YA Book Review: All the Broken Pieces by Cindi Madsen

Release Date: December 2012
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher

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Goodreads description:

What if your life wasn’t your own?

Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident that put her in the coma, but as the voices invade her dreams, and her dreams start feeling like memories, she and Spencer seek out answers. Yet the deeper they dig, the less things make sense. Can Liv rebuild the pieces of her broken past, when it means questioning not just who she is, but what she is?

What it's all about:  Liv feels lost.  She's starting out in a new town at a new high school--difficult all on its own--and to top it off, she has no memory of the accident that put her in a coma or what came before the accident.  When she meets Spencer, he has his own mysterious past and together they set out to see what they can learn about each other.

Who it's all about: Liv was one of those characters that I felt like I connected with rather quickly. She's struggling to keep it all together in a tough situation and no one can blame her for feeling a bit disconnected and confused.  I was right there with her! The situation is quite perplexing and every time I felt like I was figuring out what was going on, Ms. Madsen would throw something in that made me question and rethink. Spencer was a separate entity all his own.  He's the charming boy that Liv can't resist--even though she can't quite figure out who she is--but he's also full of his own secrets and mysterious background.  I found myself just as invested in finding out more about this boy as about Liv.  Their joint journey was simply fantastic to follow.

The Bottom Line:  I flew through this novel.  Once I got started, Ms. Madsen completely wrapped me up in her story and pulled me through the pages.  It had been awhile since a novel and truly done this to me so completely.  The mystery is well-played out and all is revealed by the end (which I totally appreciated because I just HAD to know). If you're looking for a solid, quick-paced mystery novel, I definitely think that this one fits the bill!