The Shattering by Karen Healey

by Book4Hearts

“Seventeen-year-old Keri likes to plan for every possibility. She knows what to do if you break an arm, or get caught in an earthquake or fire. But she wasn’t prepared for her brother’s suicide, and his death has left her shattered with grief. When her childhood friend Janna tells her it was murder, not suicide, Keri wants to believe her. After all, Janna’s brother died under similar circumstances years ago, and Janna insists a visiting tourist, Sione, who also lost a brother to apparent suicide that year, has helped her find some answers.

As the three dig deeper, disturbing facts begin to pile up: one boy killed every year; all older brothers; all had spent New Year’s Eve in the idyllic town of Summerton. But when their search for the serial killer takes an unexpected turn, suspicion is cast on those they trust the most.
As secrets shatter around them, can they save the next victim? Or will they become victims themselves?”-goodreads

This book was weird. I don’t mean that in a bad way– I consider myself weird (hopefully in a good way), I think my friends are weird (definitely in a good way), and basically the rest of the world weird (in its own special way). It was really suspenseful, too. I think the multiple perspectives were smart, they made each of the characters shine just a little bit more and kept up the suspense. Why did multiple characters/perspectives keep up the suspense? Not each of the characters knew what the other one knew so it was a lot of back and forth. It was a mystery, a true mystery book, keeping me flipping pages for the ‘who did it??!?” conclusion until the end. The ending shocked me. Let me rephrase that– parts of the ending were how I *thought* it would end but other parts I didn’t think would happen or hadn’t even considered. That’s always good, a shocking ending when it makes sense and if it’s really a knock-you-off-your-feet kind of thing that’s even better.

This book was a lot to think about; a lot to consider. I questioned how I would react, and if I would go about solving the mystery the same way. I love books that do that! I also appreciate when a book keeps you thinking about it or its ending and it sticks with you for a while, which it already has (‘what?’ you ask. ‘You just posted the review, how would you know that!?’ Actually I read it over a week ago, maybe two weeks, but I’ve been having trouble *actually* gathering my thoughts about it. And I’ve been busy.. ANYWAY…), and it will probably continue. It’s also a stand-alone. I like when I can get the ACTUAL WHOLE STORY and it EVEN has the nerve to pack a punch. Not that I hate series, it’s clear that I don’t, but once in a while, seriously: STANDALONE BOOKS. 

I’d recommend “The Shattering” to someone looking for a dark, stand-alone, mystery book packed with suspense with an ending that will shock you.
Thank you Little Brown for the opportunity to review this book. As usual, that didn’t alter my opinion!

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