Lisa Amowitz

I know exactly why I picked up this book.....that cover. I love that cover. I seriously could not request this book fast enough. The combination of music and death as the focus of the story was just calling to me. I don't even understand why a book's cover is still so important to me since I do almost all of my reading on a kindle....but it is. I ended up thinking that this was a decent book but in my mind it never quite lived up to the cover.

This book started out really strong for me. Beth is part of a band that happen to be a close group of friends. Her boyfriend is missing and most people believe that he may be dead. Beth proves to be a fighter very early in the book when she finds herself in a position to fight off a would be rapist. There was just the right balance of dark and mystical things going on to really hook me.

Then Beth is accepted at a boarding school for musically gifted teens and the book took on an all too average feel for me. Everyone at the school has some type of special ability and Beth must learn about what she is really capable of doing. The mystery surrounding the school and Beth's abilities kept my interest to a point but the book became much easier to put down after the opening scenes.

At times I really liked Beth but there were also times that I couldn't connect with her at all. None of the other characters in the book really stood out either. The boarding school that Beth went to should have been really exciting but it just felt so average to me. I did find the connection between Beth and Vincent to be interesting. I think that Xavier's character had a lot of potential and I feel like he has an interesting story to tell but he just didn't get enough time in the story for that to be fully developed.

I thought that this was an okay story that I am glad that I read. This is the first book by Lisa Amowitz that I have read. I am not sure whether I will continue with this series right now. There were a few interesting threads that I would like to see picked up in the sequel so I may give book #2 a chance.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Spencer Hill Press via NetGalley for the purpose of providing an honest review.

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life: http://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.com/… (más)

(This review will be up on my blog The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl in September).

If you've been following my blog/reviews, you will know that I love anything to do with beyond the grave! Ghosts are a sure fire way to make me pick up a book and read it instantly! Luckily, this book was a really interesting read and helped me keep my faith in those type of books.

The title is definitely an interesting one. It made me thing of a type of mystery book, which this is somewhat. Also, after reading the blurb, I thought maybe this would be about the main character having a break down.

I'm on the fence about the cover. On the one hand, I love the different images on the cover. They give me a sort of creepy feel. On the other hand, I wish the cover would've been an image from the book or gave us more insight to the book.

I love how the author draws you into Jeremy's world quite easily. I felt as if everything that was happening to Jeremy was happening to me. I could visualize the world quite easily. The only thing that kind of made me have a "hmm" moment was when The Book of the Dead disappears from Jeremy's room, but it just kind of turns up again in another chapter without any explanation. That's a totally minor thing, and all the other loose ends of the story are all tied up by the ending. The world building is just amazing!

Before I picked up this book, I felt as if it would start out slow at first and then pick up speed. How wrong I was! From the very first sentence, the pacing is spot on. Not once did I become bored with this book. I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. I was hanging on every word, even at the ending! (And don't worry, there isn't any sort of cliff hanger ending. I just didn't want it to end).

I very much enjoyed the plot. I felt this was more of a whodunnit type plot. Jeremy is convinced someone murdered Susannah, so he's trying to solve the mystery as soon as possible all while feeling like he is being haunted by Susannah's ghost. There is some romantic elements, but it's not the main focus. Oh, and I loved the twists involving Susannah! There's even one about Ryan that I figured out with all the context clues before his secret was revealed.

The characters were written superbly! Jeremy Glass feels like an average angry teenager. Now when I say angry, I don't mean angsty or emo or immature. He's been through a lot including watching his mother die and dealing with his injury. Now he's convinced his best friend is missing. Jeremy's got a lot on his plate, and if I were him, I'd be angry too. I loved his sarcasm and wit even if it was to mask how he was feeling most of the time. We don't really get to see much of Susannah's character except when Jeremy believes he is seeing her ghost and what he finds out about her personality. The girl obviously had problems, but for a character whose presence is more ethereal, the author does a fantastic job of making her come alive (no pun intended). I would've loved to know more about Marisa especially her back story such as where she came from and why she moved to the United States. The book says she's an immigrant, but I would've just liked to know a bit more. I liked the character of Ryan. At first, I thought he was a bit of an idiot and really selfish, but as the story progresses, I came to see that Ryan had his reasons for acting the way he did. I really enjoyed Trudy's back story!

There is a lot of swearing in this book, but I don't believe it's over the top. Teenagers swear, and it's a part of life. The swearing in this book makes it more believable. I understand why a lot of young adult writers don't include swearing, but for this book, the swearing worked. Overall, the dialogue is easy to understand and very believable. There were some times where I felt that Jeremy was older then 17, but after all that he'd been through, I figured it was down to all he'd been through.

