Review-The Taking

For several years now I'm been up to any book written by Kimberly Derting, so when I heard about her new series I was seriously excited.  I will admit, possible alien abduction stories do make me go "hmm..." but like everything else she does Kim manages to pull it off.  Despite having written about serial killers in her debut series and a city torn apart by war in her second series this book seems to be somewhat darker than her previous novels, and I think it's because of the swearing.  As far as content goes it's really no darker than her previous books, and depending on how you look at it could actually be considered lighter by some standards.  It's always interesting watching an author jump from one series to another because you never know how the plot will turn out or how you will relate to the characters, but despite never being abducted by aliens or going missing for five years I managed to connect with the character at several points in the story.  The emotions written into Kyra, the main character, transferred over very well to me, and I think that a lot of teenagers (especially ones with younger siblings or divorced parents) will be able to relate to the situation on some level.  Kyra herself was also very likable and reading a character like her, who is strong but scared at the same time, is something that I feel is really important because so often we think of being brave as not being afraid, but that's not actually the case.  I also really liked the love interest in this novel, just because he was 1) super sweet, and 2) super snarky, which for some reason I find to be a great combination.  As far plot goes I while the basic idea behind it isn't exactly a new one the way it's executed was very original and the closest book I could possibly relate it to would be Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris, which, like this novel, will particularly appeal to fans of The X-Files.  The only thing that I thought could be changed was the fact that it took some time for the action to really start, although the way it was written it didn't feel like it was as long as it actually was (if that makes any sense).  All in all I really enjoyed the book and I can't wait for the sequel to see what happens next (because DAMN YOU CLIFF HANGERS!!!).

Out April 29, 2013

4.5/5 dust spirits

*Thanks to Harper Teen for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.