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Aberration
Aberration is the debut novel from author Danielle Simmons. It was a semi-finalist in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.
- GenresSuspense
282 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 5, 2021
thank you, danielle simmons, for stepping up and offering me a copy of this book after my devastating, but expected, firstreads loss. i still can't catch a break from those cruel firstreads gods.
when i was twelve or so, i read The Other Side of Dark. so many times. and i loved it. in it, a girl is shot during the murder of her mother, goes into a coma, and awakens four years later to find herself with amnesia in a body she doesn't recognize, her mother dead, and the killer still unknown. as a kid, i loved the idea of waking up into an unfamiliar world and the horror of having become a different person, physically, while you were asleep and having to recapture the events of the lost years and solve a mystery along the way.what fun! and as unrealistic as it is to go to sleep an awkward teen and wake up as a hot woman, with very few physical and psychological repercussions from your coma, that was the YA of my youth. they lacked emotional sophistication and psychological insight and were just plot-driven books with no logic necessary, because of course in this one, despite being a thirteen-year-old girl for all intents and purposes, she manages to solve the crime and find a boy along the way. score!
that's what i thought this book was going to be. a girl awakens from a coma to find that the accident she was in claimed the lives of three of her closest friends, and she can remember nothing. i expected this would be a mystery novel where there would be some major twists and red herrings and our spunky heroine would solve the big mystery of the accident and probably find a man along the way.
but.
gather round, romance readers, because this is your kind of book.
judging by the cover and the synopsis, i never would have expected this to be a romance novel. and i was a good way in before the penny dropped, and i had to alter my expectations and go with the flow. this book is a way more character-driven take on the aftermath of the coma-victim than the nixon i loved as a kid. it is also not YA, although a contemporary YA book would probably handle the material more like this one.
this book has all the traditional elements of a romance novel: a woman wrestling with her feelings, a man who is familiar, yet distant, the "other man," and a beautiful dress, but it is also the story of a woman trying to find herself in what she has lost.
this coma is "only" a two-month coma, so she doesn't have to make up too much time, but she remembers nothing of the accident, nor of the week immediately preceding the accident. turns out it was a pretty important week to not remember.
laney's journey is less about being a girl-detective and figuring out the facts from clues, and more of a detective of herself, as she sifts through her memories and tries to reconnect with evan, her last surviving friend, so they can grieve together instead of on their own. this is an emotional book that deals with past and family and the way our perceptions of events change over time, as they become memories, how our friendships shape us but can also hold us back. and also, romance.
also - something i cannot talk about because it is a pretty significant twist.so - shhhhh is me.
if you were one of the firstreads winners, you should read it and review it because somehow mine is going to be the first review of it?? that seems like maybe the people who are winning the books are not holding up their end of the bargain. but i would. i would, firstreads gods who snub me every month...i would.
come to my blog!
when i was twelve or so, i read The Other Side of Dark. so many times. and i loved it. in it, a girl is shot during the murder of her mother, goes into a coma, and awakens four years later to find herself with amnesia in a body she doesn't recognize, her mother dead, and the killer still unknown. as a kid, i loved the idea of waking up into an unfamiliar world and the horror of having become a different person, physically, while you were asleep and having to recapture the events of the lost years and solve a mystery along the way.what fun! and as unrealistic as it is to go to sleep an awkward teen and wake up as a hot woman, with very few physical and psychological repercussions from your coma, that was the YA of my youth. they lacked emotional sophistication and psychological insight and were just plot-driven books with no logic necessary, because of course in this one, despite being a thirteen-year-old girl for all intents and purposes, she manages to solve the crime and find a boy along the way. score!
that's what i thought this book was going to be. a girl awakens from a coma to find that the accident she was in claimed the lives of three of her closest friends, and she can remember nothing. i expected this would be a mystery novel where there would be some major twists and red herrings and our spunky heroine would solve the big mystery of the accident and probably find a man along the way.
but.
gather round, romance readers, because this is your kind of book.
judging by the cover and the synopsis, i never would have expected this to be a romance novel. and i was a good way in before the penny dropped, and i had to alter my expectations and go with the flow. this book is a way more character-driven take on the aftermath of the coma-victim than the nixon i loved as a kid. it is also not YA, although a contemporary YA book would probably handle the material more like this one.
this book has all the traditional elements of a romance novel: a woman wrestling with her feelings, a man who is familiar, yet distant, the "other man," and a beautiful dress, but it is also the story of a woman trying to find herself in what she has lost.
