Book Review: Unspoken

Synopsis:

Kami Glass loves someone she's never met . . . a boy she's talked to in her head ever since she was born. She didn't spend her childhood silent about her imaginary friend, and is thus a bit of an outsider in the sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, she has a best friend, runs the popular school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return. . . .

This book is filling the “Book Set in the Northern Hemisphere” Category in my Full House Reading Challenge.

This was a very interesting read. I didn’t LOVE love it. But it was enjoyable, suspenseful, frustrating, and unique.

Sorry-in-the-Vale is a sleepy town in England, where our mysterious tale takes place. Kami wants to be an investigate reporter, and she further proves so by creating a school newspaper and investigating the biggest story the town has seen in a while: the return of the mysterious Lynburns. There are all sorts of dangerous whispers about the Lynburns, children’s rhymes, and horror stories that Kami has heard, having lived in Sorry-in-the-Vale her entire life. Now that the Lynburns are back (and especially the two teenage boys), Kami jumps into investigating.

Not to mention that she has a psychic link with one of them.

My favorite thing about this book (and what definitely made me want to read the second) was the hilarious dialogue. Sarah Rees Brennan has a knack for writing extremely witty and entertaining dialogue, although she does a good job tempering it in serious situations, to keep those moments serious. Kami and her father especially are quite clever, while Angela, Kami’s best friend has her own quirks about hating people in general and always wanting to take a nap. Not to mention Kami is an awesome Nancy Drew-esque sasspants who always has something witty to say.

The Lynburns are mysterious folk, and Kami’s main purpose is to unravel their secrets. And boy, do they have a lot of them. About half way through is when those secrets start emerging, and then, it’s like a tidal wave until the end of the book. I really enjoyed the build up of the conflict, with Kami not knowing who to trust, especially in the Lynburn clan. It’s very hard to discern what the motivations of each of them are, and I thought Brennan did a beautiful job of building up to the climax, where everything kind of exploded all at once.

Never have I been so frustrated about a relationship as I was with Kami and Jared. They are psychically connected, they can read each others thoughts, have been able to for forever, they know and trust each other more than anyone else, and yet, there is SO much tension and drama. Jared refuses to touch Kami for some reason, even though they are pretty much like, I love you (psychically, of course). And that ending! I wanted to strangle Sarah Rees Brennan.

I guess I need to go get Untold.