Got something either Super-Awesome or Super-Lame for you lot today. Super-Awesome because it involves the new release of UNFORGOTTEN, by the brilliant Jessica Brody, but perhaps Super-Lame because it also involves a BOOK REVIEW which, personally, I think I'm pretty crappy at. But we'll see, won't we?
I've done some reviews over at my GoodReads after I finish a book, but half of them are full of:
ASDFGHJKL
and
I CAN'T's
and
Yes. Lots of SHERLOCK GIF's to express my undying love for all things of words that I obsess over.
Not to say that OMG's and BRB DYING doesn't perfectly capture the language of a fangirl, but I really wanted to try my hand at a more... coherent review, without spilling my thoughts all over the place like an explosion of death.
What better why to start than with Unforgotten, right?
So, if you've never heard of Jessica Brody, or UNFORGOTTEN, or the first book in the trilogy, UNREMEMBERED, you really should promptly go bury yourself in a hole.
No just kidding I'm really joking.
A bit.
But really I love these books so much. Jessica Brody is also the Author of many other YA Novels that I, sadly, have not been able to get my hands on quite yet, but they are most certainly on my To-Read list.
There's just something about her writing that is beautiful and cryptic and just lovely all at the same time. It has voice and it's full of bravery, especially in the Unremembered Trilogy, from Sera's POV.
Dunno who Sera is? Fine then:
Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.
Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.
Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?
From popular young adult author Jessica Brody comes a compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten."
(Blurb taken from GoodReads.)
So there's a bit about the story for book one, but really if you haven't read the first one you probably won't understand much of this review seeing as it's for the SECOND one, but I'm going to try and keep it Spoiler-Free, so if you're curious anyway, maybe this review will get you interested about the story and perhaps buy it and read them for yourself! (Which would be a seriously great idea.)
Anyway, first thing's first, is that I literally just discovered like a week ago the wonders of the Status Update option on GoodReads, where you can update your page number for whatever book you're currently reading, and add a little note to it as well. This was incredibly helpful to keep track of my thoughts as things were happening in the book, but I may have had a LITTLE too much fun with it. Do you think so?:
| 03/13 | page 162 | 38.0% | "I ship it I shouldn't but I do. 'Nuff said." | |
| 03/13 | page 210 | 50.0% | "OH MY GOODNESS WASN'T EXPECTING THAT YAY WHOA" | |
| 03/15 | page 240 | 57.0% | "Oh my gods okay Reese and Ella and my precious precious little Cody. I'm certain I'm about to cry this is beautiful." |
...Yes. All of that was very necessary.
Characters, man! It's all about the characters for me! And Miss Jessica Brody didn't only reach my incredibly high standards for 'great characters', but even surpassed it! And that's a very hard thing to do. Because I'm picky. And negative. But whatever.
First we have the complicated Sera, who is the leading lady for our story, and I think she is the epitome of well-written YA female heroines.
There's a huge, constant war of how our girls should act and think in novels. Some say "They should be soft-spoken and pretty and happy!", while other's say "She should have two guns and should scowl a lot and not take no crap from anybody!"
Now I think that these both are fair suggestions, along with all of the other arguments that are going on for female characters, but, honestly, there shouldn't be a debate on what YA girls SHOULD or SHOULDN'T be. Each characters is different, as each person is, and who they are is who they are, whether they have big daggers or a fluffy stuffed bunny.
But Sera is like this magical combination of all of them. She's kind and caring but strong and stubborn, but it's never annoying. I hate the characters that act all big and bad, like "Don't even look at me the wrong way or this bullets going in your face!", because, honestly, where's the character in that? Women can be whoever they want to be, but there is a line that crosses that--even if it was a male character, I guarantee I would still roll my eyes.
Sera has so many good qualities, and it's thoroughly interesting just to see what she's thinking and find out more and more of who she is. I love Sera. Obviously.
Then we have the wonderful Zen who, honestly, is one of the best written male love interests I've ever read. He's not just there to make this book a romance--he's there as a character who is loyal and funny and just all around perfect. And I shipped he and Sera with all of my giant, feelsy heart, until...
Until Kaelen.
Even when I shouldn't have, I loved this character. I fell for him at the very beginning and now he has to be my absolute favorite out of them all.
He's just so freakin' adorable and--Nope. I can't say anything else without spoiling something. literally his entire existence is a huge spoiler. Just know that I have an undying love for him. Just know. Ah.
The plot in this one is probably even quicker and more shocking then the first one, and THAT'S saying something. I was gasping and staring at the pages, and I finished the entire second half in one sitting because I literally couldn't stop.
THAT ENDING THO!
We see some awesome, familiar characters, and get introduced to some epic new one's, and the threats are higher and the danger is for real intense. It's full of romance and beautifully woven words and action-packed excitement. It's full of great, unique characters and realistic, rough lives that jump out of the page and slap you upside the head with the book. Like I still have a bruise. Seriously.
Have you read Unforgotten? How about anything else written by Jessica Brody? (Was this Review terribly terrible or is there still hope for me yet?!)
So long folks and thanks for reading!
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| Yes the size IS necessary. Deal with it. |
Even when I shouldn't have, I loved this character. I fell for him at the very beginning and now he has to be my absolute favorite out of them all.
He's just so freakin' adorable and--Nope. I can't say anything else without spoiling something. literally his entire existence is a huge spoiler. Just know that I have an undying love for him. Just know. Ah.
The plot in this one is probably even quicker and more shocking then the first one, and THAT'S saying something. I was gasping and staring at the pages, and I finished the entire second half in one sitting because I literally couldn't stop.
THAT ENDING THO!
We see some awesome, familiar characters, and get introduced to some epic new one's, and the threats are higher and the danger is for real intense. It's full of romance and beautifully woven words and action-packed excitement. It's full of great, unique characters and realistic, rough lives that jump out of the page and slap you upside the head with the book. Like I still have a bruise. Seriously.
Have you read Unforgotten? How about anything else written by Jessica Brody? (Was this Review terribly terrible or is there still hope for me yet?!)
So long folks and thanks for reading!
