Author: Elizabeth Norris
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
US Date Published: OUT NOW!
Synopsis: Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.
But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process. (Goodreads)
Review: The idea of this book intrigued me and the synopsis sounded alluring- like a kid in a candy store, I couldn't wait to get an ARC of Unraveling to review.
I had started reading the book and became a little uneasy with the language that was used. Now I'm not a saint by any means... and cursing doesn't offend me, but the first 5-7 pages of this book had some language choices that I thought could've been different considering this is a Young Adult book, in which mainly teens will be reading. So I put that aside and focused on the storyline...
Throughout this book Janelle gets hit with a series of unfortunate events per se. But she has a lot to be thankful for as well as she is given the second chance at life when Ben Michaels brings her back to life. The crash that took away Janelle's life is the start of a ticking clock!! The problem?? They aren't exactly sure what this clock is ticking down for... and they've only got less than 24days to figure it out! There is so much "meat to this story"; little plot segments that come together to form some shocking twists and turns!
I did adore Janelle's character traits- she's an average teenager trying to get through highschool, who's had to deal with some misfortunes regarding her mom. But from that she grew into a more independent person- which sets her up to be driven and vocal! She needed to be & throughout this book she had to be- especially for her brother and for their survival!
Okay-- so I really enjoyed the storyline up until a certain part (about 3/4 way)... I still haven't decided if it's the initial shock that I wasn't fond of or the event overall? I don't know. And usually when I have a prediction on what might happen in a book, I rarely get upset when I'm right or wrong, because I like seeing what the author comes up. When Janelle found out the reasons for the count down and who Ben was, I was truly taken back. I didn't think flowed well at all. Not sure what I expected... but it wasn't what we were given.
The ending will make you put yourself in Janelle's shoes and ask if you'd have Ben stay with you or selflessly let him leave for his family; not knowing when you'd see him again. Tough Choice.
I gave this book a 2.5 stars... I liked it; but I was putting it down too many times and having to will myself to read to give it anything higher.
Below is the UK cover of Unraveling which will be out on June 7th by HarperCollin Children's
0 comments:
Post a Comment