Interlude: Untold is coming for your soul

So I just got an email from bookdepository that Untold, the sequel to Sarah Rees Brennan’s Unspoken, is on its way to me. It sounds like they’re releasing it a little early, but it’s always good for me when pre-orders are sent out a week earlier than their release day, because that means the book should be here just around the exact day it’s actually released. That’s what happens when you live beyond a big ocean and in a country in which the mailing system is having a teenage crisis. 

In case you’ve never heard of this book or you don’t remember right away, I did a flash review of it here and here’s the synopsis of Unspoken: 

Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. Having an imaginary friend has made fitting in hard -but that's never bothered Kami.  She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is just the way she likes it.

But all that changes when the mysterious Lynburns return to Kami's village, along with teenagers, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami...
As life as she knows it begins to unravel, Kami is determined to get to the bottom of every mystery. Who is responsible for the bloody deed 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? 

I didn’t actually talk or fangirl that much about the book. There are several reasons for this, actually. While I obviously worship the ground which Rees Brennan walks on - she’s seriously one of my favorite authors for several reasons, one of which is that she’s a really awesome person (as far as I can tell) - this book was, well, difficult. It is a really, really, good book. The characters and the mystery we try to solve are absolutely brilliant, captivating and everything is told in a uniquely Rees Brennan -style, that will tickle your heartstrings. And then she’ll leave you bleeding on the floor - which is the difficult part. 

A lot of people on the internet have cried out about ending in particular for being painful. And it is because it leaves things so open. There’s a big showdown, stuff happens and characters all around are left hurt, unsure about their safety and feeling pretty shitty. And that’s the way the reader’s left too. What is there to say when the ending takes the rug from under your feet? Rees Brennan plays a gleeful game of chess with your feelings and boom, you have to wait a year. That’s the reason why haven’t talked so much about it. 

Of course, the book’s middle part was a labyrinth of awesome things that made you laugh out loud and then it had some serious heart-melting, feels-inducing parts that had you rolling on the floor because it hurt so much. Whenever I think about it, I remember how much I adore this book. But the book is perhaps a little slow, since it’s the first one in the series and I feel sad that I haven’t been fangirling so much over it. It isn’t as showy as some other books are, but it’s got enough drama and magical thunder storms to go around. 

I’m looking forward to Untold but then again, I’m afraid of what will happen. I want to find out what happens and I can tell (well, am hoping) that Rees Brennan will bring her worst - see Demon’s Covenant. 

But I think I’ll just end up screaming at characters (read: Jared) who do stupid stuff they shouldn’t do and who just should listen to my advice. 

I can’t wait to get my hands on Untold but I’m also afraid what the book will do. It’s so frustrating, not being able to decide whether to be extremely excited or scared. And I can tell that even if I go in scared and ready for the worst, I’ll still end up bleeding on the floor from the attack on my feels.

And last, here's the synopsis of Untold, which really spoiler-y if you haven't read the first one, so stop reading here and go read that one first, if you haven't! 

Free from bonds, but not each other

It's time to choose sides... On the surface, Sorry-in-the-Vale is a sleepy English town. But Kami Glass knows the turh. Sorry-in-the-Vale is full of magic. In the old days, the Lynburn family ruled with fear, terrifying the people into submission in order to kill for blood and powe. Now the Lynburns are back, and Rob Lynburn is gathering sorcerers in town. A decision must be made: pay the blood sacrifice, or fight. For Kami, this means more than just choosing between good and evil. With her link to Jared Lynburn severed, she's now free to love anyone she chooses. But who should that be? 

Flash Review of Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

A flash review of
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

I have come up with a new thingie! A flash review! Meaning, a short and quick review usually about a book that has been reviewed to death. I meant to stay around 500 words, but apparently I have too many feels.

Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. Having an imaginary friend has made fitting in hard -but that's never bothered Kami.  She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is just the way she likes it.

But all that changes when the mysterious Lynburns return to Kami's village, along with teenagers, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami...

As life as she knows it begins to unravel, Kami is determined to get to the bottom of every mystery. Who is responsible for the bloody deed 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? 

I'm sorry about the picture. It has to be the very crappy picture I took of my copy back when it arrived. Apparently good quality pictures of Unspoken are too awesome for Blogger. 
Actually, there seems to be just something too awesome about this for Blogger, it keeps looking weird... I apologize for that. 

In the month or so after its release, I feel like almost everyone and their mother has been reviewing Unspoken by the awesome and vastly talented Sarah Rees Brennan. 

And hell, it is no wonder. Unspoken is amazing: I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like it. I had some doubts when it arrived - I was worried it might be shadowed by my love for Demon’s Lexicon or that Rees Brennan wouldn’t be able to deliver her magic again. Well, I was worried for nothing. 

