A slow plot. A long book that couldve been cut down by 150 pages. An important reveal that shouldve happened 100 pages earlier. A love triangle (sort of). An average but not particularly memorable protagonist. These are the qualities that seem to be characteristic of YA bestsellers these daysand, since, UNSPOKEN had all of these, Im sure it has a shot at getting on the bestseller list. Unfortunately, because of all these qualities, this book didnt end up being my thing.
Kami fancies herself a sassy female detective, but Veronica Mars she is not. This is in part, I think, due to Brennans rather strange choice of telling the story in third person, instead of from Kamis point of view. I LOVED Kamis voice in the first-person opening, and was initially shocked, then eventually disappointed, when the rest of this long long overly long book proceeded in third-person. Presumably this was because sometimes, randomly, the POV switched over to Jaredsbut the main characters were so forgettably bland anyway that having a few pages from their POV didnt impress them upon me more. So anyway, my point here is that any potential for the Veronica Mars-esque sassiness that Kami claims to possess was unfortunately smothered by the third-person narration.
Speaking of long long overly long At less than 400 pages, UNSPOKEN is shorter than a lot of books Ive read and loved, but even that length was unnecessary for the eventsor lack thereofthat transpired. Maybe the idea suffered from YA trilogy-itis? I read this on my Kindle, and the Important Big Reveal, the revelation that would justify the characters (and readers) confusion and curiosity up till then, didnt occur until more than two-thirds of the way through the book. Come on. Thats just basically assuming that readers will be pulled along by sheer curiosity instead of anything actually substantialwhich I suppose some readers might be, but Im thoroughly not put over the moon by a bunch of villagers being all Hush, we dont talk about the Lynburns while initially nothing scarier than the common fear of a haunted wood happens.
The first two-thirds of UNSPOKEN (you know, the part that shouldve been condensed to half its length) consist of Kami running aroundsometimes by herself, sometimes with Jaredpicking up clues but then not acting on them because shes so busy agonizing over her confused feelings about Jared vs. Ash. True, shes no Bella Swan over boys, but still. Kami. Girl. Dont be the person who loses all common sense in the midst of a crisis because you cant decide how a certain boy feels about you.
With the exception of a few good quips, Kami and Jared dont hold a candle to the supposed supporting characters (and lets not even talk about Ash). I loved the casual yet loving banter among Kamis family members, and Kamis friends Angela and Holly stole the scene every time they appeared. (Why couldnt Angela have been the protagonist instead? I could totally get behind a people-hating protagonist.) Alas, the vibrancy and attractiveness of the supporting characters meant that the main characters conflicts felt terribly clichéd in comparison. I found myself not caring much about how Kami and Jared struggled to deal with their feelings for each other. YAWN, YA TROPE ALERT. For an author in a position of literary influence (I thought that Sarah Rees Brennans Demons Lexion trilogy was great, and she belongs to a literary circle of some of the most influential YA authors in the past decade), I was greatly disappointed by all the clichés and tropes that this story ended up using.
In this review I once again dredge up what I find frustrating and lacking in the so-called YA bestsellers of these days. Which means that the majority of YA readers will love this, and I will be the curmudgeonly old lady in the ratty overstaffed armchair in the corner of a drafty room furthest away from the fireplace, knitting and talking to my friends the rats and cats.
Kami fancies herself a sassy female detective, but Veronica Mars she is not. This is in part, I think, due to Brennans rather strange choice of telling the story in third person, instead of from Kamis point of view. I LOVED Kamis voice in the first-person opening, and was initially shocked, then eventually disappointed, when the rest of this long long overly long book proceeded in third-person. Presumably this was because sometimes, randomly, the POV switched over to Jaredsbut the main characters were so forgettably bland anyway that having a few pages from their POV didnt impress them upon me more. So anyway, my point here is that any potential for the Veronica Mars-esque sassiness that Kami claims to possess was unfortunately smothered by the third-person narration.
Speaking of long long overly long At less than 400 pages, UNSPOKEN is shorter than a lot of books Ive read and loved, but even that length was unnecessary for the eventsor lack thereofthat transpired. Maybe the idea suffered from YA trilogy-itis? I read this on my Kindle, and the Important Big Reveal, the revelation that would justify the characters (and readers) confusion and curiosity up till then, didnt occur until more than two-thirds of the way through the book. Come on. Thats just basically assuming that readers will be pulled along by sheer curiosity instead of anything actually substantialwhich I suppose some readers might be, but Im thoroughly not put over the moon by a bunch of villagers being all Hush, we dont talk about the Lynburns while initially nothing scarier than the common fear of a haunted wood happens.
The first two-thirds of UNSPOKEN (you know, the part that shouldve been condensed to half its length) consist of Kami running aroundsometimes by herself, sometimes with Jaredpicking up clues but then not acting on them because shes so busy agonizing over her confused feelings about Jared vs. Ash. True, shes no Bella Swan over boys, but still. Kami. Girl. Dont be the person who loses all common sense in the midst of a crisis because you cant decide how a certain boy feels about you.
With the exception of a few good quips, Kami and Jared dont hold a candle to the supposed supporting characters (and lets not even talk about Ash). I loved the casual yet loving banter among Kamis family members, and Kamis friends Angela and Holly stole the scene every time they appeared. (Why couldnt Angela have been the protagonist instead? I could totally get behind a people-hating protagonist.) Alas, the vibrancy and attractiveness of the supporting characters meant that the main characters conflicts felt terribly clichéd in comparison. I found myself not caring much about how Kami and Jared struggled to deal with their feelings for each other. YAWN, YA TROPE ALERT. For an author in a position of literary influence (I thought that Sarah Rees Brennans Demons Lexion trilogy was great, and she belongs to a literary circle of some of the most influential YA authors in the past decade), I was greatly disappointed by all the clichés and tropes that this story ended up using.
In this review I once again dredge up what I find frustrating and lacking in the so-called YA bestsellers of these days. Which means that the majority of YA readers will love this, and I will be the curmudgeonly old lady in the ratty overstaffed armchair in the corner of a drafty room furthest away from the fireplace, knitting and talking to my friends the rats and cats.