Overall, Breaking Glass is one of the most intriguing books that I've read. It's one of those books that makes you ponder whether or not the main character is going crazy or is he actually experiencing everything around him.

I'd recommend this book to those aged 16+ (due to language and themes) who like trying to solve mysteries and are looking for a book to wake up their brain.

I'd give Breaking Glass by Lisa Amowitz a 4.75 out of 5.… (más)

Breaking Glass turned out to be a lot different book than I was expecting. It was more complex, both in terms of the plot, the characters and their relationships than the synopsis would lead one to expect. What I thought it was about was already enough, what it turned out to be was even better.

To give much more of the plot wouldn't be fair (or much fun) for anyone who's going to read it, so I won't. What I will say is this: when Jeremy ends up in the hospital, intoxicated and with a severely injured leg, he learns that his friend -- and crush -- Susannah has disappeared.

He thinks he knows what happened the night of his accident and who was there but soon, others' accounts have him second guessing himself.

Then, when Susannah starts requesting -- from, possibly, beyond the grave -- that he solve her disappearance or murder, Jeremy starts to question his sanity.

All of this happening while a bit of a soap opera is unfolding around Jeremy. Rockton is a small town with a lot of secrets; many of them surrounding Jeremy's family, friends and their past.

Even the things that seem simple grow much more complex as other characters put their spin on things. Or as tales -- or rumors -- from the past come to light.

Everything that happens to Jeremy is handled excellently. It isn't overdone, which could easily happen with everything that happens to him and/or he does to himself, no is it underdone. Despite his experiences that are so different from much of what most will experience, he's easy to relate to.

The character who was the closest to a second main character -- at least in the 'Now' sections -- didn't feel quite as developed. There were times when we learned more about her and it seemed something was coming, but it never quite got there. There may have just been too much plot involving Jeremy, the mystery and in the 'Then' sections for there to be that connection with her, also.

With such a deep, intense plot, Amowitz finds a great balance: keeping the plot creepy, the characters' melodrama unfolding, and having a possible new interest for Jeremy. All the while leaving readers guessing at just what will happen in the end - how the mystery will be solved and how everyone will fare.… (más)

Jeremy Glass has been in love with his best friend's girlfriend since 9th grade. Rather than tell her how he feels, he puts on his mask, sucks it up, pretends it doesn't bother him. After all, it is completely wrong to go after your best friend's girlfriend, especially when your kind of a Geek and he's one of the most popular guys in school. He settles instead on being Susannah's friend. What really bothers him the most, is covering up for Ryan when he cheats on Susannah behind her back, which he has done quite a few times. Susannah shows up after a play Ryan is in one night, when she is supposedly out of town, and catches Ryan in the act, despite Jeremy's attempts to keep her from walking in on it. She takes off, Ryan follows, and Jeremy follows them. This is the night that everyone's life changes forever. Jeremy has been drinking, and when he pulls over after seeing Susannah and Ryan, he isn't sure what is going on. The next thing he knows he is waking up in the hospital with his leg held together by pins and rods after being hit by a truck, and no one knows where Susannah is. When days turn to weeks, and weeks turn to months, Jeremy is determined to find out what is going on, while trying to deal with the pain of his shattered leg and shattered dreams. His problems that he has hidden so well for so many years seem to come to the surface, forcing him to look at his past, as well as his present, and his future going forward. Secrets are revealed, friendships are tested, and when Susannah starts seemingly speaking to Jeremy from beyond the grave, things really get weird. Jeremy isn't sure if it is real or if he is losing his mind. Nevertheless, he is determined to push past his own problems and find out just what has happened to Susannah.

Breaking Glass is thrilling, mysterious, and somewhat dark. The book is told primarily from Jeremy's point of view, except for a few segments near the end. It is set up in a "then" and "now" perspective, which works really well, letting you see into the past, as well as the present. The plot is intense, creepy, and thrilling. I really liked Jeremy's character. He's goes through so much in this book, yet maintains his sense of humor despite all the horrible things that happen to him and are going on around him, and despite the fact that he is pretty messed up himself. As the mystery unfolds, Lisa Amowitz takes you on a journey with twists and turns along the way that you never see coming. Just when I thought I had something figured out, Lisa Amowitz would take things in a different direction. This made for quite an entertaining read. Small town secrets that go back for years are revealed, mysteries unravel, new friendships are formed, and then the paranormal element takes things to a whole new and kind of scary level. If you love a good suspenseful thriller with a paranormal aspect and a little romance, which is intriguing, mysterious, and keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next, then Breaking Glass is something I would recommend checking out.… (más)