Young Adult Review: Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published: Oct 1, 2013 by Little, Brown

Source: Library

Supernatural meets The Da Vinci Code in this action-packed paranormal thriller, the first book in a new series from New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia.

I never believed in ghosts. Until one tried to kill me.

When Kennedy Waters finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn’t know that paranormal forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into Kennedy’s room and destroy a dangerous spirit sent to kill her. The brothers reveal that her mother was part of an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from a vengeful demon — a society whose five members were all murdered on the same night.

Now Kennedy has to take her mother’s place in the Legion if she wants to uncover the truth and stay alive. Along with new Legion members Priest and Alara, the teens race to find the only weapon that might be able to destroy the demon — battling the deadly spirits he controls every step of the way.

Suspense, romance, and the paranormal meet in this chilling urban fantasy, the first book in a new series from Kami Garcia, bestselling coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures novels.

Unbreakable ended up being one of those books that is incredibly difficult to review simply because it left me feeling very little.  While I liked the book, I didn't love it, and I also didn't dislike it.  Putting together the what and why may be a challenge, but I'll see what I can do for you.

Kennedy starts out as a normal girl and a touch naive.  Through the book she grows as a character and as she's exposed to more she grows stronger.  I liked Kennedy okay, and especially toward the end she grew on me.  I liked Alara, another girl who is a Legend member quite a lot despite her feeling slightly cliche.  I liked that she was prickly, but could have done with a tad less of her rudeness in the beginning.  Priest was another member, and probably my favorite.  He seems to be the one who really knows what he wants and isn't all full of drama and angst.  He was a lighter, friendlier character and I liked that a lot.  Next up we have the brothers, Jared and Lukas.  Honestly, I didn't feel much for them at all and I feel like maybe they needed to be a bit more fleshed out for me to really love them.  They felt a bit too flat for me.  On top of that the romance between Kennedy and them was irritating to me.  At times I wasn't sure who she liked and they both seemed to like her.  By the end it's clear who she likes, but at this point I just don't have any strong emotions regarding the romance.

The supernatural elements are by far the strongest part of this book.  The creepy parts were truly creepy and I'm glad I read it only during the day.  I like books with ghosts and loved that there were good and bad ones, it wasn't all about evil ghosts.  In the book it keeps talking about Kennedy's mother originally being part of the Legion and I have a whole theory in my head regarding that.  It was a little frustrating that the book ended and we never even got to the part that would prove or disprove my theory.  However, this isn't the books fault, only my own for wishing so hard. ;)

The end of the book was frustrating and satisfying at the same time.  The closing scene was very well done in that I felt the horror of it all.  I could really feel and see everything so clearly.  At the same time I was frustrated because Kennedy and the others ignored something that they really should have paid attention to.

In the end I found that I had enjoyed the book okay, but it really didn't blow me away.  I will probably read the next book because I need to know what happens.  And hopefully we'll get more fully fleshed out characters as well, which would really improve my opinion.