Book Nook Club: Shattered by Melody Carlson

June 18, 2011

Shattered by Melody Carlson

I feel like every time I read a book or see a review by Melody Carlson I have to double-check to make sure it's the same Melody Carlson. All of her books are so different from each other that I would never know it's the same author. She's written a ton of books including ones for teens, tweens, women, and children. All of those books are listed on her website. Two years ago Jacki enthusiastically reviewed three of her adult novels that she loved. I've only ever read one of her book's previously - Let Them Eat Fruitcake, which was just okay. For me her newest young-adult novel Shattered fell into the latter category of being just okay.

Cleo's mom is overprotective. And since Cleo is almost eighteen, she of course knows better than her mom and sneaks out of the house to go to a concert with her best friend Lola. That night something happens that will change Cleo's life forever. What happened is not at all what I was expecting so I don't want to ruin it for you, but it was definitely a game changer for a teenage girl. After the incident Cleo turns to drugs to try and forget that night and would succeed in forgetting and probably becoming addicted for good if not for some caring people in her life.

This book dealt with a number of issues like drug use and depression, but I felt like the book stuck to the surface of these issues rather than really getting into them. Written for teens, the book was short and just didn't suck me in enough to really care about the characters. It is a good length for teens though and touches on those issues enough as it needs to for the audience. I think based on Jacki's reviews that I'm going to have to check out one of Carlson's adult novels.