this coma is "only" a two-month coma, so she doesn't have to make up too much time, but she remembers nothing of the accident, nor of the week immediately preceding the accident. turns out it was a pretty important week to not remember.
laney's journey is less about being a girl-detective and figuring out the facts from clues, and more of a detective of herself, as she sifts through her memories and tries to reconnect with evan, her last surviving friend, so they can grieve together instead of on their own. this is an emotional book that deals with past and family and the way our perceptions of events change over time, as they become memories, how our friendships shape us but can also hold us back. and also, romance.
also - something i cannot talk about because it is a pretty significant twist.so - shhhhh is me.
if you were one of the firstreads winners, you should read it and review it because somehow mine is going to be the first review of it?? that seems like maybe the people who are winning the books are not holding up their end of the bargain. but i would. i would, firstreads gods who snub me every month...i would.
come to my blog!
Read
April 12, 2013I really enjoyed this story! It's very character driven, which I liked (I typically prefer them to plot driven novels), and I loved Laney and Evan. OMG, Evan... LOVE him! This novel definitely falls more under romance than suspense. Being a huge fan of romance, this totally worked for me. There was a suspenseful element to it, but not nearly as much as I was expecting.
I'm hesitant to give this a star rating because though I really liked the story and the characters, it does need some editing/revising. I've heard there may be a revision in the works, and I'd definitely want to re-read it if it came to be, along with the sequel!
This is a story about friendship, and overcoming tragedy. If you're a fan of childhood friends standing the test of time, and friendship turning into love, then you'll love Aberration!
I'm hesitant to give this a star rating because though I really liked the story and the characters, it does need some editing/revising. I've heard there may be a revision in the works, and I'd definitely want to re-read it if it came to be, along with the sequel!
This is a story about friendship, and overcoming tragedy. If you're a fan of childhood friends standing the test of time, and friendship turning into love, then you'll love Aberration!
September 3, 2012
Initial disclosure: I was gifted a copy of this e-book by the author in exchange for an *honest* review, which is what this is.
Rating: 3 stars*
I noticed this author's note on Goodreads that she'd gift a copy of her novel to anyone who requested it and who agreed to write an honest review (okay so, yes, it was supposed to be written by a certain date and I am way beyond that date but Ms. Simmons has been so kind and generous and not bothered me about it at all ;)). So I immediately jumped on the offer because, well, I love to read and I'm all for a free book! The book ended up not really being what I had expected, but it was okay with me, because I really did enjoy the read. I had expected something much more suspenseful and heavy on the paranormal, but the book is actually better classified as a romance/love story (love in various forms - parent-child, friends, relationships, etc.). I considered giving the book 2.5 stars but then rose it to 3 because it's not a defect of the book that it's a romance, just my own reading habits at this time in my life that I don't read much romance anymore. But I do think it rates a solid 3 stars, because the book as it stands is very well-written, does have suspenseful scenes, and has an ending that just felt like someone was reaching in and squeezing my heart within my chest.
Laney wakes up after being in a coma for two months, the sole survivor of a bad car accident that took the life of 3 of her 4 best friends (the 4th, Evan, not having been in the car at the time). (That's not a spoiler, it's in the synopsis of the book) So already your heart is breaking for Laney at the thought of what she must be going through, and no one will give her details of the accident so you're wondering, was she the one driving? was there drinking involved? what was going on in the car at the time of the accident? etc, etc. There is that not-knowing that is suspenseful and we only learn those details at the same time Laney does, which I felt was a good way for the author to handle it, rather than to have some omniscient third person narrator tell us things Laney didn't know. The first person narration made it more suspenseful for me than I think it would have been otherwise, and that persistent feeling of suspense was something that was very much appreciated by me. Anyway, Evan is the 4th friend of the circle of 5 best friends from this small town, the one who was not in the car at all at the time of the accident. He sort of moves in, then out, then back in to Laney's life as she goes through the grieving process and tries to heal. He plays a pivotal role in whether or not she will heal, as does her mother, along with a few other characters in the town who continue to interact with Laney. We go with Laney through her grieving process and we're also there when she falls in love. Trust me, you'll also want to make sure you hang around to the end, when Laney (and the reader!) finds out what exactly has been going on since the accident.
