"People Know me, but I don't know them. I've been sent far from home to recuperate. Why?"

Unwept by Tracy Hickman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is strange. It took me a while to finish and more to sit down and write this review. It haunts me and I am not entirely sure if it is in a good way...

Let me start by the setting. It is eerie as hell. Our main character, Ellis Harkington wakes up from a very creepy dream, where she is a skeleton inside a grave.... yup. With rattling bones and all. However, once she wakes up, she has no clue of 1) who she is, 2) where she is, 3) who are her companions (a nurse and a crying baby) 4) where she is headed, 5) why her hair is short, 6) why she is wearing a green skirt, a colour she is not very fond of... lots and lots of unknowns in her life. But strangely enough EVERYONE around her seems to KNOW what is going on, and who she is. This is set around the time of the first World War, as there are allusions of combatants across the atlantic and the time-period is well depicted.

The town where Ellis ends up after her train ride is in Maine, and is called Gamin. The narration of this book transported me to that time/location very vividly.


It is a HUGE mystery that will carry you throughout this book regarding the most strange people and things that occur around Ellis.

The pace of this book is slow but steady. It is told from various points of view, all adding up to the puzzle Ellis wants to assemble in order to regain a bit of herself and her sanity. Logic sort of flies away in this town.


The cover is GORGEOUS. I kept going back to it while I was reading just to stare at it.

I have to say that although the buildup is steady, the actual revelations felt a bit all over immediately after I read the book. However, it's been a few days since I finished it, and I've had moments when this book unexpectedly came back and haunted me. Lots of details, and character's behaviours will definitely linger.

My BIG complaint is that this book felt too short. I wished it did't finished as abruptly as it did and that it could explain things more clearly about Gamin. I am still very confused about a lot of things... it felt incomplete. Lets hope for Book #2 soon.


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This book was kindly provided by its publisher, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No solved mysteries where offered during this exchange. Thank you.

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Rant: Unspoken

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Right now I can only think of Mark Twain - "When angry count four; when very angry, swear."

And sooooo I will: 1234-----

WTF??? Seriously? Is this truly, seriously, honestly how you decided to end this book???

Gahh I literally hurt myself throwing it at the floor [it landed on my foot, yeah, my husband witnessed my undignifying outburst], and it fueled my rage, then I started to recite: 'Rage, rage against the dying of the light.' With minor adaptations....then, I quietly searched online what was being said about 'the book I shall not name' (because I'm still worked up)... And it got worse! Unbelievable so. Sarah Rees Brennan has been sharing 4 teasers since October 2012 for the sequel, Untold.

This first teaser scene caused a recurrent eye twitch, click at your own risk: THE first teaser

This book is EVIL, Sarah Rees Brennan will mess up with your head, heart & that soft part of you that loves rainbows. You'll become a mad(wo)man after reading this, frantically looking for clues as to why oh why were you surprised; all the hints were there, you just chose to ignore them ;)
It has a mystery, a funny reference to purple and a flowy skirt with bees and red flowers... I'm hooked (says with a pirate drawl - yeah, that crazy it made me)...Arggggg

You have been warned.

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Best part of my outburst, I was proactive and wrote a nice note to Sarah Rees Brennan, and she graciously replied to me:



On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 8:56 AM, Lina wrote:
From: Lina

Dear Sarah,

I hurt my foot today. It was very quick and unexpected. It happened right after I reached the last line of Unspoken, when a madwoman took control of my body and threw the book I was holding, with so much anger and rage into the floor. My husband witnessed this outburst and laughed for a while. It's been hard to explain all of this to him while tending my achy toes.

I thought you should know.

Sincerely,

Lina G.


Date: 5 Feb 2013 13:58
Subject: Re: [your-subject]
To: "Lina"
Cc:

Dear Lina,

Many apologies for your hurt foot and hurt feelings... but I'm so glad you told me about them!

All best for quick recovery, though I may only hurt them again,

Sarah

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This mail is sent via contact form on Sarah Rees Brennan


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