Review & Giveaway: Shackled by Angela Carling

Shackled

By: Angela Carling

Pub. Date: June 1, 2012

Publisher: Acacia

Pages: 200

Source: Publisher

After shy, quiet Lucy and her family move from their small hometown in Minnesota to Seattle, Washington, she is surprised when Ryan, the most popular boy at school, asks her out. Soon, she is swept up in a whirlwind romance and her naive and trusting nature allows her to fall head over heels in love with her too-good-to-be-true suitor. Suddenly, Lucy finds herself enraptured by the excitement of her new relationship, leaving her blinded to the warning signs of danger ahead. Can her fairy tale romance last, or will she find that her prince charming is more like a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Reading books about abuse is always a scary thing. You want to scream at the victim to get away, but instead you have to watch her go through this horrible thing, and there is nothing you can do to help. That is exactly how I felt during Shackled. This story shows you the horrible reality of abuse, especially the mind controlling kind, that you don't see very often in YA.

When Lucy moves with her family to Washington, the last thing she expected to find was love. But on the first day of school, Ryan-cute, sweet, popular, Ryan takes notice of her. He invites her to parties, and she becomes friends with his friends. The relationship is perfect. Lucy doesn't know how she became to lucky. After some time though, she starts to see another side of Ryan, a controlling and jealous side. But, just like other abuse victims, she thinks it is her fault for hurting him. Lucy's eyes finally open when he puts a tracking device on her, and won't take it off!

This is when the story becomes utterly frightening. I felt Lucy's pain, embarrassment and shame in regards to the tracking bracelet. Ryan's POV chapters are also chilling. We see the abuse his father has inflicted on him and his mother, and though it is no excuse, you can see why Ryan is the way he is.  

I only have two complaints about Shackled. The first one is that throughout the story, there were bold words and sentences. I get that it was supposed to emphasize something, but I thought it was kind of a cheap ploy. The writing itself was great, we didn't need bold sentences to show emphasis, and for me, it ended up taking away from the story.  My other complaint was the ending. I would have liked more closure for some of the characters. I don't want to say who, since it is kind of a spoiler, but closure definitely would have been nice!

Overall, I really enjoyed Shackled. I read it within a few hours, and it stayed with me long after. Angela Carling has a way with words and is talented enough to tell a fantastic stories in only 200 pages!

The publisher sent me an extra copy to giveaway! Please fill out the form below to win a paperback copy of Shackled!

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