On the whole, Aberration is a very sweet love story that also offers some suspense and heartbreak, which the reader goes through with Laney. I definitely felt attached to Evan and Laney, which is another reason I bumped this up to 4 stars. I think Ms. Simmons did a really good job of character development and, for the most part, she wrote really good dialogue. I will say that there were times that the book dragged for me and where I felt certain things were repeated too many times (ie, certain plot devices, or interactions between characters that felt like the same instance over and over again), but at the same time I could not exactly point to a chunk and say, "there! remove that!" And, in the author's defense, the end more than made up for it. Let's just say that by the end of the book I was bawling and had goosebumps and a feeling of coldness and dread within the span of 15 or 20 minutes. Any author/story that can do that for me gets a big plus in my book!
I would absolutely recommend this book to those who enjoy romance and romantic suspense. If you enjoy a good love story, this one should make you happy. It's sweet but passionate (though not in a graphic way) and always believable. And I have a feeling you'll also be thrown for a loop more than once as you reach the conclusion! I will be picking up any sequel that Ms. Simmons should write. I have no idea if she's got one planned, but... let's just say, she better!!
*A note about the rating: on Amazon I gave a 4-star review because they define their stars differently than here on Goodreads, where 3 stars means, "I liked it!"
Rating: 3 stars*
I noticed this author's note on Goodreads that she'd gift a copy of her novel to anyone who requested it and who agreed to write an honest review (okay so, yes, it was supposed to be written by a certain date and I am way beyond that date but Ms. Simmons has been so kind and generous and not bothered me about it at all ;)). So I immediately jumped on the offer because, well, I love to read and I'm all for a free book! The book ended up not really being what I had expected, but it was okay with me, because I really did enjoy the read. I had expected something much more suspenseful and heavy on the paranormal, but the book is actually better classified as a romance/love story (love in various forms - parent-child, friends, relationships, etc.). I considered giving the book 2.5 stars but then rose it to 3 because it's not a defect of the book that it's a romance, just my own reading habits at this time in my life that I don't read much romance anymore. But I do think it rates a solid 3 stars, because the book as it stands is very well-written, does have suspenseful scenes, and has an ending that just felt like someone was reaching in and squeezing my heart within my chest.
Laney wakes up after being in a coma for two months, the sole survivor of a bad car accident that took the life of 3 of her 4 best friends (the 4th, Evan, not having been in the car at the time). (That's not a spoiler, it's in the synopsis of the book) So already your heart is breaking for Laney at the thought of what she must be going through, and no one will give her details of the accident so you're wondering, was she the one driving? was there drinking involved? what was going on in the car at the time of the accident? etc, etc. There is that not-knowing that is suspenseful and we only learn those details at the same time Laney does, which I felt was a good way for the author to handle it, rather than to have some omniscient third person narrator tell us things Laney didn't know. The first person narration made it more suspenseful for me than I think it would have been otherwise, and that persistent feeling of suspense was something that was very much appreciated by me. Anyway, Evan is the 4th friend of the circle of 5 best friends from this small town, the one who was not in the car at all at the time of the accident. He sort of moves in, then out, then back in to Laney's life as she goes through the grieving process and tries to heal. He plays a pivotal role in whether or not she will heal, as does her mother, along with a few other characters in the town who continue to interact with Laney. We go with Laney through her grieving process and we're also there when she falls in love. Trust me, you'll also want to make sure you hang around to the end, when Laney (and the reader!) finds out what exactly has been going on since the accident.
On the whole, Aberration is a very sweet love story that also offers some suspense and heartbreak, which the reader goes through with Laney. I definitely felt attached to Evan and Laney, which is another reason I bumped this up to 4 stars. I think Ms. Simmons did a really good job of character development and, for the most part, she wrote really good dialogue. I will say that there were times that the book dragged for me and where I felt certain things were repeated too many times (ie, certain plot devices, or interactions between characters that felt like the same instance over and over again), but at the same time I could not exactly point to a chunk and say, "there! remove that!" And, in the author's defense, the end more than made up for it. Let's just say that by the end of the book I was bawling and had goosebumps and a feeling of coldness and dread within the span of 15 or 20 minutes. Any author/story that can do that for me gets a big plus in my book!
I would absolutely recommend this book to those who enjoy romance and romantic suspense. If you enjoy a good love story, this one should make you happy. It's sweet but passionate (though not in a graphic way) and always believable. And I have a feeling you'll also be thrown for a loop more than once as you reach the conclusion! I will be picking up any sequel that Ms. Simmons should write. I have no idea if she's got one planned, but... let's just say, she better!!
*A note about the rating: on Amazon I gave a 4-star review because they define their stars differently than here on Goodreads, where 3 stars means, "I liked it!"
