A Shattered Moment

In this heartfelt but lugubrious new adult romance, King creates an admirably authentic portrait of PTSD. Mackenzie Robinson was in a terrible car accident on the night of her high school graduation. Some of her friends were killed, and Mackenzie was left with a case of survivor’s guilt as disabling as her injuries. She manages her second year at University of Central Florida by withdrawing from human contact and focusing on her studies. When Bentley James sees her in the library, he recognizes her: he was the EMT who pulled her out of the car wreck and kept her alive. Bentley resolves to break through the walls that Mac has created and show her that she’s more than an unlovable recluse. King takes the time to depict the daily aftermath of trauma. Unfortunately, the result is slow pacing, which the flat writing and sporadic purple prose (“He ripped my heart out with razor-sharp teeth, shredding it until it was a bloody pulp”) do little to ameliorate. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (May)