela returned to Rhode Island as Captain of the Guard with Malachi as her second in command, local news has been dominated by chilling sightings of human-like creatures running on all fours. Lela knows there’s only one explanation: the Mazikin have arrived in the land of the living. Needing to maintain the appearance of a normal life for her foster mother, her probation officer, and her classmates, Lela returns to Warwick High along with Malachi. At night they secretly hunt for the Mazikin nest. To assist, two new Guards from very different parts of the Shadowlands are assigned to Lela’s unit, including the bad boy Jim, who repeatedly challenges Lela's authority. Lela struggles to keep all her Guards on the right side of the law, but their mistakes come at a terrible cost. As one painful revelation follows another and the Mazikin start targeting those closest to her, Lela finds herself more vulnerable than she’s ever been, wanting a future more than she ever has. With an enemy determined to separate soul from body, one question remains: how much is she willing to sacrifice to protect those she loves?

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Warning this review may contain spoilers

Wow holy moly, I just finished Fractured book two in the Guards of the Shadowland series and all I can say after reading that ending is give me more.  I am chomping at the bit for more because that ending was so emotional gut wrenching and I can’t wait find out how it all turns out.  Fractured picks right up where Sanctum left off with Lena as the captain and Malachi as her second in command.  Now they have added two more soldiers to the fight and we learn something new about the land of dead, that there more realms and version of hellish places depending on the punishment for the souls who have died.  I found this really interesting because Lena’s new guards come from two different hells.  Jim comes from the Bright City a place for the souls of greedy and selfish.  Henry comes from the Wasteland a place for the souls of murders and truly evil.  I hope in future in books if Lena has to go to back to realm of the dead these lands that might be explored.  I was very intrigued by the little descriptions and little hints Jim and Henry gave about where they come from.  In the first book Lena is only in the Dark City and that place was terrifying but I think it would make my skin crawl, in a good way, to see even more frightening places and souls. 

Fractured takes place in the realm of the living and Lena and Malachi have a whole new level of terror to explore and it is called high school and parents.  The challenges faced in this book is how to fight the evil Mazikin without getting into trouble with the law, find a way to love without it becoming a distraction, and still navigate high school and friendships in the process.  I loved the action in this book.  The fight scenes with the Maziken were very intense and bloody.  This book was full of fight scenes to make any Resident Evil fan, like myself, proud they were full of kick butt weapons and kicks that would make Alice proud.  I liked that Malachi and Lena have finally realized they love each and will finally be together but of course drama rears its ugly head and Malachi does something rash to save Lena.  He kills a kid he thought was Mazikin but was just an innocent.   So then he becomes broody and must break up Lena so he can focus on his mission.  I could not help but roll my eyes at this and think God save me from moody boys because then Lena is sad and thinks he is throwing her away.  I did like that they are able to keep it professional and still stay on the mission without any tantrums or too many tears.

In the end, I really liked this book and the cliffhanger ending has me salivating for more.  My only complaint is that I felt like the middle dragged a little and that Malachi was being a bit of moody baby.  I felt like they should have talked things out a lot earlier on.  I get why it happened the way it did because then the ending would not have been as dramatic.  I like this world and the idea of evil beings and creepy hellish dimensions to punish the souls.  I give Fractured book two of the Guards of the Shadowlands four laser pistols.   I look forward to reading along as Lena navigates her way through to save the land of the living and the ones she loves.