April 15, 2014
The summer between my senior year of high school and my first year of college was a bit magical. The stress of working hard to prepare for college was over and university classes hadn’t started yet. It was a breather. And I had a group of five friends who I did everything with. We’d see movies, meet at restaurants, and go on road trips. I remember sitting on the bow of a boat with them one evening, watching the sun go down and thinking that it was the best time of my life. There will always be a special place in my heart for that time of my life and that group of friends.
You probably have a group of friends like that to. And while you read Aberration, you’ll be reminded of those times. But that isn’t all there is to this one.
With the title and the cover, I thought that Aberration was going to be a young adult paranormal romance. It took me quite a while to realize I was reading a straight-up romance. (I’ll admit, I came up with a few ways that the story could have turned to give our heroine super-powers.)
Though not my usual genre, this is a pretty solid romance. The motivations of the characters were exasperating at times (and perhaps a little long in the front half of the story), but that was all neatly set up to control the plot and pacing. The scenes are vivid; this one would make a good movie. And the twist at the end was unexpected and taught me something new.
You probably have a group of friends like that to. And while you read Aberration, you’ll be reminded of those times. But that isn’t all there is to this one.
With the title and the cover, I thought that Aberration was going to be a young adult paranormal romance. It took me quite a while to realize I was reading a straight-up romance. (I’ll admit, I came up with a few ways that the story could have turned to give our heroine super-powers.)
Though not my usual genre, this is a pretty solid romance. The motivations of the characters were exasperating at times (and perhaps a little long in the front half of the story), but that was all neatly set up to control the plot and pacing. The scenes are vivid; this one would make a good movie. And the twist at the end was unexpected and taught me something new.
March 27, 2013
Aberration - It has been awhile since I've finished this book, but what I can remember is what a great read. Similar to Sophie Kinsella's 'Remember Me,' 'Aberration' looks at what happens when a person loses their memory. While 'remember me' took a comedic look at temporary amnesia 'Aberration' dives deep into the darker implications of what not remembering significant life events truly means. What I liked about the book was the unexpected twists and turns. Simmons does a great job at leading her readers down a path without giving away too much and then just like that she takes a turn...
I am looking forward to the second installment of this book series! The ending of Aberration definitely left me wanting to read more.
I am looking forward to the second installment of this book series! The ending of Aberration definitely left me wanting to read more.
August 8, 2018
This is a lovely story, heartbreaking at times. I was drawn into the mystery and intrigue following a major event which ignites the main story line. I found it refreshing to meet characters in the afterlife, to get to know them through character Laney's flashbacks, with some fantastic dialogue scattered throughout. Danielle Simmons has developed beautiful characters here. She portrays the essence of young adult angst and yearning, the uncertainty of developing relationships. The wait for character Evan to reappear is quite magnetic and the intensity he shares with Laney is compelling. I enjoyed the revelation of many secrets and surprises as the story progressed. Aberration will take you on a haunting journey that will leave you wondering what might have been.
September 22, 2013
(2 REVIEWS)
MARK WOOD'S REVIEW
4 STARS
Aberration is a strange book but one that is enjoyable nonetheless. In kit, a girl wakes from a coma to discover she has been out for 4 months following a car accident that killed three of her best friends in the world. Her and her friends had just returned to their small town during a break from college.
As Laney attempts to put her life back together and regain forgotten memories, she finds herself struggling to slot back into where she was before the crash and to piece together what happened...
If you have read Jools Sinclair's 44, then this book is similar without the paranormal aspects. It is a coming of age drama, an emotional journey and a story of discovery. The characters are well-imagined, the plot engaging and all in all I really enjoyed this. Right up until the end.
Because there is a plot twist that I won't spoil that kind of ruined this all for me. I didn't enjoy it, thought it unnecessary and left me a little disappointed with the book. Which is a shame because it was good until then!
I would still recommend this because my judgement was a personal one not a professional one. There are plenty of people out there who will "get" this and enjoy it for what it is. I, on the other hand, spent the whole book waiting for a hook and a twist and, when it came, felt a little cheated and disappointed. Sorry but, though this was good, the ending really just didn't work for me!"
SANDRA'S REVIEW
2 STARS
The story sounds simple and familiar (see synopsis), but it isn't really. Which could and should be a good thing, and yet I have some mixed feelings about this book. First of all, it was a struggle to keep reading after the first few chapters. Not just for some errors, but mainly because of the tortoise-like pace, which was understandable from main character Alaina's point of view, but which also created a lot of repetition. At some point, I kept waiting for something to happen already - a revelation, a twist, an insight, a sudden jogging of the memory. But nothing.
