Book Blurb
What if you lost the memory of who you are? What if you had to pick up the loose ends of life that wasn't yours? What if you had to fight somebody else's battles? What would YOU do ? Camilla’s life will never be the same after her beloved son Christopher is sent to prison . Father Joseph’s faith is sorely tested when a deranged psychopath uses the sanctity of the confessional to gloat about his most heinous crimes. Both Camilla and Joseph are paralysed by doubt and inaction. But then their lives collide... BROKEN explores where it takes a stranger to break through one’s bindings and inhibitions in order to do the right thing. It is a story of a mother’s love for her son and a priest’s blind adherence to the seal of confession. It is a story about Fate’s intervention.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Broken' by Anna Legat.
Read and reviewed for ZooLoos Book Tours, Anna Legat and Spellbound Books.
Publication date 15th April 2022.
This is the first book I have read by this author.
I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching fascinating cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Spellbound Books. I have yet to read a book published by Spellbound Books that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a 18 chapters set over five parts. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Bristol, England 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times. I am not far from Bristol and have actually visited on several occasions so am interested to see if I recognise anywhere named.
This book is written in first person perspective and the main protagonists are Camilla Bramley-Jones, Hugh Bramley-Jones, Josh Bramley-Jones, Jane Cuthbert and Joseph Steedman. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on.
An absolutely unique storyline!!
This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions that really set the scene and put you in the storyline. The cover and synopsis suit the book perfectly.
The storyline was captivating from the first page until the last and I was completely invested in it. It was absolutely rammed full of crime, murder, suspense, fantasy, friendship and everything you could ask for in a page turning psychological thriller. I just could not put this book down and finished it in one sitting. The storyline is extremely unique and I have never read one like it. Anna's imagination and creativity absolutely shines through. I won't go into it in too much detail as I don't want to spoil it for future readers. The way it was written genuinely felt like I was with the characters while they were telling me their story over a cup of tea. I loved the fact that it was set in Bristol and I really enjoyed exploring different areas with the characters by my side. There were several twists that I was not expecting especially when it came to the Prophet. A huge congratulations to Anna for surprising me, it is getting harder and harder with the amount of books I have read but you nailed it. I love how the storyline is a mix of so many genres. I was a bit skeptical in regards to it being a religious fiction and spiritual fiction but Anna included just the correct amount of each genre and blended it all perfectly with the criminal and psychological aspects. I was intrigued by the fact that anything spoken about in a confessional cannot be repeated even when it comes to crime. I actually ended up looking this up as I genuinely didn't think that could be right but it is indeed!! This is also the first book that I have read which has been dated during Covid and the lockdown and it reminded me of all the madness going on. I have read several that happened just before or after but this is the first during which I am quite surprised about. This may be the first book I have read by Anna but it most certainly won't be my last!!!
It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
Do not start this book until you have cleared your schedules as you will not be able to put it down!!
The characters were all realistic and strong and I was completely invested in both Camilla and Joseph along with several other characters throughout. I absolutely loved Joseph who was unlike any priest I have ever met!!! I adored his down to earth and sarcastic attitude, the fact that he didn't preach to people outside of his church. I have no religion but if he was a real character I would have definitely gone to visit him!! Camilla was a lovely character who my heart went out to on occasions especially being tied down to Hugh who treated her like an elderly mother instead of his wife. Loki, Jeremiah and Ruth, although not main characters, definitely made an impact and their relationship with Joseph was lovely. They all made me laugh on several occasions. I was not a fan of Hugh, Peter or Phillipa, especially Phillipa. Hugh seemed to be quite sexist and treated Camilla more like a mother or a slave than a wife as previously mentioned. Peter was Christophers friend but just stabbed him in the back. Philippa was the worse of the three as she treated Camilla like a glorified babysitter, couldn't care less about her son and seemed to be full of herself. Joshua was absolutely adorable although very cheeky with a huge personality. Joshua made me laugh several times and I felt sorry for him with a mother like Philippa. Mrs Keating was another horrible woman who made herself to be holier than thou but was just a nosy and judgemental bat. I'd love to be a fly on her wall when she got certain news!!! My heart went out to Jane who was trying to do her best for her son while being verbally attacked by snobs like Mrs Keating. I loved watching her personality change throughout the book and I'd love to see what she got up to in the years after. Camilla and Joseph couldn't be any more different which made it even more fascinating watching their lives literally collide together. Regardless of what I thought about who, each character worked perfectly to make this page turning religious thriller!!!
Congratulations Anna on a huge success and I would like to welcome you to my favourite author list 🥂 I am off to add all your past books to my wish list and I'm looking forward to your future ones too 😊
Overall an absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller with the perfect mix of fantasy and religion mixed in with several twists!!
Genres covered in this book include Spiritual Literature, Thriller, Noir Crime, Religious Fiction, Spiritual Fiction, Domestic Thriller, Noir Thriller, Dystopian, Crime Fiction and Inspirational Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as anyone looking for a book filled with many different genres that will have you hooked.
249 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle or free on kindle unlimited (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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@LegatWriter @ZooloosBT @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86 @SpellBoundBks
Author Bio Anna Legat is a Wiltshire-based author, best known for her DI Gillian Marsh murder mystery series. Murder isn't the only thing on her mind. She dabbles in a wide variety of genres, ranging from dark humorous comedy, through magic realism to dystopian. A globe-trotter and Jack-of-all-trades, Anna has been an attorney, legal adviser, a silver-service waitress, a school teacher and a librarian. She has lived in far-flung places all over the world where she delighted in people-watching and collecting precious life experiences for her stories. Anna writes, reads, lives and breathes books and can no longer tell the difference between fact and fiction. Follow her at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AnnaLegatAuthor/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/legatauthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LegatWriter
Website: https://annalegat.com/
Buy Links
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/BROKEN-unsettling-domestic-thriller-guaranteed-ebook/dp/B09SRCGYRQ
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/BROKEN-unsettling-domestic-thriller-guaranteed-ebook/dp/B09SRCGYRQ
Thank you so much for helping to close the tour with this review x