Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Boy Shattered
AUTHOR: Eli Easton
NARRATOR: Tristan Josiah
PUBLISHER: Pinkerton Road
RELEASE DATE: November 16, 2020
LENGTH: 8 hours, 3 minutes
BLURB:
Brian
You’ll make it out of here, Brian. I swear.
I had everything—school quarterback, popular with girls, and my dad was proud of me. I told myself it didn’t matter no one knew the real me. And then I nearly died. Landon saved my life. He’s the bravest guy I know. He came out a few years ago, proud and fierce, and he ran into gunfire to help others. Me, I’m a mess. Can’t even stand to be in a room with the curtains open. But here’s the thing about losing it all: You get a chance to start over and be someone new. Only how can I move on when the two shooters who attacked our school were never caught? And why do I feel like I’m still in the crosshairs?
Landon
Will you kiss me?
When I came across Brian Marshall,the hottest guy in school, dying on the cafeteria floor, I did what anyone would do. I tried to save him. His request surprised me, but I figured he needed comfort, so I kissed him on the forehead. When he survived and came back to school, he was broken in body and mind. He still needed me, and soon we were unlikely besties. But what I saw at school that day woke me up. I want to demand action on gun control, lead protests, raise my fist. I’ll tear the world down if I have to. And if I can get the man of my dreams and save the world at the same time? I’ll take it. Only I didn’t understand that the horror at Jefferson Waller High wasn’t over.
REVIEW:
I don’t know that I could ever write a review that would do this book, this story and these characters justice. I ran through so many emotions while listening to this book and to list them all would probably make this review as long as the book itself, so I’ll try not to.
This book felt very realistic to me, horrifyingly so. Everything that happened that day was… … … I don’t even have the words to describe how terrifying that day was. And the aftermath… so heartbreaking. I loved how Easton showed us that even though the students were all there, they all had different experiences of it, it affected them differently. They related to each other differently after it. It was very telling. New and unbreakable bonds were formed by a shared nightmare, others were broken.
Boy Shattered follows Brian and Landon, two students at Wall High School. Before that day they were not friends, they weren’t enemies, but they weren’t in each other’s orbits either. That changed after that day which forever changed them both. Brian especially broke my heart, this boy was so clearly, and understandably, shattered by everything that happened. But he had no one truly being there for him, to help him sort it all through. The hits just kept on coming one after the other. Until he turned to the boy who saved his life in that cafeteria. In Landon he found a safe place, someone who understood, someone who helped him stand again.
While Brian struggled to live, to not be afraid, Landon found a cause; to do everything in his power to stop something like that to happen again. Turning to activism and politics. Speaking up on gun control to anyone willing to listen. It was something that scared Brian to death. There were layers upon layers to this book; trauma, healing, falling in love, facing the horrors of this world and trying to make sense of it all. Then there was the mystery element; who were the two shooters? And the fear of the unknown. Easton weaved them all into this incredible tale of love and loss and so much more. Watching Brian and Landon fall in love was beautiful, from all that senseless loss came something good. Theirs wasn’t an easy journey, but I don’t think anyone expects it to be either.
This, I believe, was my first encounter with Tristan Josiah and it was a good one. He captured the characters, sense of place and you as a listener. He made you feel, and I love him for that. And hate him a little bit too, because it was so painful at times. He made me want to hide, made my hearts pound and he definitely made me cry. He made this experience something you won’t soon forget – well along with Easton that is.
I’ve waited until now to read (listen to) this book, hoping that it would make its way into audio and all I can say that this is a book worth waiting for.
Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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