REVIEW: Unraveling

Unraveling

Elizabeth Norris

Synopsis: Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

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.



My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book much more than I thought to.  It still didn't seem amazing, but I couldn't put the book down!  I loved the characters, the plot, and really felt like I could see the setting in my mind.  Three things to make an awesome book!

Janelle was really a character that I could relate to.  After being hit by the truck and brought back to life, Janelle hunts down Ben Michaels, the guy who saved her, and demands answers....even though she didn't associate with him before and he hangs out with what I would call the "potheads".  When he comes up with an excuse, Janelle doesn't believe it, but she doesn't push it right then either.  She is just a girl who wouldn't take no for an answer and is willing to do her own investigating, even if she could get in trouble, to get the answer she wants.  She finds out her dad is trying to figure out why people are showing up dead from radiation poisoning.  They've also found a device that is counting down.  Janelle doesn't leave it alone.  She wants her own answers.  So she starts doing her own investigation.  She gets a little too nosy a few times, but she's just so determined!

The plot was so interesting.  It was not what I expected at all.  And honestly, had I known that this book would go that way, I probably would have NEVER picked it up.  It turned almost sci-fi there for a bit.  And that is so not my thing, but this book did it right for me.  I'm sure that those people that are into sci-fi wouldn't be impressed with this book, but it didn't overdo any of that, so I really enjoyed it.  I loved all of the suspense with the end-of-the-world business!  There were a couple of times that I just didn't understand why they weren't doing anything!  Um, if I knew that the world was going to end, and that I could potentially do something about it, I would be doing something about it!  I don't think I would take a break. 

I wasn't impressed with the boys in this book.  It seems as though Janelle has some really great guy friends, but she needs a boyfriend!  Or a love interest that interests me!  It was kind of nice to read about something else than just romance though I guess.  Either way, I still enjoyed this book.  I just didn't connect with any of the boys.

All in all this was a really great book.  And I'm sure my review makes it sound like any other book, but it's not.  I think you'll just have to read it for yourself to believe me!