Review: While I highly recommend this book for adult readers, I don’t think I can recommend it for its intended young adult audience.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 28, 2014
4.5 Stars*Reviewer’s note: This book is classified as a young adult story. I will be completely honest with you and say that I’m not sure I would have let my child read this book during his high school years. Yes the characters are that age, but this book recounts some pretty mature subjects including sexual abuse, mental illness, illegal drug use, and sex. As an adult I appreciated this book and the story it told, but I’ve got a lot of years of experience in which to handle everything that takes place in this book.Ellie Cox seems like a typical 16 year old; in high school, on the track team, friends and family, and a boyfriend who is crazy about her. However, Ellie is anything buy typical. Adopted at age 6, Ellie has no memory of her early years but lately she’s had dreams; snippets of memories that are dark and scary. Ellie is also having what she assumes are blackouts, moments of time where she doesn’t remember where she’s been or what has happened. From the beginning of this story it is apparent there is something going on with Ellie. It is hard not to feel her confusion, her frustration, and her fear. When her memory lapses start to affect her relationship with her boyfriend, Shane the stress seems to get the best of her and she begins acting out causing her parents and friends to wonder if she’s on drugs or what else might be going on with her. When she begins to get calls for someone looking for Gwen and when she meets a young man named Griffin who calls her Gwen she really begins to struggle.The writing in this story is so solid and the in-depth look at Ellie’s life is amazingly detailed. At times this was not an easy book to read as it depicts a young girl trying to figure out why strange things keep happening to her and afraid to share this information with anyone. It was hard to not feel every emotion right alongside Ellie. There were scenes that were hard to read and scenes that made me cry, but there were also some moments of great courage and an overwhelming sense of hope.Fragile Line is a brilliantly told and as an adult I can appreciate the complexity of it despite the distressing and heartbreaking nature of this story. That being said, while I highly recommend this book for adult readers, I don’t think I can recommend it for its intended young adult audience.Review copy provided for an honest review.