Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Review: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Unraveling
by Elizabeth Norris

Publication Date: April 24th, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 445
ISBN: 9780062103734
From Publisher for Review

B&N | Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

From debut author Elizabeth Norris comes this shattering novel of one girl's fight to save herself, her world, and the boy she never saw coming. (Goodreads)
Unraveling is a highly addictive sci-fi novel by debut author Elizabeth Norris. I am so pleased to have had the chance to review this book for my blog!

Seeing her life flashing before her eyes after being hit by a pickup truck, seventeen year old Janelle knows that she is dead. Only she isn’t dead at all. She wakes up to find a loner schoolmate, Ben, kneeling over. Did he really bring her back to life? That is the question Janelle keeps asking herself. It’s up to Janelle to find out how, and why, Ben saved her. And she must also find out if Ben has anything at all to do with the clock that is counting down to the end of the world.

Janelle proved to be quite an interesting main character. She was a very bright, intelligent young lady. She is much like her father with her keen observation skills, and never seems to miss a thing. When tragedy ensues, Janelle takes matters into her own hands. Ben’s character is one I knew I would like from the beginning. He was so very mysterious, and I enjoyed unraveling the mystery that is Ben.

The secondary characters in the story were intriguing as well.  I really came to care for quite a few of them; Alex, Janelle’s best friend, also for her dad and brother, Jared. They all were very well written, and made quite an impact throughout the book.

I found the book to be very well paced; I finished most of it in just a day’s time.  The plot held my attention, and I have to say it was a great breath of fresh air compared to some of the books I’ve read lately.  There is a bit of romance in the book, but I didn’t overpower the book as I expected it to.  There were more than a few moments in the book where I was screaming: “Oh my gosh, I know that didn’t just happen!” The author definitely didn’t hold back. I am also pleased to say that this book kept me guessing right up to the end.

Overall:  I’m not much of a sci-fi fan. However, I enjoyed reading Unraveling a lot more than I expected to. The unique characters and the addictive storyline all flow together to make a wonderful read.

Happy Reading!

16 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed this too. I went into it thinking it was a mystery only and discovered it was so much more. Thanks for the review

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can not wait to start this SOON!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Donna xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was so surprised by this book!! I didn't read much about the plot other than what we know from the synopsis and I was surprised by the turn in events! I loved the pace, it was exilerating and I really enjoyed to discover the murder mystery which was more of a side-plot. The ending makes me wish for more and I desperately hope we are going to get a sequel°

    ReplyDelete
  4. Super excited to read this one I had to put it off and I'm dying!!! I love the contdown idea and the fact that it's a bit sci fi! Awesome review!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Christie! I have been reading the most fantastic reviews about this book and yours joins the pile! :D I'm extremely excited to get my hands on the book and have my fingers tightly crossed that my review copy comes next week :) I've never been a huge sci-fi fan either but it seems as if it's tackled very well in Unraveling! Oh I'm so excited to meet the characters and see all of the twists play out!!

    Lisa | Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me

    ReplyDelete
  6. YAY!!! I loved this one so much too, it was just fantastic:) I knew I would like Ben from the beginning as well, and I love that Elizabeth didn't pull any punches when it came to her characters. They were flawed and interesting, and she didn't fade to black when bad things happened. LOVE!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm excited to read this one. Knowing that you liked it even though you're not a sci-fi person makes me want to read it more!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This book sounds amazing, I love sci fi so I can't wait to read this one !! Thanks for the great review Christy :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I loved this one and I'm glad to see you enjoyed it as well. I loved the romance in this one and I also loved how intense this book was, a lot of things that happened really took me by surprise. I can't wait to see what happens next with these characters. Awesome review :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great review! And I am a sci-fi fan, so I can't wait to get my hands on it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I quite like sci-fi, so I've definitely been intrigued by this! The characters all sounds great too, I'm excited to meet them. Glad you enjoyed this one, thanks for the review :).

    ReplyDelete
  12. This looks so good, great review!

    New follower :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Growl! I totally saw this on Amazon Vine and didn't get it right away then, when I went back, it was gone! Oh, well. Off to the library I go. I love that it surprised you and you liked it more than you expected. So awesome when that happens.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great review Christy! I'm really hoping Amazon ships my copy out soon!! Can't wait to read it!

    ReplyDelete
  15. It's always great when you like a book more than you expected to. This one sounds great!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yay more good reviews! I am definitley getting this book soon!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by! :)