Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Review: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan


Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: The Lynburn Legacy, #1
Published: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 373
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?
I’m sitting attempting to formulate a plan for reviewing this book.  I’ve been sitting for weeks attempting to think of how to review this book. My task is made more difficult by the fact that I’ve met Sarah,
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PROOF (Yes, I be holding SIGNED copies of the Demon Lexicon’s Trilogy)
and I’ve first hand seen the brilliance (and crazy) that she emits. This lady has a wonderful mind, everyone, and dissecting the book that it has produced will be hard, but by golly, I’m going to do it!
Because I find such things easier, I’m going to start off with the characters. I am going to regret this later because I know exactly where this will lead, and it will be so messy, but you can’t stop me!
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Ah, anarchy. You know who else enjoys not following the rules? Kami Glass. As in the main character of this book brilliant modern gothic. Hence the love. As a rule, the female protagonist in gothic novels are in someway queer (I don’t mean the sexual conation, guys, it had another meaning first). Just think about all those Brontë and Wilde books you read in school, and you’ll see what I mean. Kami - well, Kami wants to be an investigative journalist. And this is a novel, so by “wants,” I mean “is.” 
Ha! Fooled ya! Or more likely not…But yes, there is more to her queerness! Because this is Sarah, and of course we need something weird to deal with (demon babies, you know we love you). And yes, weird thing is very weird and raises a lot of questions (darn you, legit authors). But what I like about this book is that Kami never loses touch with her other qualities. At heart, she’s always an investigative journalist who extremely dislikes being told what to do (or what not to do). She’s always a human girl, who went through awkward situations that teenage girls go through. Her witty, bright, independent nature is solely hers (and probably one of the biggest draws of this book) - but it’s always mixed with a little bit of “other.” 
The “other” being the bond. Minor Spoiler Kami has a imaginary-not-so-imaginary friend. End Minor Spoiler My brain as I read this book, and explored the morality of this bond…I can’t even guys. 
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Forget about that Supreme Court wondering over the right of privacy, THIS BOOK IS A SERIOUS ISSUE OF RIGHT TO PRIVACY. Sarah created a situation where my desire conflicted with my reason. Which shows she’s just doing her job, and should’ve made the answer to my question a lot easier, except…Well, I do believe in good desires and, not so much bad desires as twisted desires. A simple and not-at-all encompassing example would be the desire to love. That’s good! Fantastic! We should always be reaching out and looking for it! But it becomes twisted in an abusive situation. It’s never that clear-cut though.
Hence dilema in book! You see, Sarah, brilliant, masterful, heart-tearing Sarah created a situation in which there were good desires within the bond…and not so good situations…On one hand, we see Jared in all his broken-ness (I promise, he’s so much more than a broken boy), and we can hardly deny him the one thing that makes him happy. Because there is nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. But we (or at least I), still felt iffy over that bond. It seemed suspicious. Unnatural. Invasive
Ding! Ding! Ding! Other isn’t bad. But the bond, Jared’s happiness, comes at an expense. Kami’s privacy. Suddenly, we’re asking questions, like, “Is it really that big of deal?” “Hasn’t she lived with it for 17 years?” and “Is Jared’s sense of security worth more than Kami’s?” 
That last question is a real kicker. And of course I’m not going to answer it! Read the book, it’ll do it for you ;) And stop thinking about the answer, focus on the question!
Right, now that you’re throughly confused, let’s move on. By talking about Kami, I’ve touched on Jared, but there’s another guy…My feelings about Jared are…unresolved. He kinda pisses me off actually, but I’m just going to contribute that to first book syndrome. Yes, I’ve made that up on the spot. Don’t despair, though, it has a meaning! It’s when either a) One reading of the book isn’t sufficient to establish where feelings are on certain matters or b) characters are too busy being broken for the rebuilding and growing process that will occur in later books. Okay, maybe only point b makes sense with that title, BUT I CAN STILL COUNT A, OKAY? 
My point being, don’t say, “Ew! Love triangle!” unless you’re one of those people who think love triangles can NEVER EVER be done right…in which case, I say you’re being unreasonable, but whatevs! Sarah’s got a handle on it, but my own personal feelings may just be a wee wary on where I stand in it. 
All the other characters kick ass. Like, fangasm kick ass. 
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I love how kick ass this gif is. Sarah loves to kick us to the ground. You’ve been warned *Sarah looks at especially scrumptious vulnerable reader*
Right, I’m going to take this point to say, I apologize for not being my usual, reasonable self. This book review is a special occasion. 
While I could continue on about all character’s bad ass-ness, I will stop at the point of this review becoming obnoxiously long, and that none of it will sound as insightful as my thoughts on the central conflict of this book, and the extreme probability that it would stop making any sort of sense. Instead, I’ll close with this nursery rhyme (I’ve been telling people for years they are evil, thank you for showing the world, Sarah!!!)
Forest deep, silent bells
There’s a secret so one tells
Valley quiet, water still
Lynburns watching on the hill
Apples red, corn gold
Almost everyone grows old. (Unspoken, 4)
Yup, page 4. Enjoy the read folks. And the ending :)
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