Rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis: 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?
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 picked this book up on a whim from one of my frequent trips to the library because the premise sounded interesting. I thought I would enjoy it but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. I flew through this book and as soon as I started reading it, I was hooked.
Last October I tried to start reading the Beautiful Creatures series because so many people told me how amazing it was. I think I got 100 pages in and then gave up. This book reminded me of Beautiful Creatures, except 1000 times better. To me, the characters were more alive in Unspoken - there was more chemistry between them than there is in Beautiful Creatures.
Kami is a headstrong, stubborn protagonist but I really loved her. She has an amazing personality that draws you in. Her determination to get to the truth of this mystery powers the plot which does inevitably lead to her doing some stupid things BUT, there the stupid stuff was acknowledged as being stupid and it's done because there isn't a better option. I liked that Kami is called on her ridiculous plans - it's not done very often but, in this book, where sarcasm and sass is abundant, it really worked well. I liked how her insecurities were displayed as well. In 'Beautiful Creatures' I felt like the characters didn't really do anything to change the fact that they were outsiders - they were content to let it be that way. Kami doesn't like it at all, but has found friends despite it and hasn't let it stop her from doing what she loves and I think that's another reason why this book was better, in my opinion, than 'Beautiful Creatures'.
I did like Jared as a character. He's a very complicated person but, I think he does truly love Kami. The bond between them means they're so close that it can be difficult to discern whether their feelings for each other are real but, I think he truly does love her. His mood swings can be a lot to handle, but, I didn't find them all that annoying really, because he always came through for Kami when it mattered and, lets be honest, finding out your imaginary friend isn't so imaginary, and is living in the same town as you, is always going to be a bit of a shock!
I enjoyed the fact that magic was brought in fairly late in the book. It gave us time to set up the mystery and the characters properly, before bringing a lot of magic and crazy powers into play. Leaving the magic till later meant we really got a sense of the deep rooted fear of the Lynburns in the town and, like Kami, it infuriated me to not know why people were so afraid of them until everything was revealed. It kept me hooked and I was surprised when things were revealed in the plot.
Overall I loved this book and I'm dying to pick up the sequels to it to find out what happens!
Image from Goodreads - no Copyright Intended
I did like Jared as a character. He's a very complicated person but, I think he does truly love Kami. The bond between them means they're so close that it can be difficult to discern whether their feelings for each other are real but, I think he truly does love her. His mood swings can be a lot to handle, but, I didn't find them all that annoying really, because he always came through for Kami when it mattered and, lets be honest, finding out your imaginary friend isn't so imaginary, and is living in the same town as you, is always going to be a bit of a shock!
I enjoyed the fact that magic was brought in fairly late in the book. It gave us time to set up the mystery and the characters properly, before bringing a lot of magic and crazy powers into play. Leaving the magic till later meant we really got a sense of the deep rooted fear of the Lynburns in the town and, like Kami, it infuriated me to not know why people were so afraid of them until everything was revealed. It kept me hooked and I was surprised when things were revealed in the plot.
Overall I loved this book and I'm dying to pick up the sequels to it to find out what happens!
Image from Goodreads - no Copyright Intended
