I Read What You Write

– PURCHASE –
AMAZON US: Exit Wound (Broken Promise Book 1)

AMAZON UK: Exit Wound (Broken Promise Book 1)

My Review:

Newly graduated from high school and heading to Dartmouth to study music production, Bea is looking for a summer internship with her brother’s touring rock band to allow her to set free her high school demons. Still reeling from the death of her best friend six months before, Bea isn’t quite sure where she fits in the world. Instead of simple summer reforging a relationship with her brother, Ben, she finds herself constantly on the defensive as she learns to navigate Ben’s professional world, all the while dealing with her mother in rehab, a classmate from high school as a fellow intern and the band’s drummer looking forward to rekindling their previous relationship.

Meanwhile, someone is stalking her, leaving anonymous text messages filled with photos of what should be private moments with threats of violence to come and a debt to pay…

This should be a five star read. Brilliant characters along with terrifically written exposition should have been enough. I think the author tried to put too much in this book and I am hoping it is because it will work itself out in subsequent installments.  Bea’s music was a great story hook but seems shoved into the rest of the story, especially as it isn’t made clear until far into the book that Bea went to a high school for the arts and while it is eventually mentioned that she, like her brother, is a musician and song writer she is going to college for music production which is in a whole other direction.  It just seemed odd having the A/R guy bugging her the way he did. Also the twist ending should have been explosive, but with very little investment for the reader in that story-line, since it came out of virtually nowhere, it seemed to be nothing more than an excuse to have another book.

While maybe a bit more time spent filling out secondary story-lines might have helped, they weren’t really needed. Bea’s coming of age, dealing with her friends’ deaths and reaffirming her relationships with her brother and the other band members, is a wonderful compelling story made stronger by her having to come to grips with her childish behavior toward Splinter in high school along with her need for introspection into her temper and drinking issues, then seasoned beautifully with the suspense and terror of being stalked (which I will add lost all its bite because the synopsis of the book gives away the bad guy before reading even begins, leaving the reader to now more than Bea. May I suggest a SPOILER ALERT)

My instinct is to rate this book a three, however the ability of the author to flesh out  the characters in a way that makes them leap off the written page and the emotional honesty of Bea’s narration leads me to think that there is great potential here and the next books will be phenomenal. Furthermore I do believe there is a young adult audience for this book.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.