Book Review: Beautifully Broken by Sherry

Beautifully Broken

Spellbound #1

Author: Sherry Soule

Reading Level: YA

Genre: Dark Paranormal

Released: June 29th 2011

Review Source: Author

Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) Thirteenth daughter. Heritage witch. Demon slayer.

They say every town has its secrets, but that doesn’t even begin to describe Whispering Pines. The townsfolk are a superstitious lot and the mystical disappearance of a local teen has everyone murmuring about a centuries old witch’s curse…

Sixteen-year-old Shiloh Ravenwolf is a heritage witch from the Broussard family, a family both destined and cursed. After she takes a summer job at Ravenhurst Manor, she discovers a ghost with an agenda. That’s where she meets the new town hottie, Trent Donovan. But Trent may be the next victim on the supernatural hit list, and Shiloh is the only person with the power to save him.

Complicated much?

After receiving cryptic messages from a creepy wraith, and then frightening threats from a demon, Shiloh finally begins to understand the mysterious significance of the strange mark branded on her wrist. Now Shiloh must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice to protect the other teenagers in town.

Unfortunately, for Shiloh, not all ghosts want help crossing over. Some want vengeance.

Beautifully Broken is about a 16 year old girl named Shiloh Ravenwolf. She lives in a small town in California called Whispering Pines that is full of dark secrets and unknown dangers. Teenagers have mystically disappeared over the last few years and the people of the town whisper of a dark witches curse. Shiloh is plagued with terrors in the night and a cold and detached mother she deals with during the day. As she reaches towards hopes of becoming an architect one day she takes a summer job helping with the restoration of the local haunted house, Ravenhurst Manor owned by the Donovans. As she starts work at the manor she is harassed by a ghost who needs Shiloh to help with her plan for vengeance. There she meets Trent Donovan whose family has just moved back to town. Shiloh and Trent are inexplicably drawn to each other, but Trent has his own set of dark secrets.

Shiloh has heard whispers in the dark as long as she can remember. But since starting her summer job at Ravenhurst she can't get away from smokey images with evil intent and an even more terrifying demon named Esael. Shiloh soon figures out that all of her questions and fears converge the more she learns about Easel. Shiloh must try to save Trent and the other innocent lives without losing her own.

I really enjoyed Beautifully Broken immensely. I love how the name of the book perfectly describes the main characters. I thought that Sherry Soule did an amazing job of weaving teenage angst and raging hormones with the paranormal aspects of witches, demons and otherworldly creatures. Shiloh Ravenwolf's beautiful but flawed character is the perfect heroine for this suspenseful paranormal romance. Images of Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries come to mind as Soule's characters battle the mean girls from the halls of the local high school and gossiping town folk along with the paranormal enemies.