Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Unraveling (Unraveling, #1)

by Elizabeth Norris

Reminiscent of Before I Fall, Elizabeth Norris's Unraveling blends realistic coming-of-age issues and heart-stopping romance with something just a little bit more. In this case, a gripping science fiction world.

Unraveling's heroine, seventeen-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.

And that was before she died...and is brought back to life by Ben Michaels, a mysterious, alluring loner from her high school. The more Janelle tries to figure him out, the more she starts to believe he's connected to a case her father is working on. The one where people are dying of radiation poisoning and the body count is rising. The one that involves a strange clock that seems to be counting down to the earth's destruction. If Janelle wants to stop the clock and save the world, she has twenty-four days to uncover Ben's secrets--and keep from falling in love with him.

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.

Reviewed by Raven on

4 of 5 stars

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Just before the start of her junior year, Janelle is hit by a truck and dies. When a booy she has never spoken to comes to focus infront of her eyes she knows without a doubt that the loner Ben Michaels has somehow brought her back to life. Now her FBI father is trying to find anything he can about the John Doe who hit her with his truck, as it seems he appeared out of thin air. There is a clock counting down to something. When someone close to Janelle is killed, and she takes over her father's case it becomes apparent that the clock is counting down to the end of the world, and Janelle is in way over her head. She needs to learn what Ben Michaels did to her, and what he knows, and try not to fall in love with him in the process.

This book caught me off gaurd. Ive gotten to the point where I dont trust the labels people on goodreads gives to a book, so the sci-fi aspect kind of snuck up on me. The alternate universes thing was what got me, but I didnt have a problem with it.

I really enjoyed the characters. There were times that things seemed a little out-landish, but it was a sci-fi novel so I just went with it. I enjoyed everyone really. I thought Nick was sort of a pointless character, but I suppose he was needed so there would be a reason for Janelle to have to walk in front of the truck that hit her. I really loved Ben. It makes me sad that he never was brave enough to make a move on her before.

The story was nice to follow and didnt go too fast or slow for me really. There was a lot of science talk in there that I didnt want to be friends with, but it wasnt enough to be really offputting. The romance between Janelle and Ben was frustrating, but it made it a little more heartbreaking at the end. Even then though, the end felt numb to me. Just, how things worked out, they were fine in the moment, but once I stopped to collect my thoughts I realized how anti-climatic and robotic it was.

Even with its flaws, I still enjoyed the whole thing and am anxious for the next novel.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 21 June, 2012: Finished reading
  • 21 June, 2012: Reviewed