A Dream Within A Dream: Breaking Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Breaking
Author: Danielle Rollins
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller
Release Date: June 6, 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury

Find it: Amazon, B&N, TBD, iBooks, Goodreads

Description:

Companion novel to Burning.

Prep school gets a twist of supernatural suspense in this commercial YA thriller.

Charlotte has always been content in the shadow of her two best friends at the prestigious Underhill Preparatory Institute. Ariel is daring and mysterious. Devon is beautiful and brilliant. Although Charlotte never lived up to the standards of the school—or her demanding mother—her two best friends became the family she never had. When Ariel and Devon suddenly commit suicide within a month of each other, Charlotte refuses to accept it as a coincidence. But as the clues point to a dangerous secret about Underhill Prep, Charlotte is suddenly in over her head. There’s a reason the students of Underhill are so exceptional, and the people responsible are willing to kill to protect the truth…

Suspenseful and scintillating, with hints of the supernatural, this fast-paced thriller will keep readers hooked.

Breaking is an incredibly well done YA thriller that fans of the genre are going to devour. Mysteries and thrillers are at the top of my favorite genres, and by this point it's a bit hard to fully capture my attention. This book grabbed me right from the very beginning and sucked me into Charlotte's world. I ended up reading the entire novel in one sitting. I loved all the twists and turns, the secrets and lies, and the supernatural aspects the author included. It made the story unique and captivating, which is definitely a hard feat to accomplish. I loved getting to know Charlotte and watching her change throughout the book. The author chose to write in the first person point of view - from Charlotte's perspective - and I'm so happy she did. It's by far my favorite style and does the best job at allowing the reader a deep and personal connection to the narrator. It's a perfect fit for this novel and any other writing style wouldn't have done the story justice.

The plot was fresh and engaging, with plenty of twists that you don't see coming. I thought I had it all figured out a few different times, only to have my theories demolished time and time again. The fact that the author could stump me like that was a huge plus for me, as not many can manage to do so anymore. The characters were rounded with distinct traits and personalities that made them realistic - especially Charlotte, our main character. I was able to easily identify with her from the very beginning of the book. She's definitely flawed, but has a lot of positive traits too. The secondary characters were also decently rounded and helped bring the story to life in my mind. I loved the setting too - even though some people might think the whole private/prep school is too common. It felt like the perfect place for the story to take place - it all fit together seamlessly. I highly recommend this book to fans of YA mysteries, thrillers, suspense, contemporary, and paranormal/supernatural fiction.

Author of the best-selling MERCILESS series, SURVIVE THE NIGHT, BURNING, and BREAKING. I'm currently working on the last installment of the Merciless books, & starting a new series to be announced later this year.

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