The Fracturing

Culling Series, Book 2

By: Tricia Wentworth

Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya

Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the final moments of The Culling, Reagan Scott was betrayed. This betrayal changes everything. Not just for the Culling but for the country.

As the competition for Presidential Couple continues and the final four are solidified, the campaigning begins, sending Reagan on a tour of the townships to vie for the votes and hearts of the nation. Though she's finally with the one who has always had her heart, everything else seems to be spinning out of control. With enemies both within the Culling and outside of it, it's not a matter of if something will happen...but when.

When the world comes crashing down around her, will Reagan break under pressure? How far can she make it in the Culling? And more importantly, how far is she willing to go to protect the ones she loves?

©2018 Tricia Wentworth (P)2019 Tantor

Repetitive at times

The story was good but a little less repetition on the mushy stuff. We get it she loves him, he has muscles, there’s sexual tension. You can only say the same thing so many times before it becomes eye rolling.

Every bit as good as the first - LOVE this series

This book was every bit as good as the first. I had a hard time stopping this book each night. It just kept me going. The narrator is great. The story is so much fun and yet suspensful as well. I just love all he peronalities of the charaters. You can't go wrong with this series. So clever!!! Can't wait for the next book.

Do I Really Need to Read The Third One?

I think the story could have been told more effectively in just these two books. I have a feeling I already know how the third book is going to go: More heroics by Regan and Lincoln. More dresses with V's. More squeezing of knees. More of Regan outsmarting experienced military men. More grammatical errors.
Still... it's a really great story! It just needs a good editor! (And a narrator who can pull of men's voices)

Could have been half the length

I really enjoyed The Culling, but this second book just didn’t live up to the first. The Young Adult aspect of this one was really painful- with awkward uses of teenage slang and a super juvenile handling of the topic of sex (I have more open conversations with my 11 years olds about sex than this married 18 + 21 year old couple did. Calling it “snoodling” - awful). Very little seemed to happen in this book - felt like filler so there could be a 3 book series.

Tried so hard to like this

I gave the second book in the series a chance if for no other reason than the morality of the characters was better than most YA fiction but the main character is so whiny and little actually happens in the book because so much time is spent describing how she feels about everything. There are few if any surprises and the “aha” moments the main character experiences are more like a “duh” for the reader. It’s unbelievable that an 18 year old girl would come up with such extremely obvious insights that the more experienced military men would not. I know I am not her target audience but my daughter would also not enjoy the repetition of such words/phrases as “predatory” over and over again to describe how the main love interest looks at her. It’s just too poorly written to continue. Even though the book ends on a cliffhanger, I am not interested enough in the characters to want to see how it ends. Disappointed

Immature Main Character and Unexciting plot

I loved the first book but am extremely disappointed in the second book. It started off well with the Henry drama, but halfway through, the dialog started to become boring and the main character and her SO started making some immature and hypocritical decisions. I know the main character is only 18... but her thought process becomes really boring after a while. It does not help that there's absolutely no action throughout the book UNTIL the last 30 minutes of the book. Everything goes way too well for the main character and her friends. I don't want to spoil anything, but when you compare the plot to other dystopian kind of books, you get something far less complex and instead, something very linear and predictable. I also didn't pay too much attention to the dialog in the first book because there was enough action, but it becomes extremely boring when the main character always talks about "smooching" and "snoodling" her SO. And this happens almost every chapter throughout the book. At least with other romantic books, the author will describe the smooching and snoodling, but in this book, the author uses simple adjectives and just mentions the kissing. This is extremely boring when there's no conflict throughout the book as well... and the relationship conflict that does occur is pretty immature, sexist, and hypocritical. I wont spoil it, but the SO makes a questionable decision that when it happens to him, he has the audacity to feel betrayed. I know they're young but come on....

On that note, I think the little action in the last 30 minutes and the (surprising) cliffhanger was supposed to make me want to read the third book. I'm curious as to what happens in the end, but I don't really feel up to reading the third book after going through the second book. I get the feeling it'll be action in the first few hours, boring middle, exciting end (just like how it was for the second book).

Also, proceed with caution if you are athiest. I am not athiest (moreso spiritual), but I was annoyed with how pre-marital sex was discussed. The main character made it seem like her way was THE way to go and throughout the book made some comments about how she can't imagine having sex with someone she hardly knows. She can wait until marriage and want it to be something special (something i totally thought when i was 16...), but that doesn't mean its the right way for other people. I think the author just wanted to show what her views were and how in love she is with the SO, but it just rubbed me the wrong way so proceed with caution.

Main Character becomes a self righteous brat.

The main character becomes a brat. Also, the author continues her lack of creative phrasing. Not worth it. I quit the book partway through.

Good listen, only 2 small complaints

I have really enjoyed this series so far. It is an easy listen, even as an adult and not a younger reader. My only complaint is that the main character tends to repeat herself often which in turn makes the book slightly longer than necessary in my opinion. Also, she can be slightly immature sounding considering she is working towards being in charge of a country. The target (younger) listener probably wouldn't mind either of these at all.

More of the same, nothing really happens...

The book started good, with exciting things happening, new characters, and an interesting story, but after a while it’s just more of the same. I still have 3 hrs to go, and for the past 3 nothing really has happened. The love story just became a common love story where the couple worries about each other all the time, but there’s no excitement or adventure.
I’m gonna leave it unfinished, and see if I find another more interesting distopian novel

Better then book 1

I am much happier with this book then I was for book one. The characters develop more personal growth, the main character and secondary characters. While in the first book, the actions of the characters did not match their personalities, this one was more believable. The development of the relationship was well thought out. And the writer dropped the use (mostly) of “heck” and other unrealistic substitutes for curse words.