Review: Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1)
by Sarah Rees Brennan

September 11, 2012:  Random House Books for Young Readers

eARC review copy

"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?"

Review

I'll make this review short and simple.  This book is absolutely bloody brilliant.  My goodness, Sarah, what have you done to me?  I am in pieces. 

Kami is a strong character.  She knows what she wants and is determined to go for it.  She doesn't back down on challenges.  She remains logical and in-control.  For someone who speaks with a voice in her head, she's better than normal.  Who wants normal?  Normal is boring.  I love her best friend, Angela.  Can I have her?  You'll adore her even if you can't hug her.  She doesn't do people.  People annoy her.  Unless you have a couch. 

I like Kami.  I think some of us, at one point in our lives, talk to ourselves.  I still do.  She has a real voice in her head though.  You might think she might be schizo or one part delusional.  But she isn't; though she never imagined the voice in her head is a real breathing living boy.  I was like, "I always hear Benedict Cumberbatch in my head."  Maybe soon he will magically appear in my doorstep.  A girl can dream, can she?

The Lynburns are just the tip of the icebergs.  Mysterious, and both revered and feared by those who can remember them.  Their family is tied with the history of Sorry-in-the-Vale.  You will find out just how much.   

While reading this book I laughed alone, screamed a little, and then stared at nothingness in the end. I read it in one sitting.  I refused sleep until I finished the last part of the book.  What comfort will sleep give me if I know not what secrets are yet to unfold around Kami, Jared and the investigative team? And in the end, only the next book will give me reprieve from what Sarah have twisted inside of me.

But in all seriousness, my fellow readers.  Unspoken is one of the books you should read and own.  Sarah has this magic of weaving intricate stories that will make your walls come down and then hits you when you least expect it.