Fragile Line by Brooklyn Skye
It can happen in a flash. One minute she’s kissing her boyfriend, the next she’s lost in the woods. Sixteen-year-old Ellie Cox is losing time. It started out small…forgetting a drive home or a conversation with a friend. But her blackouts are getting worse, more difficult to disguise as forgetfulness. When Ellie goes missing for three days, waking up in the apartment of a mysterious guy—a guy who is definitely not her boyfriend, her life starts to spiral out of control.Publishes in US: April 21st 2014 by Entangled Teen
Perched on the edge of insanity, with horrific memories of her childhood leaking in, Ellie struggles to put together the pieces of what she’s lost—starting with the name haunting her, Gwen. Heartbreakingly beautiful, this poignant story follows one girl’s harrowing journey to finding out who she really is.
Genre: YA Contemp
Source: Entangled Teen via Netgalley
Series? No.
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I wanted to read Fragile Line because I was intrigued by Ellie and if her blackouts were something mental or if there was something else going on. I usually enjoy books about mental illnesses as well as memory loss.
I felt for Ellie, and even though I knew that she was somewhat of an unreliable narrator, she seemed so normal during the day. We find out that she is adopted and has no memories of her childhood but things start coming back to her after her blackouts, where she loses chunks of time and walks off in the woods, argues with her parents and ends up with a tattoo. Her life is starting to fall apart though, because she's gotten up to leave or disappeared on him time after time, and its hard to believe that a person does these things and then can't remember, it seems like an awfully convenient excuse.
I wondered if she had split personality or some form of bipolar, because she does things while blacked out that she wouldn't do while awake. Talking to guys she doesn't recognize, go to eat, and her wild side goes to get the tattoo. It was a surprise when I found out the cause, but I think that it makes total sense.
While I can understand to an extent why Ellie kept the blackouts and time missing a secret for so long, but I was getting a little pushy for a bit before she finally opened up about it and truly began to want answers and seek and accept help. I can't even imagine what I would think about myself if I had time missing and things happen to me that I couldn't remember and especially as a teen I very well could have kept it to myself for as long as she did because I would almost fear the answers more than the solution.
It was neat how the author changed things up at about 75% and we got a different view point as well as some more answers about her past that Ellie can't remember. We get the other side of the story and the emotions that are attached there and even though I knew what was best, it was still hard to see the pain and uncertainty of the future.
It was a pretty quick read and well paced. The world building was completely contemporary but at first I kept thinking that there might be a supernatural element even though thats not in the description or tagged on goodreads. The ending was okay for me, but I think that it could have been a bit better, or things could have been a little more resolved with Ellie and accepting her diagnosis and what exactly that looks like day to day. We get the glimpse of hope that its starting, but really not a clue what daily life will be like and how she will handle.
My question to you, my lovely readers:
Have you ever blacked out or forgotten you'd done something?
