Author: Kimberly Derting
Format Acquired: eARC
Publication Date: April 29 2014
Publishing House: HarperTeen
ISBN: 9780062293602
Source of Copy: Edelweiss
Summary:
When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas 'n' Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of deja vu, she heads home only to discover five years have passed... and yet she hasn't aged a day.
Everything about Kyra's old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.
Confused and lost, Kyra isn't sure how to move forward unless she uncover the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin's annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they wonder if Kyra's father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others who have been taken... and returned Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?
Review:
Books with aliens are few and far between (those that actually manage to pique my interest) and decent alien books that I've read? I could count them on one hand.
The Taking has promise - it has an interesting plot that involves memory gaps and alien abduction and human experimentation plus mention of super powers. Cool, right? It all went downhill when the romance was added and I had to resist banging my head up against the wall or throwing my iPad at someone.
The last memory she had was of the fight with her father, stepping out of the car after a temper tantrum and the light. The bright light. Then nothing. Kyra lost five years of her life to who knows what and coming home and finding out that everything's changed? Not the easiest thing to deal with. Her father and mother are separated, Austin's gone off with her best friend and Tyler, Austin's younger brother, is pretty hot and she's got the tingles for him. But when strange things start to happen, Kyra has no choice but to give her father's crazy theory about alien abduction some credit. Especially when strange people appear on her doorstop overly interested by her five year disappearance.
See, the plot's not that bad. It just got overshadowed by the romance. Meaning to say that the story was focused more on the romance with a little alien stuff thrown in. Maybe a little grand theft auto and some blood. But let's talk about the romance since it is, obviously, my biggest peeve about this book.
You see, before Kyra was abducted, there was Austin. Austin was her childhood best friend, he's hot, he's handsome, he's everything Kyra wants and she is determined to never be separated from him. Who cares about all those wonderful opportunities at the big league universities if she's got this hot boyfriend right? Oh Kyra, you fool. That's the argument Kyra and her dad were having before she got abducted. So we've established that Austin is perfect, okay? Moving on.
When Kyra gets back after five years, Austin went off with her best friend to university and it was pretty obvious how heartbroken and angry she was. I was irritated because Austin seemed like a good guy and then, after five years, he's turned into this massive jerk? Apologizing to Kyra for his own sake? I don't know. I mean a lot can change in five years but from the very start Austin was never a jerk, so why now? It just didn't sit so well with me.
Now, as mentioned Austin has a little brother named Tyler. He was twelve when Kyra got taken but now he's seventeen and apparently he's also fair game. He's been in love with Kyra since forever too. What is so great about Kyra? I don't get it. The Taking is all about Kyra and her relationship with this guy. Things moved too fast and she easily dismissed her problems because some boy drew her stuff using chalk on pavement. He's hot, looks like Austin, so why not right?
Aside from too much romance, I didn't like how everything was so easy for Kyra. Chased by bad guys? Not to worry some, random alien guy who's been tracking you for months steps in to save the day. Not to mention the fact that she has powers that the other hybrids don't which makes her even more special.
Kyra is not special. She's just a lovelorn teenager who's more obsessed with her boyfriend than she is with her safety and the safety of those she loves. I'm sorry, this book is a disappointment. Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series sees more alien action than this.
Source of Copy: Edelweiss
Summary:
When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas 'n' Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of deja vu, she heads home only to discover five years have passed... and yet she hasn't aged a day.
Everything about Kyra's old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.
Confused and lost, Kyra isn't sure how to move forward unless she uncover the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin's annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they wonder if Kyra's father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others who have been taken... and returned Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?
Review:
Books with aliens are few and far between (those that actually manage to pique my interest) and decent alien books that I've read? I could count them on one hand.
The Taking has promise - it has an interesting plot that involves memory gaps and alien abduction and human experimentation plus mention of super powers. Cool, right? It all went downhill when the romance was added and I had to resist banging my head up against the wall or throwing my iPad at someone.
The last memory she had was of the fight with her father, stepping out of the car after a temper tantrum and the light. The bright light. Then nothing. Kyra lost five years of her life to who knows what and coming home and finding out that everything's changed? Not the easiest thing to deal with. Her father and mother are separated, Austin's gone off with her best friend and Tyler, Austin's younger brother, is pretty hot and she's got the tingles for him. But when strange things start to happen, Kyra has no choice but to give her father's crazy theory about alien abduction some credit. Especially when strange people appear on her doorstop overly interested by her five year disappearance.
See, the plot's not that bad. It just got overshadowed by the romance. Meaning to say that the story was focused more on the romance with a little alien stuff thrown in. Maybe a little grand theft auto and some blood. But let's talk about the romance since it is, obviously, my biggest peeve about this book.
You see, before Kyra was abducted, there was Austin. Austin was her childhood best friend, he's hot, he's handsome, he's everything Kyra wants and she is determined to never be separated from him. Who cares about all those wonderful opportunities at the big league universities if she's got this hot boyfriend right? Oh Kyra, you fool. That's the argument Kyra and her dad were having before she got abducted. So we've established that Austin is perfect, okay? Moving on.
When Kyra gets back after five years, Austin went off with her best friend to university and it was pretty obvious how heartbroken and angry she was. I was irritated because Austin seemed like a good guy and then, after five years, he's turned into this massive jerk? Apologizing to Kyra for his own sake? I don't know. I mean a lot can change in five years but from the very start Austin was never a jerk, so why now? It just didn't sit so well with me.
Now, as mentioned Austin has a little brother named Tyler. He was twelve when Kyra got taken but now he's seventeen and apparently he's also fair game. He's been in love with Kyra since forever too. What is so great about Kyra? I don't get it. The Taking is all about Kyra and her relationship with this guy. Things moved too fast and she easily dismissed her problems because some boy drew her stuff using chalk on pavement. He's hot, looks like Austin, so why not right?
Aside from too much romance, I didn't like how everything was so easy for Kyra. Chased by bad guys? Not to worry some, random alien guy who's been tracking you for months steps in to save the day. Not to mention the fact that she has powers that the other hybrids don't which makes her even more special.
Kyra is not special. She's just a lovelorn teenager who's more obsessed with her boyfriend than she is with her safety and the safety of those she loves. I'm sorry, this book is a disappointment. Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series sees more alien action than this.
Rating:
No comments:
Post a Comment