Children's Book Club

Friday 10 February 2012

Unravelling by Elizabeth Norris

It didn’t take me long to get through this book, I was dying to find out where this plot was going. Usually, with most YA fiction, I can sort of guess what’s going to happen. Who the good guys and bad guys are etc. This time I really wasn’t sure until close to the end, very refreshing.
Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck after leaving the beach, a truck that apparently appeared from nowhere with no record of its existence anywhere on this planet. She’s dying, and then someone is leaning over her, healing her before the emergency services even arrive on the scene. This someone is Ben Michaels, a stoner ‘nobody’ from her school. Or so she thought.
Janelle’s father works for the FBI, and by some snooping around with her best friend Alex, she begins to uncover more unusual events and discovers a terrible secret. Unless they can figure out exactly what is going on, the world is going to end in twenty three days.
This is fast paced and very clever. Right from the start we’re introduced to many X – Files references, secret meetings and mysterious characters; and so Norris leads us to believe Janelle’s discovery may take us to another world. It really is hard to put this book down; I wanted to figure out what on earth was happening.
Janelle is a strong character and I instantly liked her. Her relationship with Ben’s relationship turns into something electric – it’s super hot, but of course, as with all these intense YA romances, things are never quite straightforward.
I’m assuming this is the first in a new series, well at least I hope it is. Although Norris leaves us with a satisfying ending, I’m not happy about abandoning Janelle and Ben in their current situations. We need to know more! A brilliant story, but due to Norris’ very real use of language this is definitely one for older teens.

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