Review: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

From Goodreads: 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?

My Rating: 3.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Suffused with wit and humour, Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan isn’t at all like your typical YA novel! Here are three reasons why: 

1. The main character, Kami, is smart, persistent, and has a voice in her head that she often talks to. Adorably quirky, Kami knows she’s a little weird and is okay with it!
2. Kami’s parents not only make frequent appearances throughout the novel, but actually have a personality of their own! Her father, for example, is hilarious! Here’s just one of Mr. Glass’ brilliant quotes: “Why are you putting on lip gloss, my daughter? Dad asked. “Trip to the library? Trip to the nunnery? I hear the nunneries are nice this time of year.” … “Are you going out on a date?” Dad asked tragically. “Wearing that? Wouldn’t you fancy a shapeless cardigan instead? You rock a shapeless cardigan, honey.” (pg. 143)
3. There’s no love triangle … or even much of a romance. Instead, the tension in the relationship between Kami and Jared comes from the fact that they have a beautifully complicated relationship where they know each other intimately (mentally, anyway) but have also succeeded at building psychological walls so that there is some semblance of privacy. Once they discover that the imaginary voice in their head isn’t imaginary at all, neither of them knows what the other person should be to them. Should they ignore each other, continue to be friends or become a couple? 

If it weren’t for the weird pacing of the plot, Unspoken would have definitely garnered a higher rating from me. The book starts off great and ends with a surprising ending; but it was the slow-paced middle that I had problems with since it made me feel detached from the characters. Another problem I also had with Unspoken was that although I really liked that it managed to be consistently entertaining, the seriousness of some events or moments was lost due to Kami cracking a joke or doing something ridiculous. 

With a vivid Gothic setting, a fun mystery, and amusing dialogue; Unspoken was a good introduction to Brennan’s writing for me. This certainly won’t be the only novel of hers that I’m going to read!

Unspoken was released by Random House Books for Young Readers on September 11, 2012. 

Comments About the Cover: This is one of the few times where I actually prefer the US cover compared to the UK cover because it’s so whimsical looking. It’s perfect for this novel!

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Random House) for free via NetGalley.