Not until around page 90 did the story kick into gear, when Alaina is back home and tries to fit into her old life, or break away from it. Suddenly she deals with the rather insistent attention of one guy while secretly pining the absence of another. Many conversations end before anything crucial can be spilled, which gives you the idea that there is indeed more, but the author isn't ready to divulge it just yet.
With a title such as Aberration Danielle Simmons really had me expecting an explosive plot twist. For a moment I figured maybe Alaina was the aberration because she'd survived - maybe she was immortal in an Unbreakable (movie) sort of way. Or maybe she repressed everything because she caused the accident?
But no, Alaina just has to go through recovering her memories - the good, the bad, the ugly - and we follow her. She lives her life, picks up pieces, tries to find her way at her own pace. And it does get more interesting once her one true friend is back in her life. Still, the answers to the important questions, even concerning him, are being kept from the reader until the very end. And that's also true for the main plot twist - the surprise ending that other reviews promised, that kept me reading.
Ah, that surprise ending. What can I say? I'd never heard that term used that way before, and it's definitely not the meaning I had attached to it. The thing is, never having heard of that phenomenon also makes it hard to believe.
I just didn't like it much as an ending. It gave me the feeling that maybe it was written before anything else, and then the rest of the tale was woven to get to it, and when the yarn is done you need to make that last little leap yourself.
MARK WOOD'S REVIEW
4 STARS
Aberration is a strange book but one that is enjoyable nonetheless. In kit, a girl wakes from a coma to discover she has been out for 4 months following a car accident that killed three of her best friends in the world. Her and her friends had just returned to their small town during a break from college.
As Laney attempts to put her life back together and regain forgotten memories, she finds herself struggling to slot back into where she was before the crash and to piece together what happened...
If you have read Jools Sinclair's 44, then this book is similar without the paranormal aspects. It is a coming of age drama, an emotional journey and a story of discovery. The characters are well-imagined, the plot engaging and all in all I really enjoyed this. Right up until the end.
Because there is a plot twist that I won't spoil that kind of ruined this all for me. I didn't enjoy it, thought it unnecessary and left me a little disappointed with the book. Which is a shame because it was good until then!
I would still recommend this because my judgement was a personal one not a professional one. There are plenty of people out there who will "get" this and enjoy it for what it is. I, on the other hand, spent the whole book waiting for a hook and a twist and, when it came, felt a little cheated and disappointed. Sorry but, though this was good, the ending really just didn't work for me!"
SANDRA'S REVIEW
2 STARS
The story sounds simple and familiar (see synopsis), but it isn't really. Which could and should be a good thing, and yet I have some mixed feelings about this book. First of all, it was a struggle to keep reading after the first few chapters. Not just for some errors, but mainly because of the tortoise-like pace, which was understandable from main character Alaina's point of view, but which also created a lot of repetition. At some point, I kept waiting for something to happen already - a revelation, a twist, an insight, a sudden jogging of the memory. But nothing.
Not until around page 90 did the story kick into gear, when Alaina is back home and tries to fit into her old life, or break away from it. Suddenly she deals with the rather insistent attention of one guy while secretly pining the absence of another. Many conversations end before anything crucial can be spilled, which gives you the idea that there is indeed more, but the author isn't ready to divulge it just yet.
With a title such as Aberration Danielle Simmons really had me expecting an explosive plot twist. For a moment I figured maybe Alaina was the aberration because she'd survived - maybe she was immortal in an Unbreakable (movie) sort of way. Or maybe she repressed everything because she caused the accident?
But no, Alaina just has to go through recovering her memories - the good, the bad, the ugly - and we follow her. She lives her life, picks up pieces, tries to find her way at her own pace. And it does get more interesting once her one true friend is back in her life. Still, the answers to the important questions, even concerning him, are being kept from the reader until the very end. And that's also true for the main plot twist - the surprise ending that other reviews promised, that kept me reading.
Ah, that surprise ending. What can I say? I'd never heard that term used that way before, and it's definitely not the meaning I had attached to it. The thing is, never having heard of that phenomenon also makes it hard to believe.
I just didn't like it much as an ending. It gave me the feeling that maybe it was written before anything else, and then the rest of the tale was woven to get to it, and when the yarn is done you need to make that last little leap yourself.
September 7, 2012
I really enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing all the way through to the end. It was also a fast read and the story was original. But I am a little star-struck since I know the author, and I am so proud of her work. I definitely recommend this one.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews