So much promise— unfortunately fell short.

This one enticed me in with its aesthetically pleasing cover and a blurb that promised such an interesting adventure (amnesia, mystery, suspense…) Sadly, this didn’t quite deliver what I was expecting.

The story itself had the potential to be amazing, but the execution left me feeling as if things were rushed and a little messy, and due to that my interest quickly waned.

This was a good read! An easy to read and digest bingeable book. The book is just as intriguing as the synopsis but I will say there were some parts that could’ve been cleaned up. Plot points that didn’t belong or should been shorter/longer. But that’s if I had to find flaws. Overall this was a fun read and I enjoyed learning about Mia and Ashton’s story. Not so classic friends to lovers and I’m here for it!

Quick Summary: A missing past romance

My Review: Fractured Mind by Bianca Lee Ward is a 2025 contemporary romance. It is being promoted as a friends to lovers romance novel.

About the Book: "I’d forgotten my past."

In My Own Words: A high school senior with amnesia returns to a family and friend group she never knew about. As she tries to make sense of what happened to her, she falls in love again with someone from her past.

My Final Say: This read much like an intro to a NA series. The characters were dark and broody, which proved to be interesting. The amnesia hook was attractive, but it ended up not going in the direction I anticipated. The problematic or haunting areas of some of the characters definitely got my attention, however, it seems more will have to be uncovered in future books. I can imagine how some of it will play out. All in all, it was a pretty okay read.

Rating: 3.25/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: T/NA
Status/Level: 🧡

Thank you to the author, to the publisher (Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op), and to NetGalley for granting access to a digital ARC of this title in exchange for an honest critique. I appreciate the opportunity to review this work.

3.25/5

I love an amnesia storyline. I think it’s the perfect set up for a second-chance romance and naturally lays the groundwork for conflict imo.

Unfortunately I don’t think it was used to it’s full potential here. Which hurts me to say because I really wanted to like it, but I feel like not only was the amnesia trope underutilized, but the characters were underdeveloped as well.

I don’t how to feel about Mia. I don’t know anything about her. I don’t know what she likes to eat, drink, what are her favorite hobbies, nothing. I didn’t even know how she felt about her accident until later on in the story. I’m reading from her POV, yet I don’t know what she’s thinking or how she truly feels, it’s like her thoughts are locked away from me until a character asks her themselves.

Ashton I feel had a bit of inner thoughts and motivation I could read to understand him. Although not as much and his choices were a bit.. random at times that I wished I could see how he felt, I did end up liking him and how sweet he treated Mia.

Personally, I prefer character > world-building. I didn’t care about the town, but I do wish I would’ve gotten more description of their school, places Mia & co hung-out etc.

I want to finish this off by saying: I am not a writer. I commend you and other writers for putting their ideas out there because I could and would never. I am writing this review as a reader who thinks this author has potential and I’m hoping takes this to make an even better project.

New Adult is not typically a genre I would seek out first from my TBR list. Fractured Mind was a beautiful story with intriguing characters. I hope this evolves into a series because there are so many great side stories to tell from this group of friends.

Mia is moved back to her hometown that she left after a horrible accident that caused her to lose her memory. Struggling to care for herself and her alcoholic mother for the last six years with out a memory of any friends or family. Her Grandmother comes to save her when she learns her mother is in jail because of a DUI and is being sent to rehab.

She is brought back to the place where it all happened without any memory of how it happened. Her friends immediately embrace her back into the fold. It is beautiful and painful all at the same time. The evolution of her relationship with her Nana, Mother and her once best friend Ashton is a lot to handle.

I do love that she didn't just magically get her memory back after 6 years but she does put the pieces together on some recurring dreams she wasn't able to understand.

I don’t normally like stories with amnesia in them but the secrets, the angst and the love between our characters kept me reading! It was a quick and entertaining read for sure, there could have been a little more detail but overall a great palette cleanser kind of story if your not into fluffy romance!

The premise of this story drew me in, the plot and everything had such good potential.

Mia was in an accident that erased her memories of her life beforehand and 6 years later after trying to support her alcoholic mother and thinking she has no family her nana comes back into the picture and brings her back to where she grew up. All of her friends come back into the picture along with her best friend Ashton, who we quickly see is/was more than that.

Overall I did enjoy the story but it felt like there could have been so much more details but also less details? We got a lot of information and scenes that felt like they were just filling space when I just wanted to know more about the MC’s.

We don’t get to learn much about Mia’s past and it feels like a wasted opportunity.

Overall

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️/5

This book was really enjoyable :) I did not expect anything than good read and it really was :) II have seen a tiktok stories about this book and decided to read it :) it was such a great story and easy to follow.

The story begins when 18 year old Mia gets a surprise of her lifetime when her grandparents appear at her doorstep and has her live with them back at their home in a coastal town where she used to grow up. Her grandparents tell her that her alcoholic mother has checked herself into rehab and they are there to help her. Due to a tragic accident that happened 6 years ago, Mia lost all memory of her past, her past when she lived with her grandparents and past friends she made. As she lives with her grandparents in their coastal home, memories come back and piece back together a puzzle of the past she lost.

