Tor Maddox: UNLEASHED

Full review on my blog https://mollyeyablog.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/tor-maddox-unleashed-liz-coley/

Note: I received a free copy from Xpresso Tours in exchange for an honest review.

This is a modern day, teenage mystery/thriller with a fantastic teen voice. Tor is exactly the kind of girl one would expect to run into in the high school hallways--a little mouthy, a little head-strong, but a big heart and ready to stick up for what she believes in. . .even if it means going what most people would consider a little over-board.

We start with her in a park walking her cute doggy (yep, one to fall in love with). The opening scene with the 'older' guy was simply fun and was a great way to start off the story, which although manages to keep a 'light' tone, still delves into some pretty serious areas. That was one of my favorite aspects of this book, the way it took a very serious situation and definitely hit the thriller end without having the overly dark, morbid feeling often found in YA literature. Tor finds herself in deep trouble, and she's up against a horrible threat, but her view of the world manages to stay hopeful.

The supporting characters in this story are lovely. There's a great relationship between Tor and her brother, and the parents manage the situation with parenting perfectness. I think any teen would love to jump into Tor's shoes. . .although maybe not have the evil men pursuing them.

The only thing that bothered me in this book is the pace. Although things are happening all of the time, for some reason the danger doesn't come through as clear as it could (despite the threat against Tor, I sometimes just didn't feel the tension). But that's not enough to ruin the story!

This is a wonderful mystery/thriller that especially girls ages 13+ up will enjoy. The situations are realistic, hide messages that will make the reader think, and still keep a wonderfully modern, true to life air.

Note: I received a free digital copy of this book thanks to Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Unleashed is a fun, interesting book that all dog-lovers will find enjoyable!

Plot

The storyline is pretty unique to me, or at least, I haven’t read or heard of many books based on it. It’s relatively fast-paced, however I was expecting a bit more ‘thrilling’ action scenes, as this is, a thriller. Nonetheless, it was still a good plot. It did kind of take me a little bit of time to really get into the book, but once I did, especially near the middle and end, I was really immersed in the story, and I kept flipping pages because the plot/storyline had me hooked.

Characters

I really liked Tor, although she did come off as quite childish at times. Sometimes this bothers me, but this time it slipped my attention until after finishing the book. Tor isn’t your average girl. Where other girls are squealing about boys and wearing makeup, Tor watches the news and uses advanced vocabulary. She’s smart, loves animals, especially dogs, and stands up for what she believes in. Tor isn’t afraid to speak her mind, or act on what she thinks is right, and I really admired that throughout the book.

As far as other characters go, I felt like they weren’t as developed as Tor, but I still liked them. Rick Turner, the love interest, isn’t the best, but I did really like Tor’s friend Sasha, as he seems like a very mysterious character and is very likeable. I don’t want to give away and spoilers, so I’ll leave it at that!

Writing Style

The writing style was fairly easy to read, and made it simple to visualize what I was reading in my head, and I really enjoyed reading it! The writing style made the book lots of fun to read, and there was a kind of style to it that I can’t really name.

I floated above the ground, I spun in dizzy circles, I puddled at his feet, and somewhere in the background there was music playing.

Often there would be this prose to the writing, a slight poetic feel to it (not always though) but I wouldn’t notice it until afterwards. It kind of all slips on top of everything, since it’s so easy to read.

Overall…

A very interesting book involving conspiracy theories, virology, romance and dogs. If you like dogs, this would be a good pick for you, because not only does the whole book surround dogs and the flu they have gotten, the main character’s goal is to keep her dog, and all the other dogs, safe. So what could be better, if you’re a dog-lover? But even if you don’t like dogs, this book might still be a good pick because of the start of a forbidden romance, or the thriller aspect of the story. All in all, I liked this book, and if this seems like your thing, go for it!