Mini Reviews: Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris and Tied by Laney McMann

From Goodreads: Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she’ll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths - and Ben is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn’t turn himself over within five days. And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about - someone from her own world - has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head - and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed? 

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: The sequel to Unraveling, Elizabeth Norris’ Unbreakable was even better than its predecessor! Not only did it have all the elements of Unraveling that I liked (e.g. tight pacing, tons of action, great character development, etc.), but I was very pleased that we got to explore some of the other universes as well. I also enjoyed the romance a lot more in this book. Usually when there’s trouble between couples in a YA novel, it’s because there’s another love interest or a superficial problem that's introduced. I loved that the romantic tension in Unbreakable came instead as a result of Ben and Janelle’s individual growth as characters while apart. They still love each other, but have done some questionable things in the name of love and so have to try to reconcile the consequences of their actions with their motives.

Unbreakable was released by Balzer + Bray in April 2013. 

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From Goodreads: Normal people don't believe their nightmares stalk them. They don’t fall in love with boys who don’t exist, either. Seventeen-year-old Layla Labelle, though, is far from normal. Her delusions walk the earth. Her hallucinations hunt her, and her skin heats to a burn every time her anger flares. Or is that all in her head? Layla doesn't know what to believe any more because if none of that’s true, Max MacLarnon must be an illusion, and her heart must still be broken. No matter how much she wants to believe Max is real, doing so would mean everything else is, too. How, then, is that possible? The answers lie in an age-old legend the supernatural aren’t prepared to reveal, and with a curse that could tear Layla and Max apart forever - if it doesn’t kill them both first.  

My Rating: 2 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: A huge reason why I decided to read Laney McMann’s Tied was because I don’t know much about Irish mythology. Unfortunately, I found Tied to be a rather disappointing read. The Irish mythology that I was so looking forward to just wasn’t incorporated into the plot as cohesively as I was expecting, and most of the information was typically provided in info dumps. The entire book was pretty much Layla discovering she hadn’t been told something, finding out more about it (for example, researching and looking at a website in one case), freaking out, and then having the cycle repeat.

My reading experience probably could have been improved if I had connected with the characters. Sadly, I didn’t because they weren’t very well developed.

Tied was released in September 2013 by J. Taylor Publishing. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (J. Taylor Publishing) for free.

Mini Reviews: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris and Riptide by Lindsey Schiebe

From Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Janelle Tenner is used to having a lot of responsibility. She balances working as a lifeguard in San Diego with an intense academic schedule. Janelle's mother is bipolar, and her dad is a workaholic FBI agent, which means Janelle also has to look out for her younger brother, Jared. And that was before she died ... and is brought back to life by Ben Michaels, a mysterious, alluring loner from her high school. When she discovers a strange clock that seems to be counting down to the earth's destruction, Janelle learns she has twenty-four days to figure out how to stop the clock and save the planet.

My Rating: 4 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: I can’t fully put my finger on what I enjoyed about Elizabeth Norris’ Unraveling so much, but I ended up loving the book. The writing was simple but fluid; and I liked how Unraveling started off with a bang, with the main character getting hit by a truck. From there, the story continued to remain action-packed since the plot involved humans being melted by radiation, an unstoppable device ticking down to the end of the world, and the concept of alternate universes. I also liked Janelle, who I found very relatable because she sounded like a typical teen, and yet didn’t disappoint me by making stupid decisions. The secondary characters like Alex, Ben, Cecily and Elijah were great as well. The only thing I didn’t really love about Unraveling was the romance. Yes, it was sweet, but I thought Janelle developed feelings for Ben quite quickly. 

Unraveling was released in April 2012 by Balzer + Bray.  

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From Goodreads: For Grace Parker, surfing is all about the ride and the moment. Everything else disappears. She can forget that her best friend, Ford Watson, has a crush on her that she can’t reciprocate. She can forget how badly she wants to get a surf scholarship to UC San Diego. She can forget the pressure of her parents’ impossibly high expectations. When Ford enters Grace into a surf competition - the only way she can impress the UCSD surfing scouts - she has one summer to train and prepare. Will she gain everything she’s ever wanted or lose the only things that ever mattered? 

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: When I requested Riptide by Lindsey Schiebe, I figured that there would be a lot of surfing in the novel. What I wasn’t expecting was Riptide to be an issues book that used surfing as a metaphor for Grace's life – and quite heavy handedly, I might add! Another problem I had with Riptide was that I couldn’t care about Grace, which made the book feel even longer. Lastly, Riptide had a second, unexpected main character – Ford. Unfortunately, Ford’s POV detracts from Grace’s story rather than being a meaningful alternative perspective because the two narratives aren’t linked very cohesively. Also, Ford’s POV made him came off as sort of a jerk. (Grace, on the other hand, seemed kind of selfish from both perspectives.) I think Riptide would have been a better story if it had just been Grace’s story. Ultimately, when I compare Riptide to Kirsty Eagar’s Raw Blue, another issues book with a lot of surfing scenes, I find Riptide to be severely lacking. If you’re an older reader or enjoy New Adult, I’d definitely recommend reading Raw Blue instead.  

Riptide will be released by Flux on May 8, 2013. 

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