The premise of "Fractured Mind" pulled my interest in and was drawn into the story, however I would say that the overall story fell flat. In the beginning the book I really liked the development of Mia's character, but as you read further into the book it felt rushed and forced. I felt like this book had the suspense in the beginning, but the pacing of the book overall felt too rushed and readers lost that suspense. There were certain parts of the book that I was thinking to myself, "I wish it was longer and the author gave us more".

I do like how the author gave each character a good storyline and it made me love them. I really enjoyed the friends-to-lovers romance when it came to Mia and Ashton. It was nice and refreshing to see how their friendship grew throughout the book where they used to be best friends, but because of her amnesia she has no recollection of that. It was fun to watch her memories come back and slowly piece together how they were friends and how they reconnect with each other.

Overall, I would say this book was good in terms of character development, but the plot overall was in a way fractured? There wasn't a clear plot, the story overall lacked the suspense and it felt rushed in the end.


Thank you again NetGally and Bianca Lee Ward for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

Overall, I thought the writing was good, but the story fell flat for me. There are so many amnesia stories out there, and this one didn't really resonate. There was not a huge amount of suspense, and I felt like the story needed a stronger pace and more three-dimensional characters.

as someone who went through a traumatic accident myself i can totally relate to this story! and im a total sucker for a second chance kind of thing. sometimes we don’t get it right the first time around.

When 18-year-old Mia’s alcoholic mother doesn’t return home after a night out, she’s shocked to find a grandmother she never knew existed on her doorstep. Her mother has entered rehab, and Mia is sent to live with her Grandma in a coastal town she once called home—but has no memory of. A traumatic accident six years ago left Mia with amnesia, but as she reconnects with old friends, she slowly begins to piece together the past she lost.

The premise of “Fractured Mind” had so much potential. I love an amnesia mystery and I was drawn in right away by the mystery of Mia’s memory loss. Unfortunately, I felt the story fell a bit flat. The reveals, while interesting, unfolded a bit quickly, and the book lacked the textbook climax and resolution.

While the story didn’t fully work for me, there were still aspects I enjoyed. The found family vibes of Mia’s high school friends, and Ruby was a standout character—the kind of best friend everyone deserves. The villain was one you love to hate, and the “touch her and die” trope brought just the right amount of protective tension.

If you’re looking for a contemporary high school romance with a hint of mystery, Fractured Mind might be worth checking out!

Special thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a high school romance - a sort of second chances story with a motor cycle club in the background. Mia's mind is fractured, broken after a tragic accident that left her with no memory. She was 12 when the accident occurred and 12 when her mother removed her from everything and everyone she had previously known. The only life Mia knows is with an alcoholic mom and struggling to get by everyday.....until an chain of events flips her life upside down and her mother ends up in rehab and Mia ends up at her grandmother's house thrown back into a life she did not remember.

A story about childhood friends, first loves, lost loves, trials and redemption. A story about hope and second chances about rebuilding after tragedy.

This was a highly bingeable read. I definitely finished this quickly…but I kept hoping for more. We get a very compelling backstory. Mia lost her memory after a mysterious accident when she is 12 years old. Her mother is a neglectful alcoholic. Then, one day, Mia’s grandmother arrives because Mia’s mother is in rehab after a DUI. I would’ve loved a little more depth to our backstory. It was all very shallow. There is a friend from home who visits her once and she has one phone call and then he disappears from the story. Mia reunites with Ashton who was her best friend at the time of her accident. She doesn’t remember him but he’s the brooding bad boy with an anger management issue. He’s fights in an underground fighting ring … but that also just disappears from the story.

There is one very quick “incident” but is over within a few pages. The big mysterious accident isn’t very mysterious after all.

This story lacked cohesion and a clear plot. I liked enough elements that I would read the works by this author in the future

Fractured and pained but not broken - survival turns to thriving as self awareness and strength, along with true friends and love, turn everything around. A sort of Cinderella story, with growing pains and substance. Emotional and enthralling read.

This book had a strong start with an intriguing premise that pulled me in right away. I enjoyed the characters and their friendships, but I wished for more depth in their development.
Some plot points felt rushed, and the pacing could have been smoother. Overall, an enjoyable read.

Overall a good book. I love her MC series, so I was excited for this one. I didn’t realize it was YA, so I didn’t get as into it as I thought I would. Overall, though Mia and Ashton’s story is intense and a good read.

I enjoyed it a lot.
But I needed more depth inthe plot and characters.
But I would other books of the author.
I liked the writing.

Overall a decent read. I liked the story line and the suspense in parts. I found some actions needed a little more depth but overal I enjoyed it.

Thank you 'Victory Editing, a Net galley CoOp' for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

"Fractured Mind" explores the themes of lost memories, buried secrets, and rekindled romance. The protagonist's journey to reconstruct her childhood after amnesia, coupled with the reappearance of her childhood best friend, forms the central plot. While the story offers a blend of mystery and emotional intensity, revolving around the protagonist's struggle to reconcile her past with her present, the narrative's reliance on amnesia as a central plot device, combined with the intense, protective nature of the love interest, ultimately didn't resonate with my personal preferences in reading.