Blog Tour: Shattered Soul by Jennifer Snyder

Shattered Soul 

Jennifer Snyder
May 14 2011
Self Pub by Author

Gr’s Summary

Hellish Nightmare...

If seventeen-year-old Seth Bradson were to describe his life in two words, those would be the two he’d choose. Seth prefers to cope with his crappy existence by spending his days in a drug-induced haze. But when Ali Carson steps into his life, Seth finds something he’s subconsciously been seeking—a new drug, one that consumes his mind unlike any other.

Love.

In a moment of unforgivable weakness, Seth allows Ali to try crystal meth, his most addictive temptation.  This single event begins the unraveling of both their lives and forces Seth to learn the definition of regret the hard way.

The Way Ria Sees It 

Wow.

Just.

Wow.

I have to say this book isn’t peaches and cream at all.  If you're looking for a light fun read, then this isn’t the book for you!  This is a story about real life, a life that isn’t shinny or pretty, or a farce.  It’s a story of darkness, and struggle, and escape.  To be quite honest, I myself, live in a bubble, a happy bubble where I like to read about love, and angels, and fluffy things that make my heart flutter. Shattered soul will definitely impact your life.   It will reach a dark place, and show you how painful life can be. Even when things seem perfect on the outside, this story will show you that pain doesn’t discriminate on social class, even with the perfect family, one can feel alone and in despair.

S-hame, what Seth feels to the core, but he's lost, and can't seem to correct his path.
H-ate, for his life, for his fathers abandonment, but mostly for his own cowardice.
A-li, Seth’s glimmer of hope, a love he thought he would never have.
T-ears I shed them for both Seth, and Ali, and for everything that should have been theirs but wasn’t.
T-orture for the things that Seth wanted to change but could not.
E-nvy, of a life that was taken from him, a childhood full of happiness and love.
R-egret, if only Seth could change one small decision, everything could have been different.
E-mpathy vs Apathy, we need to learn to help and understand one and other, and stop turning a blind eye.
D-espair what I feel for these characters.


S-adness that things could not have had a different outcome.
O-utrage for the betrayal and pain that people caused.
U-gliness and cruelty towards blood, and family beyond the point of return.
L-ove, that wasn’t enough, but was everything and all that mattered in the end.

This is a book that will make you want to hug your loved ones, and appreciate the laughs, and the smiles that we experience on a daily basis.  I could not put this book down.   I read every agonizing word from beginning to end, and sadly accepting things the way they were.  No one had any control of the things happening around them, and it broke my heart.  I highly recommend this book, because everyone should see what life can be like, and be grateful for the love that surrounds them. Our loved ones are precious, even if not plentiful ,they make us laugh and smile.   We should be grateful for that. Shattered Soul shows us exactly why.

My Rating

4.0 Heart wrenching, Soul shattering, Life changing, Earth shaking Stars. This is a read that will stay with you long after you have turned the last page.

Ro's Take on this Journey

Seth Bradson is a teenager, who walks around with a disheveled appearance, shaggy brown hair, and as he puts it, "muddy brown eyes."   Seth goes every day to school in wrinkled clothing, baggy shorts with holes in them, and doesn't care what he looks like.   He is being brought up, (if you can call it that), in a house with a drunken mother, and his half-baked, drug dealing, sadistic, controlling, scumbag brother, Calvin.  He fears his brother's wrath, is disgusted by his lack of ethics, but does what he's told, and watches his mouth.  His brother gets him to sell drugs for him at school.  He does it without a fight.  Seth knows no other life.  He only knows that his life stinks, and that it's in his genes, because his brother told him his father was a drug dealer, that ingested his own drugs, like Calvin.  His father left when Seth was three, and from that point on his mother worked till he was 11.  Then, his mother slowly began drinking herself to death.  Seth goes to bed every night with a bowl of marijuana, and wakes up every morning with a drug hangover.  At other times of day, and, or night, he ingests pills, and inhales Crystal Meth, at his brother's intimidation.   Seth's motto is, "Life's a bitch, and then you die."  This is his life, until he meets, Ali Carson, "his angel," that makes him want more out of his life.  Ali has long tanned legs, huge blue eyes, and a gorgeous smile. She is beautiful, innocent, and trusting.  She comes from a well to do family, the complete opposite of  Seth's.

The beginning of every day starts the same for Seth.   He showers, walks down the hall, and searches through the left over cigarette butts, (of his brother and his friends, from the night before), for a decent butt to smoke.  As Seth makes his way down the hall, I do too.  The smell of cigarettes, and smoke, fills my lungs, he proceeds to the ashtray filled with ashes and soot, and I can smell the pungent odor of the stale cigarettes through my nostrils, and feel the grit that he feels on his fingers.  My stomach begins to turn, as I read Ms. Snyder's descriptions.  She has a way of making me feel everything, as I am reading it. The pain Seth feels for never having a mother that really cares for him, or stands up for him, is heart- wrenching. This book is a complete 360 from the prior novella I reviewed of Ms. Snyder's,The Hereafter.  Yet, she pulls it off, and does a great job!

This novel  is not pretty.  It made me reel, with a roller coaster of emotions.  I feel that this book should be displayed in every school, and be a part of the required reading.  This is a book that will teach kids the dangers of drugs, the facts about how fast addiction can happen, and the fact that whether you're a good person, or a bad person, rich or poor, the end result could cost you your life.  Seth and Ali both grew as individuals, yet, not in the same direction.  After completing this novel, it left a hole in my heart, and an overwhelming sadness.  Get your kleenex ready, because readers, you will be crying all day long!!!

Ms. Snyder spins a web of love, euphoria, adulation, danger, hostility, and rage.  She has got a special gift for making the reader feel everything she has written.  By the end of this book, you will feel empty, and depleted.  It drained me emotionally, and will have me thinking about it for a very long time to come. 

I give this novel 4 smoke filled, drug induced, Heart Breaking, panic stricken Stars!

Purchase At 

Amazon | B&N | Smashwords | Paperback

About The Author 

Jennifer Snyder lives in North Carolina were she spends

most of her time writing young adult fiction, reading, and struggling to stay on top of housework. She is an instant coffee lover with an obsession for spiral bound notebooks and smooth writing pens. Jennifer lives with her husband and two children, who endure listening to songs that spur inspiration on repeat and tolerate her love for all paranormal, teenage-targeted TV shows.

Website | Twitter | GR | FaceBook | Amazon Author 

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