About the Book
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Author:
- Sarah Rees Brennan
Cover Story: Stock Forest
BFF Charm: Yay
Talky Talk: Sassy Girl Detective Saves The Town
Bonus Factor: LBGTQ
Anti-Bonus Factor: Love Square
Relationship Status: Hanging Around Your Locker In A Totally Non-Creepy Way
Cover Story: Stock Forest
I’ve already made my feelings clear on the newer covers, although this one isn’t as bad as Unspoken’s paperback. There’s a stock girl walking in a stock spooky forest with a pretty (turquoise!) font – nothing too terrible, but nothing that would grab a reader, either.
The Deal:
Warning! If you haven’t read Unspoken, the first in the series, beware of spoilers for the first book.
Kami and Jared’s link has been severed, and both of them are left to deal with the aftermath. For the first time in their lives, they don’t know what the other is thinking. (Will they have to talk it out? How pedestrian!) And who are, they, really, without the other? Does Jared’s hidden goodness come from Kami? Is Kami only brave because Jared has always been there?
Not to mention that the reason they had a link in the first place was because Kami’s mother allowed it – and never told Kami or her father that she knew why their kid laughed at things that weren’t there.
Meanwhile, Rob Lynburn is looking to enhance his power and take over Sorry-in-the-Vale once more, at any cost. Nothing will stop him – except perhaps Kami and her ragtag band of merry sidekicks.
BFF Charm: Yay
Kami gets slightly downgraded this time, mostly because she is so very seventeen. Yes, we’ve all been in a place where it’s hard to just have a conversation with our friends/love interests/families, but buck up, girl! Communication is a good thing.
Swoonworthy Scale: 9
There are a couple of pants-melting kisses in this book that are sure to make you wring your hands and wonder why you’re not making out with a hot blonde sorcerer (or his brother) (or your best friend’s hot older brother).
Talky Talk: Sassy Girl Detective Saves The Town
It’s time to buckle down and get to learning the magic needed in order to defeat Rob Lynburn. As usual, the dialogue is replete with Brennan’s signature sass, although somewhat less of it than in Unspoken. The stakes are higher, and the tone is more serious.
Bonus Factor: LGBTQ
As we found out in Unspoken, Angela happens to be gay. It’s not treated as an issue, except that Angela is pretty miserable Holly doesn’t return her feelings. I loved this exchange:
“Wow, Angela and Holly,” Ash said, sounding awed. “Hot.”
“Excuse me, what is wrong with you?” Kami demanded. “Other people’s sexuality is not your spectator sport.”
Ash paused. “Of course,” he said. “But—”
“No!” Kami exclaimed. “No buts. That’s my best friend you’re talking about. Your first reaction should not be ‘Hot.’ ”
“It’s not an insult,” Ash protested.
“Oh, okay,” Kami said. “In that case, you’re going to give me a minute. I’m picturing you and Jared. Naked. Entwined.”
There was a pause.
Then Jared said, “He is probably my half brother, you know.”
“I don’t care,” Kami informed him. “All you are to me are sex objects that I choose to imagine bashing together at random. Oh, there you go again, look at that, nothing but Lynburn skin as far as the mind’s eye can see. Masculine groans fill the air, husky and…”
“Stop it,” Ash said in a faint voice. “That isn’t fair.”
Anti-Bonus Factor: Love Square
By my estimation, everyone is in love with Kami (except Angela). Jared loves Kami, but his tortured loner issues prevent him from saying so/acting like an emotionally healthy adult. Ash loves Kami. Rusty loves Kami, although he doesn’t come right out and say it (or at least if he does, he pretends it’s a joke). There’s a lot of hand-wringing over who to kiss, who maybe kissed someone else in a darkened corner, whose feelings would be hurt if someone was to kiss someone else – is your head spinning or is it just me?
To Brennan’s credit, Kami is a legitimately awesome character, so the fact that she has several boys interested in her is not unthinkable. (For her part, she is only interested in Jared.) This is no Bella Swan/Mary Sue blank slate situation, and the idea of a sexy Lynburn/Montgomery cuddle puddle isn’t the worst idea that’s ever crossed my mind. Still, though, there’s a lot of love angst in this installment.
Relationship Status: Hanging Around Your Locker In A Totally Non-Creepy Way
BOOK. What is up with your cliffhangers? Why can’t we communicate like normal people? Is it me? Do I smell? Why are you avoiding me? I’m just going to hang around your locker and force you to talk to me and tell me what happens next. This is not meant to be creepy, it’s just that you keep running away from me every time things get serious. (But also, I’d like a lock of your hair and I photoshopped myself into a picture of the two of us together, do you want a copy? It’s totes adorbs!)
Stay tuned! Next week, we review Unmade, the final book in The Lynburn Legacy trilogy. Who lives? Who dies? How many of your tears will Sarah Rees Brennan consume?
FTC Full Disclosure: I bought my copy. I received neither money nor a pet unicorn for writing this review, despite how hard I wished for one. Untold is available now.
