Unknown

by Wendy Higgins

• ISBN10: 153554287X
• ISBN13: 9781535542876
• Publish Date: 8 August 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Vicki]

3.5 stars

I have a thing for apocalyptic stories and loved this. I loved watching Amber and her family trying to hang on to the old threads of their normal lives, while society was slowly unraveling before them. It seemed like a very realistic portrayal of how people would react to this type of situation. All while things were slowly falling apart, we get to see Amber deal with her feelings for Rylen. The first eight chapters of the book tell the backstory of how Amber and Rylen grew up together. It was quite a big chunk of the book (maybe a little too much), but wow it was like Wendy Higgins transported me back to my teenage years. She pulls all those insecurities and hurt feelings from when you had a major crush that didn't return your feelings. The angst and sexual tension throughout this was nuts. I seriously hope Amber and Rylen get together in the next book.

I read this book in one night. I really enjoyed it. I read it purely for the characters and I really wanted to know how the love story panned out. In the meantime the story was interesting, yet this whole book is all backstory and only the beginning of the real story. But I didn't mind.

This didn't blow me away or anything but it really did draw me in!

[Leigha]

Red Dawn meets Roswell in this New Adult Science Fiction.

Wendy Higgens has been hit or miss for me lately. I did really enjoy this particular story, and yet I felt unsettled after reading it. It's dealing with some serious issues, particularly terrorism. Terrorism is a very scary reality for some right now, and this book does a really interesting job highlighting the chaos terrorism can bring. Add to the fold some really interesting characters and the amazing background of Nevada, and you have an intriguing story.

I had two issues with this book. First, I felt like readers were told more about the events leading up to the apocalypse more than shown. I honestly don't feel like the book really started gaining momentum until about 20% of the way. Everything before that point could have been cut or shown in flashbacks without hindering the story. Secondly, I wasn't feeling the romance between Amber and Rylen. Amber was a charismatic, likable heroine whenever she wasn't obsessing about Rylen. Unfortunately, she obsessed about Rylen the majority of the book.

I'm hoping the second book in the series either moves forward the romance between them quicker or completely removes the romance between them altogether. I would be completely happy if she did a Maas and introduced the main romance in the second novel between Amber and a completely random person. If they are going to be together, I would prefer she actually create something romantic between them instead of this horrible pining.

tl;dr A really interesting plot and an amazing setting make this a quick, entertaining read.