Unspoken

September 11, 2012 Uncategorized 1

Unspoken

Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 11, 2012
Pages: 370
Series: The Lynburn Legacy. book one
Source: Snatched this one right up from netgalley!
Buy the book from my favorite indie bookstore Anderson’s Bookshop!

About the Book: Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the 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.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

My Thoughts: This book makes me so happy. For real. I love everything about it. Even the layout and physical appearance totally appeal to me. I love that it’s divided up in to parts I through VI. I love that it has chapter titles. Clearly the cover is gorgeous. Also, there are lovely embellishments throughout the book. And those are just the things I fell in love with before reading a word. Thankfully I found the characters and the story just as engaging and endearing. 

As I’ve typed and re-typed this review I’ve discovered that I want to go in to all of the detail to tell you every little thing I love. It was getting ridiculously long. Instead I’m going to highlight some of my very favorite things:

 * Unspoken starts with an article Kami is writing. I love that we’re introduced to Kami as a journalist right away. It really gives the reader a feel for Kami’s voice. And boy does Kami have voice. She is quirky and fun and just so very delightful.  She is one of my favorite characters ever! Who doesn’t love a girl sleuth?!?

* Speaking of quirky and delightful… pretty much all the dialogue rocks. I love the banter between the characters and the way they play of one another. It added so much to the story and the relationships between the characters. I basically read the whole book with a smirk on my face.

* But it wasn’t a light-hearted comedy! Sorry-in-the-Vale is a small boring-ish town with big and dark secrets. Most are centered around the Lynburn’s and their creepy gothic manor. I loved how the town and the manor played off one another and added so much mood to the story. They were as necessary to the plot as the characters.

* Pretty much every character was a win for me. I particularly loved that Kami and her best friend were very different but they supported one another. There wasn’t any of that girls putting other girls down or false friendships. They boys were pretty rad too 🙂 Ash, Jared, Rusty… take your pick!

Basically I could go on and on and on. Unspoken is one of the most original and witty stories I’ve read in a long time (if not ever!) It’s basically all the things I love wrapped up in to one beautiful package. One of the best books I’ve read all year! 

Me with Sarah Rees Brennan

Sarah standing on a chair acting out a story.
I imagine Kami gets a lot of who she is from Sarah! 

One Response to “Unspoken”

  1. Unmade - YA BibliophileYA Bibliophile

    […] this is book three, I really don’t want to tell you any specifics! Check out my reviews of Unspoken and Untold for more of what I loved! Just know, I really, really think you should read these […]

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