Review: Untold

Title: Untold
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: The Lynburn Legacy
Volume: 2
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Gothic, Romance

Why I Read It: It is the sequel to Unspoken, and is the second book is the The Lynburn Legacy trilogy. (The third, Unbroken is to be released in 2014).

A Quick Intro: (Contains spoilers for Unspoken). Sorry-In-The-Vale is in danger. Rob Lynburn is gathering followers who wish for sorcery to go back to the old ways- namely gaining access to additional power through human sacrifice. Kami isn't about to let that happen. Even with her like to Jared severed, without any access to magic, without the constant support he offered, she's going to do everything she can to take a stand.

What I Thought: Wow. A lot went on in this one. Kami's up against some serious odds. Rob gathering sorcerers intent on claiming the town as a sacrifice pool. Lillian Lynburn intends to take a stand against her husband, but she doesn't want the help of anyone who isn't a sorcerer (because, you know, there's so much help of that variety). Her father has found out that about all of her mother's lies, so there's trouble at home. Kami is facing it all without the constant emotional support that Jared used to offer. He, of course is being his impossible self, and cold shouldering her. Still, she's trying to plow through it all. She's a very strong person that way, though she struggles with being independent- she's never been completely alone before, and interprets being independent as trying not to let anyone know when she's having a hard time. There are more sorcerers in Sorry-In-The-Vale, and Kami's trying to find a way to recruit them, as well as protect herself, her friends and her family against the magic that is once again all over their little town, and find a way to stop Rob Lynburn from taking said little town as his own.

I think Kami's outlook is generally pretty great, given all that is going on. She's someone who manages to be sarcastic without seeming jaded, and she's incredibly determined. As a protagonist, she really pulls the story along. This trilogy is very character-driven. The plot is interesting enough, but I really read it of the characters. I loved Angela in the first book- she's the jaded foil to Kami's constant passion about all things, but she's always fierce and determined, and always has Kami's back. Rusty played a bigger role in this book than he did in the previous one- he generally lightens the mood, but he does have few serious moments in this book. Jared was as infuriating as he always is (I say that in the nicest way possible, of course). Ash gets some more background and development. Holly is having some problems of her own (okay, lots of problems of her own, but I'll let you read the book). Kami's dad is great (I see where Kami gets some of her best characteristics). Lillian was infuriating, there were moments where I kind of wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. There are all sorts of complicated relationships between all of the characters. The humour, typically of the dry, sarcastic variety, was a nice bright spot whenever things got too grim or intense. In spite of what a mess our good guys can be (and they can be quite a mess sometimes, and half the time they can't work together to save their lives) you can't help but get attached to them, and cheer for them.

I'm really, super eager for the next book. In 2014. Which needs to come soon, because we've been left quite a cliffhanger, on top of a very bad situation.