SHATTERED DREAMS (Midnight Dragonfly #1)
By Ellie James

PUBLISHER: Quercus
RELEASE DATE: 5th July 2012
FORMAT: Paperback, 300 pages
GENRE: Paranormal, Young Adult

Upon the death of her grandmother, Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. Dropped into high school, she is trying her best to fit in, but there is something about her, connected to the mysterious city and her parents death, that makes her different.

When a game of truth or dare in a deserted New Orleans house gets out of control, Trinity starts to see things; twisted visions of the future that she tries to suppress. But all too quickly the dreams accelerate – terrifying images of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader goes missing, Trinity has to decide whether to step forward with what she’s seen: a tough choice when the police are desperate for a suspect and she’s falling in love with the missing girl’s boyfriend. Nothing prepares her for the dark odyssey that ensues, the surprising romance she finds along the way, or the shocking truths she learns. Not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her, and the future that awaits. (Goodreads)

REVIEWER: Becs

SHATTERED DREAMS is written from the point of view of Trinity, an orphaned sixteen year old girl who has some psychic ability. Trinity’s parents died when she was very young and so knows very little about her inheritance and her abilities, since Trinity’s gifts scared her Grandmother, her Grandmother discouraged Trinity from using them and kept Trinity away from the general population by raising her isolated in the mountains of Colorado.

Now her Grandmother has died Trinity is sent to live with her Aunt Sara in New Orleans, where she was originally from. Trinity, secluded and home schooled for the majority of her life Trinity has now been given the opportunity to attend main stream school. As the new face in school and after Chase, a hot quarterback and her chemistry partner invited Trinity to join him with his friends Trinity accepts his offer of friendship.

Trinity is determined to fit in and not be pushed around by the popular girls, especially Jessica, the head cheerleader and Chase’s girlfriend. When they go to a creepy house as a dare, Trinity begins to have disquieting feelings, even though Trinity feels uneasy about the house she decides to follow through on the truth and dare game to save face. In a main upstairs room Trinity has a vision of a girl lying face down on the mattress, at first Trinity thinks it was herself, and then later realises it was Jessica. At the house, Jessica and her friends play a spiteful joke on Trinity, which scares and upsets Trinity so she leaves quickly, realising that this group were not her friends, that she cannot trust them, not even Chase.

A few days later Jessica disappears, Trinity seems to have a psychic connection to Jessica and realised she was in trouble before the news was made public, after a nightmare Trinity tells the police to check the old house and instantly becomes a suspect. Ingrained that her gift should be kept secret and not used Trinity has some difficulties deciding who she can trust and whether to follow her instincts, dreams and visions to help find Jessica.

Could Trinity be responsible for Jessica’s disappearance as an act of revenge or to secure Chase’s affections? Is a school peer to blame or another spiteful joke backfiring? These are many of the questions I found myself asking as I was trying to solve Jessica’s mysterious disappearance.

SHATTERED DREAMS is a discovery of Trinity’s parents past, uncovering and using her gifts to help find Jessica before it becomes too late and realising that doing the right thing is not an easy choice to make. Trinity shows strength of character when she finally realises, after following the clues of both Jessica’s disappearance and the threads from her past, who she wants to be, despite the opposition and unbelief she may face and uses her psychic gift to try and save Jessica.

It was as if some other force came over me, guiding me when moments before I’d been at a loss. Amber and Drew and Pitre…they didn’t matter. If they wanted to make fun of me, let them. I’d felt something when I touched the house, a muted current running through the wall, like a pulse of a human body. I didn’t know what it was, but it had been real and it had been powerful, and if there was any chance, any chance at all, that something of Jessica remained here, some strange psychic residue, I had to find it. I had to know.
It’s what my mother would have done.
It’s what she had done.

“I don’t care what you think about me,” I said. And in that moment, I realized how amazingly liberating that discovery was. From the day I’d arrived in New Orleans, I’d wanted to fit in. to be like everyone else. To be liked.

At sixteen it is a hard choice to make to be different from the crowd, to stand alone and to do the right thing, it takes courage and Trinity is a courageous and determined.

Finding Jessica. That was all that mattered.

Ellie James does a great job at creating a dark, mysterious atmosphere that will keep you guessing and adds a bit or romance to soften the ominous thriller. SHATTERED DREAMS is quite a dark, disturbing read as Jessica was kidnapped, and held as a prisoner, I can’t give you too many details as there are quite a few surprising twists and character developments. The main protagonist, Trinity is an extremely brave individual as she faces the truth about her parents deaths, as she delves into the unknown, and develops her gifts, searching for a kidnapper who could be from among her school peers, herself or some random stranger before time finally runs out

VERDICT:

I thought SHATTERED DREAMS was more of a mystery thriller than a paranormal read, as the only paranormal activity came through Trinity’s psychic abilities. It was an enjoyable read and whilst reading it my original rating was 3½ stars. However, once I had finished it I could recall very little about the book, making it unmemorable and difficult to review, which ultimately was reflected in the final rating. Overall, I enjoyed SHATTERED DREAMS, it was a little dark and unpredictable, the twists were a surprise and Trinity has definitely more to offer, so I will be picking up the other books in this series to see how Trinity’s gift develops.

RATING: 

ELLIE JAMES ONLINE
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BOOKS IN SERIES ORDER
1. Shattered Dreams
1.5 Haunted Destiny
2. Broken Illusions
3. Fragile Darkness

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