Saturday, April 7, 2012

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

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?


Oh, the disappointment! I had such high hopes for this book, but it is one I recommend you stay far, far away from unless you’re very forgiving in you reading.

First things first. Whoever thought to market this book as a “gothic novel” has done the book a great disservice. This is in no way, shape, or form gothic. It doesn’t even have whiff of gothic. If you’re expecting, like I was, to read something akin to Jane Eyre, or Rebecca, or any of those great novels, then you’ll be as disappointed as I was. There is no sense of mood, of atmosphere in this novel. We are not overtaken by the dark landscape or the mystery surrounding a particular place. No. All you get with this book are quirky and gimmicky phrases that get boring and annoying after the first page. There is no levity in gothic novels, and this book reads more like a Gossip Girl one than a real, serious story.

The characters all sound the same, again, because of the funny, tongue-in-cheek way the author writes. Kami is the worst of the bunch, with a personality as grating as a zester. The writing is mediocre at best, and it reads much more like the fan-fictions you read on the internet than a real, honest book. And really, the amount of times the word “sorcerer” is used throughout the last half of the novel is enough to want to fling the book (or in my case, the laptop) into the nearest wall.

As you can see, this is one I really, truly, disliked. I doubt I will be reading anything else by this author.




4 comments:

Pocketful of Books said...

I love this honest review- I am a great believer of giving a negative review if a book deserves one! I would be disappointed too- I hate it when books are marketed as one thing and turn out to be something completely different. If it promises Gothic and Jane Austen-esque then it needs to deliver or not make those comparisons at all! I wont be reading this book- shame the pretty cover was hiding an ugly book! x

Anonymous said...

Valentina, your site is beautiful.

Jeanette Cheezum

Unknown said...

I can't believe you didn't like this one! I'm dying to get my hands on it! But after reading your review I guess I'm less excited, however I'll read it anyway to form my own opinion!

But thanks anyway for the honest review :)

Anonymous said...

I love honest reviews either good or bad. Nothing worse than reviews who love everything :)

I've high hopes for Unspoken and it's good to know that it is not a gothic novel. At least now, I will know what to expect. I hate when blurbs or marketing is misleading.

Great review.