Unspoken

Title: Unspoken
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Pub: 2012; Random House for For Young Readers
Pages: 370
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Series
Etc:  Thanks to NG and Random House for the read.


Kami Glass is a high school investigative journalist in a small town in England. Her life is pretty normal EXCEPT she has an imaginary friend that she has talked to her whole life. Jared is the voice in her head. He has a life of his own and in every way is three-dimensional, except in the physical sense. Kami has lost friends over this weird quirk of hers and part of her doesn't want to think hard enough about it because she just might be crazy.

Pushing the crazy out of her head she is intrigued by a returning family in town, The Lynburns. For some reason the Lynburns are feared by most of the townsfolk and anytime Kami asks questions about the folklore surrounding them, people hush up.

THEN leaving the library after some research, Kami discovers that Jared is not just a voice in her head but a real person. Aaaaannd a Lynburn.

Hands down this is one of the most creative concepts ever imagined. I loved the notion of an imaginary friend a la potential schizophrenia is in fact a real person. Plus how Kami and Jared ended up being connected was well thought out. (Hint: it has nothing to do with soul mates).

Also, guys what else is different about this YA? The parents are involved. Yup, Kami and her family have this campy sorta relationship filled with smart sarcasm and doting. She also has a best friend, Angela and her brother Rusty who are sorta extended family.

Kami is clearly a female protagonist that falls in the anti-googly-boy-eyed team. She's smart and dedicated to her career and often is the sound of reason when it comes to her relationship with Jared. In fact Jared ends up being the passive "my-life-is-nothing-and-you-complete-me" mentality. It's a different change of pace.

Unfortunately the story was only meh. Don't get me wrong. The Unspoken is a fast-paced read. Seriously. I read it straight through one night and really felt that lack of sleep the next morning. So the pacing wasn't what did it in for me. Nope, instead, there were too many moments that reminded me of Harry Potter. Not in the wizardry school sorta way. There's no Hogwarts. But the gist of it. How the good vs. evil is set up against each other. At least in The Unspoken the enemy's name can be spoken. Heh.