Handfuls of Shattered Pieces by Kerry TaylorMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Angsty Slow Burn NA RH
I'd probably give this book 3.5 ⭐ if I could.
Olivia Byrd was taken from her family aged 8 years old and held for 9 years by a monster. She was tortured and lived in the dark and silence until one day she was running away through the woods unable to remember how she got there.
A young doctor, Xander, was working in the ER when she was brought in and he connected with the traumatised victim when no one else could. Hoping to return to her family, Olivia was further devastated to learn that her family was gone and she was alone.
Xander was adopted by wonderful people who also fostered others. He reached out and managed to get her placed with his adopted parents because he knew that if anyone could reach Olivia it was Keira and Grant and their family.
I felt wrung out by the end of this book. Olivia goes through so much before we even meet her in this book and then she goes through more stuff. I just want to wrap her up in cotton wool and give her armed guards, her foster parents felt the same, unsurprisingly.
I think my main problem with this book is that this incredibly traumatised young woman refuses to speak to a psychologist because of unreasonable fears and they don’t push her to reconsider. They also do really dumb things like taking her to the mall and a party, both of which go wrong, unsurprisingly. For experienced foster parents of traumatised young people, Keira and Grant don’t seem very sensible.
There are lots of really unrealistic parts of this story, but it doesn’t really detract from the narrative. The author is able to get the reader to skim over why a part is a bit unfeasible quite well, by wrapping them up in the story.
We don’t get much information about the guys in this situation. We know they have experienced their own trauma, but we don’t know what or why. As this is a series I imagine more information about the other characters may be forthcoming.
If you want to feel a lump in your throat and gasp in sympathy for how awful Olivia’s life is, then this is the book for you. If you want something cheerful, this is NOT the book for you.
Borrow Free From Kindle Unlimited
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, made after using the above links.
No comments:
Post a Comment