Fractured

By: Jamie Steinberg

Mason Vance is the star quarterback at his high school and, just like every boy at that age, is full of hormones (think Bryce Walker from “13 Reasons Why” but less intense). All he cares about is scoring touchdowns and scoring with girls. That is until an injury forces him to reevaluate his existence. The book Fractured by Shay Siegel not only reminds us that labels do not define, but that there is no such thing as perfect.

It’s homecoming night and everyone is at the football game. Mason Vance is playing hard and doing his best to make every play count. Unfortunately, a tackle causes him to break his arm and sends him immediately to the emergency room. To add insult to injury, he has to miss out on the big dance after the game – which means no hookups! Fortunately, his date for the dance comes over the next day to “console” him. However, it’s a visit to the orthopedist that sends his whole life spiraling and truly fractures the life he once lived. It is at his very first appointment that he has a run in with emo beauty Lace. She is nothing like the girls he’s hit on before with her purple streaked blonde hair, half charm necklaces and combat boots. Still he is drawn to her and tracks her down, finding her at a therapist appointment in the same building. His first attempt at getting her attention fails, but after one appointment he is able to convince her to let his mom drive her home.

From here Mason and Lace’s friendship truly evolves into something substantial. Mason is there to give Lace a shoulder to lean on and a place to open up about emotions she keeps bottled up inside. Lace allows Mason to open up about his worries that broken arm will require surgery and may be the thing that ends his hopes for a future in football. The two find comfort in one another and even begin to date, much to the disappointment of Mason’s friends who embody the term “toxic masculinity.” Mason was the biggest player and the unofficial alpha of his pals. So, why is he hanging up his hookups to be with Lace? Things come to a head one evening at a party. Drinks are flowing and Mason’s friends won’t stop teasing him about being with Lace and their lack of a sex life. After having one too many beverages, Mason takes Lace to a local park where he pushes things too far with his lady love – ruining their relationship and helping him realize how badly he behaved by telling girls what they wanted to hear just so he could get some. Filled with hurt, anger and confusion over the pain he caused his first love and now guilt for how he treated the past women he hooked up with makes Mason spiral. Can he get Lace back? Will he ever be able to play football again and will it be at the level he once was?

Author Siegel does a great job of exploring Mason’s mindset and the gravity of what is going on in his mind. While I wish Mason had more of a male friend in his life to lean on, he does seem to find a bit of an ally in the one dude in the group, Dillon, who seems to be willing to show any kind of empathy. Additionally, Lace’s personal angst seems to be a bit of a quandary that I wish was explored more. She admits to having a darkness within her, but it is unclear as to whether something in her childhood precipitated it, her parents’ lack of attention/care perpetuated it or if an incident that happens in her teenage years just precipitates it.

With that said, Fractured is quite a page turner for being a young adult book. Readers will invest in Mason’s injury, his romantic life and his redemption. I can already picture who I’d like to cast in the movie version of this. For young adult readers who have a heaviness in your heart, if you’re faced with uncertainty about the future or if you have a “glass half empty” mindset, Fractured reminds you that while nothing is perfect, even if something breaks it can be put back together.