SO, this was one of the books I was most looking forward to in 2012 based on the excerpts (and the two short prequels I read, names and places to find them escape at the moment, one of which could actually be considered a spoiler, I hadn't expected something there to have been revealed until much later, clearly SRB gets the idea of "expect your readers will figure out the plot twists and don't wait until much later to reveal them") and was quite happy that I didn't have to wait months and months to get a hold of it.
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
Summary: While most people consider Sorry-in-the-Vale to be your typical, quiet English hamlet Kami is convinced that there are mysteries that lurk below the surface. After all, the town has an absent, powerful family of whom the rest of the town only speaks of in whispers and there has to be a reason for that. But the Lynburns are about to suddenly return and soon enough Kami will have a chance to find out how right or wrong she is. That is, if anyone can take her seriously, she is the girl after all who runs around telling people about her imaginary friend from America.
The Good: SRB has said that Veronica Mars (the character from the show of the same name) was an inspiration here and I can see it easily. Kami is in no way a copy of Veronica, and different in some ways, but they are cut from the same cloth of adventurous, brash, clever, and all around fun to watch teen sleuths and I really liked her (even though it took a little while to stop wincing at her name). The other characters were great too, one complaint I have about a lot of fiction is how the main character has only one or two close friends (one or both of which will double as love interests) which generally isn't how real life is and here Kami has a whole posse of people who get fleshed out and I really liked reading about them as well and can't wait to read about all of them in the next book.
The Bad: Apparently a good part of the internet raged over the ending, once you get about half way through and know that fact then you can easily guess what happens, and I am frustrated but not for nearly the same reason most people are. I feel like a character made a sudden, 180 degree change in character either to move the plot forward or did it as a ploy to keep other characters safe, even though everyone has been working together up until that point. I imagine that there will be an explanation in the next installment but it still feels rather forced to me.
There's not much else for me to say except yes, I really enjoyed this book, plan on buying a copy (I got an ARC from Random Buzzers and I entered a number of contests before to try and get a copy) and I may or may not have already shoved this book at one of my step-sisters (along with Book of Blood and Shadows) and am eagerly awaiting her verdict on it....
