Book Review – Unspoken

By Sarah Rees Brennan

I am going to start this review by first admitting I can be very hypocritical. On one hand I like series – I like big stories that are broken into book-sized sections. I like spending time with the characters; watching as they grow and develop and gradually reach their story’s end. On the other hand, why does every book I pick up now have to be a series? I must cast my mind back some distance, a year at least, to recall a novel read that wasn’t part of some larger over-arching tale. Further it seems that these series have ever greater focus on the larger plot they fail to have self-contained stories in their book-length chapters. Perhaps it would be less frustrating if I didn’t seem to find these series at their inception – for now I am forced to wait years and years to find out what happens.

One of my recent reads is an excellent story of a girl psychically linked with a boy who just moves to her home town. The girl is wonderfully spunky; out to uncover the secrets of her small, English town as she develops her skills as a journalist of truth. With so much that could go wrong with this premise, I was delighted with the author’s handling of the plot and characters. Teenagers can be tricky to deal with; so many emotions of first loves, school rivalries, and insecurities surrounding growing up can bog down the characters. But the wit and energy and practical, go-get-them attitude woven into the pages was perfect.

The characters had their problems and their triumphs. Importantly they pulled off their conversations with a certain down-to-earth attitude and a great deal of humor. They were not overly awkward, terribly angsty, or unrealistically adult-like. Rather, they were well balanced and amusing.

It was pleasure to read and my only complaint comes with the certain knowledge that this is but book one in a series – a series that has only just begun. The ending cuts, leaving our heroes on an emotional down. Their world is falling to pieces and will likely only get worse for a while. Abysmally, I must now wait an undetermined length of time for all subsequent books to be written, edited and finally published. Sigh, it is a great deal of trouble this waiting and I sometimes I feel cheated by its ever constant presence. Please authors, find it in your hearts to write books that do actually stand-alone.