review; unspoken

Unspoken
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?

Review:
I walked into the library not intending to borrow anything, just browse. Then I stumbled across a copy of Unspoken, and had to borrow it. (It is very rare to find this book here.) I am so glad I did!

Sarah has created a world that looks like the one we live in, but has an intriguing and mysterious underlying otherness to it. There is familiarity for the reader, but also something just out of reach – the mystery of the town unravels slowly as we follow Kami through her discoveries.

Kami Glass, where do I start with Kami Glass? She is a wonderful blend of Chloe Sullivan and Veronica Mars, all snark and sass and ingenuity and a brand of humor and fire that is wholly her own. I was in love with her from the first instant I met her.

Balancing her with Angela’s more cynical outlook on the world, and her apathy towards pretty much everyone but Kami, and Jared’s more rough-around-the-edges characteristics made for a very interesting read. Each character was varied and fleshed out, but not so thoroughly that there will still not be anything to learn in subsequent books.

Kami’s desire to find out the truth about her town, about her family, about Jared’s family, throws everybody into danger – but there is also a sense that if Kami had not recklessly endangered her life by delving into the secrets of the town, the town would be doomed. The mysteries and secrets keep piling up, and I could not put the book down.

The novel kept me guessing – who was the true mastermind? Who was behind the deaths and the darkness in the town? I was as confused and suspicious of everyone as Kami was. And I can very truthfully say that I did not see the end coming at all. A mark of a good story – all the clues were there, but not obvious in pointing fingers towards the villain of the story.

One thing I absolutely loved about the novel was that there was a point when I was mad or annoyed at each and every character at least once. Mark of good writing – everybody has flaws, even the heroine. Especially the heroine. Kami’s stubbornness sometimes had me wanting to hit my head against the wall. I loved it.

The only downside? As hard as it was to find the first book, it is proving even more difficult to get my hands on the second.