Review Detail

I LOVE THIS BOOK! I just wanted to sit and devour it all in one sitting, unfortunately work and uni beckoned but rarely did the story leave my mind and I found myself counting down the hours and minutes of each shift/lecture until I could hold Unravelling in my hands once again. Finally, this morning, I woke up early and got through the last fifty pages in a flash and I can honestly say I have rarely been so excited by any book in my life. I just adored it, and now I'm feeling depressed that something so great has come to a close.

When seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a truck, she dies. She knows she is dead. Yet suddenly Ben, one of the stoner guys from her school, is kneeling above her, healing her broken bones and busted organs. Janelle is desperate to know what Ben did and how he did it, but when her dad, an FBI agent, begins working on a case related to her accident and a mysterious device which is counting down the days, Janelle decides to begin her own investigation. She must quickly discover Ben's secrets, or face the end of the world.

The Good - Norris lends an urgency to her writing through brief chapters and short sentences, which keeps the pages turning. I as said, I did not want to put this book down and I found myself telling everyone I knew about 'this amazing book that I'm reading'. The characters were great and there was a clear differentiation between each one (except perhaps Reid and Elijah). Ben was absolutely adorable and I think I might be in love with him! The (UK/Australian) cover is fabulous. I continually closed the book to look at it and touch it, and the length was good, too (I have always been a fan of longer YA books, which will become more obvious as I review). I love that the ending of the book wasn't what I wanted to happen!

The Bad - There is nothing majorly wrong with this book. BUT, when Ben finally tells Janelle the 'real story' I just thought it was...a lot for the reader to believe. Yeah, it is science fiction, but the first half of the book just didn't seem to fit the last. Also, there were two instances when Norris wanted to explain the 'science' behind the circumstances, which were done quite clumsily in a 'so here is how it works' chapter, rather than steadily through dialogue and action. When an author does something like this, some of the authenticity wears off and you become completely aware that you are reading a book. Also, although the characters were distinguishable, there were definitely a lot of stock foundations, but none of this deters the fact that I loved Unravelling, and I am going to do everything possible to get an ARC of the sequel!