WinterHaven Books: Breaking Glass

Breaking Glass by Lisa Amowitz
Publisher- Spencer Hill Press
Released- July 9th 2013
Purchase-Amazon / B & N

On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he's not sure whether they're real or if he's losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.

My Thoughts:
Jeremy Glass has had feelings for Susannah Durban since they were just kids but could never do anything about it since she was dating his best friend, Ryan. On the night Jeremy ended up at the hospital with a broken leg and high levels of alcohol streaming through his veins, is the same night Susannah goes missing. Weeks go by and no ones has heard from her, no one expect Jeremy. Is Susannah really contacting him from the other side? Or is Jeremy, like his mother, finally losing his mind. Through a chain of clues, Jeremy finally understands what he must do and uncover long ago secrets of the past if he is to ever find out what really happened to Susannah, but the closer he gets to the truth, the more danger he's in, and risks becoming the next victim.

Breaking Glass is a gripping and haunting story that are filled with so many surprises, twists and turns. The way Lisa Amowitz spins this tale is incredibly clever, strong and very unpredictable. I never saw half of what happened coming. I enjoyed the way she did the Then and Now method. It gave us great insight into Jeremy's memories and gave us a wider look into his past and clues about his present situation. Amowitz really gave her readers this time to understand Jeremy on a deeper level and to feel the magnitude of the tragedy that he has unfolded.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm really starting to love whodunit mysteries. The rush I get at the end always makes my reading experience more fulfilling and Amowitz's book is quite the mystery. The entire story-line feels like it's teetering on a live wire and the slightest touch will set it off, so I'm not to sure what I could say about the plot without revealing something that your not suppose to know till you've read the book. So, with that said, all I'm gonna say about this is, pay attention, let these characters take you into their story and keep in mind that not everything is at it seems. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out what Susannah was trying to get at with her messages but at the same time it was rather creepy to see what she was going to do next. By the time I finished this book I was really shocked to discover how deep all the secrets ran and how many lives it touched and ruined.

This has a very interesting cast of characters and as much as I liked them I questioned a lot of who I could really trust.

~Jeremy is a very lost, confused and emotionally raw character and your heart will pound for and with him throughout this entire novel. Given his mothers own alcoholic issues, Jeremy is on the same road to self-destruction. It was hard to focus on the blur of his reality, of what was real and what was hallucinations, but it made going through this journey with him more tangible somehow. Like he had to fight his own inner demons to solve what Susannah wanted him to discover the entire time. My heart truly goes out to him.

~Marisa was a nice addition to the story as well. I think it gave Jeremy that ray of hope. She represents a new beginning, a fresh start and sanity after all the insane.

~As for Susannah, we only know her through Jeremy's memories and the clues she leaves, but she is still very much a present force in this novel. She's a very intense and shattered character. I thought the way she stringed along all the pieces to the puzzle was quite cunning but cruel. Ryan is a character I though I figured all out form the beginning, but he proves that in this book, nothing is what it seems.

All in all, I really enjoyed Breaking Glass. The writing is absorbing and fantastic, the characters will have your head spinning and your heart breaking and the story-line has an incredible blend of mystery, thriller with a touch of supernatural to give it that extra edge with a spark of romance that will make you smile. A really great read, I'm looking forward to reading more from this amazing talent.

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4 Snowflakes