Unspoken - Book Review

Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1)
by Sarah Rees Brennan

What is it about:
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?

What did I think of it:
I'm going to World Fantasy Con at the end of this month and I signed up for a so called KaffeeKlatsch (a talk with coffee and cookies) with Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan. I will confess having signed up because I was interested in meeting Holly Black, because I love both White Cat and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. But I decided that if I was meeting Sarah Rees Brennan at that KaffeeKlatsch too I might as well try reading one of her books. So I ordered Unspoken.

This is such a great book!

I will confess I was completely swept of my feet and surprised in a very good way. Sarah Rees Brennan manages to combine humor with a really suspenseful and intense story.

This book had me rooting for Kami, laughing at her wit and kept me on the edge of my seat.

The idea of an imaginary friend suddenly turning out to be a real person was very intriguing and I liked how both Kami and Jared felt almost betrayed when they discovered the other was real and not just a voice in their head. Their reaction to each other felt believable and I loved reading how they try to come to terms with the existence of the other.

The other characters, like Kami's best friend Angela and their classmate Holly are really cool as well. I liked how Kami's friends actually played a big role in the story instead of being there just to compliment the heroine as is so often the case with best friends in YA.

The story itself is suspenseful and kept me guessing at what was going on. The suspense is lightened by the humor, but still I was totally engrossed in the mysterious things that were going on.

And the ending!

I want, no, need the next book!

Knowing that ordering it now will mean it will most probably arrive just before I leave for World Fantasy Con, I decided to be strong and wait, so I can buy a signed copy of Untold while also getting my copy of Unspoken signed.

Why should you read it:
It's a fun and suspenseful Paranormal YA read.