While you definitely recognize Rees Brennan’s writing, there’s a different feeling to Unspoken and it moves differently than Demon’s Lexicon. Which is a good thing, even though it might sound scary. 

What Rees Brennan really does well, is deliver humor while not letting go of this atmosphere of mystery and something just lurking over the readers’ and the book’s characters’ heads. The book has its light moments and its dark moments, but it moves through everything with this indescribable lightness, easiness. 

There are some unfortunate points that made the transition from Jared to Kami slightly confusing, but after a moment, it felt deliberate. They can’t tell each other apart, how should we? 

I also loved Sorry-in-the-Vale. I’ve lived almost my whole live in small towns and the feeling of a small town - with some added mystery - was spot on. It seemed very familiar to me and I just loved some of the details that were thrown in, but apparently I can’t find now, though I meant to give you an example. 

And just like the rest of the internet, I fell in love with Kami. The book has its very best moments - in my opinion - in its humor that peaks almost every time someone opens their mouth and in its main girl. Kami is so excellent as a narrator, fun to read about and follow her around. There’s one quality that makes me like her so much: she’s got this thing about her that she’ll go through any brick wall if she so decides. She’s not invincible and she knows that, but she will go after the answer if she knows how to find it.

The rest of the cast was perfect, too. They all had their own stories and small details that made them very interesting characters, even though we only glimpsed them. 

I guess I have to say something about Jared. Personally, I liked him, but not all of his choices, which is okay. I like imperfect characters. I don’t think Jared knows who Jared is, so how am I supposed to say something about him? And there was a lot of confusion going on in this book, that I hope has been cleared by the second one and then we can get to the making out -I mean solving the crime! 

Last but not least, the ending. I’ve seen a lot of talk about this ending and it’s starting to get old a little. Not to say people can’t say their opinion! Go ahead, I’m not saying you can’t say that. Just feels to me it’s being said A LOT. And it makes me feel weird because I liked that ending. I felt it was something that needed to happen, when you thought of some of the things that happened leading up to it.  

Final thoughts: If you’re thinking about should you or shouldn’t you buy/read this book, I say go for it! Brennan has the talent of sneaking up behind and whacking you on the head with awesomeness. This book delivers with gothic mansion, secrets, mysteries and trying to solve them and a whole lot of tension! What else would you need?

So...

Mark of Athena arrived today. I know, I was surprised, too! Nevermind why, Book Depository almost always releases my pre-orders a week before their actual release: and because it takes sometimes seven days for my local post to sort out the packages, it works fine for me. (Well, with Unspoken it took even longer and I'm still convinced one of the post-people must have read it before it got to me.) But dear BD released Mark of Athena on Monday and it was here on today, on Friday: one of the fastest ever! 

But now I'm faced with the problem that I'll just end up inhaling the book in one sitting and then... I won't have a book to read. Damn. 
And, and, my week has been horrible! I've struggled with a lot of paper work and actually very silly decisions that are going to decide my future. They still give me headaches and what I really need is one of Riordan's masterpieces to curl around! But. I. Must. Resist. The. Temptation. 

So instead I'm going to post a review of Bloodrose, the final installment in Andrea Cremer's mind-blowing trilogy -and it's going to be even more senseless than my review of Wolfsbane. And I'm going to post about Unspoken. It won't be a review, but I love Sarah Rees Brennans' writing too much to not fangirl about it and I need to put my love for Kami to words and shout them at the internet. 

After I've done that, I can start reading Mark of Athena. 

PS. No, I won't talk about Mark of Athena before it releases and probably not right after that either. I'm trying to think when to post about it, but I'll put huge spoiler warnings at the beginning. 

Sarah Rees Brennan's Unspoken arrives!

A post in which I fangirl: 

So this gorgeous little thing arrived yesterday! I'd been waiting for this for a long time (translation: a week), so yay! 

I pre-ordered the book and at that time, there was no cover for the book. I was secretly hoping for this cover. The other one is also seriously awesome and gorgeous, but this just was... more exciting? I don't know! Maybe there's the fact that all the people I've seen talking about this book seem to have the pink one. Makes me feel special. (Just joking. Tell me if you have this cover!) 

But it looks so mysterious, with all the branches and the house in the background! Promises good things for the book, yes? 

Now, I'm nervous about starting Unspoken. Nervous and excited. It definitely sounds like it'll be extremely awesome. I mean, I adore Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon Lexicon series so much, why not this? Maybe I should re-read the series... 

But sometimes it's a little scary to start reading a book with high expectations. You start reading, but then there are all these expectations in your head and sometimes they just ruin the whole thing. I don't want that to happen here! 

Reading books is difficult. 

But on a happier note, check out my new favorite bookmark! It is awesome! 

(Sorry for the crappy pictures. My camera's battery's dead.)