Unbreakable by Kami Garcia Review

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Title: Unbreakable
Author: Kami Garcia (Twitter)
Publisher: Little, Brown BYR
Publish Date: October 1, 2013
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Pages: 320
Source: Publisher

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.
Kennedy's life has gone from bad to worse as of late. Once a normal girl, everything changed the day she found her mother dead. Now, Kennedy's life is thrust into a world of supernatural creatures - spirits, demons and deadly forces that want nothing more than to kill her. From everyday schoolgirl to a member of a demon-fighting Legion, Kennedy must take up her mother's cause and continue her mission...and everything along the way is new, dangerous and deadly to her.

Before I review this book, I must say that I wasn't the world's biggest fan of Beautiful Creatures. It just felt like something was missing to me, so I really did have pause when this one showed up on my reading radar. That said, I do believe that Kami Garcia has a great mind and a fantastic author's voice, plus I was very intrigued to read a paranormal story for a change. Unbreakable seemed like the perfect story for me because it's devoid of the typical werewolves and vampires. Rather, we're offered a menacing demon, a mystery in which to become invested and a race for survival.

For all my hesitation going into reading Unbreakable, I have to say that I was pretty darn pleased with the writing of this novel. It has a strong, fast and extremely solid pace, and it really felt as though the plot was steady throughout. Furthermore, I thought that Kennedy was a great protagonist in whom to become invested. Though devastated, she had a strength and resilience about her that was both endearing and believable. Above all else though, she was a strong female character, and that's such a necessary element for me in paranormal tales these days. In addition to Kennedy, we get an ensemble cast including Priest, Jared, Lukas and Alara who match her evenly and never really take a back seat. I really enjoy it when secondary characters bring their own arcs to play, as well, and the supporting characters of Unbreakable definitely did. I did have a bit of an issue with the ease of the mystery though. As the teens search to find the missing pieces to this weapon that can destroy the demon once and for all, they find them with relative ease, and they're all extremely centrally located. If it was such a formidable weapon, I would really have loved to see them struggle a bit more to find the pieces. I would assume that this weapon would be scattered, rather than held in one veritable stronghold. There is also, unfortunately a love triangle in this novel, and while I liked that Kennedy had to choose between two equally great guys, it did get a bit cloying and overwhelming as the story went on. Without that, I think I could have dealt with a single relationship instead.

Overall, I think that Unbreakable was a pretty strong and intriguing start to a new series. Despite the few issues I had with it, I'll definitely continue on. I give it a 3.5 out of 5, and I highly recommend it to fans of YA and paranormal stories.

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

14 comments:

  1. Oh this one sounds so good! I'm like you; I wasn't a fan of Beautiful Creatures either but yay for giving Garcia another chance! The premise seriously sounds great for this one, and it looks like you really enjoyed it! Solid plot pacing, a strong female protagonist.. That love triangle I'm not too sure about though. I'd like to give this book a try, too! Thanks for the wonderful review, Melissa!

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  2. I haven't read Beautiful Creatures because of the mixed reviews, but I've had my eyes on this one for some time now. I like how this has demons and other supernatural creatures than the usual YA vampires and werewolves.
    I also like how you mentioned this was fast-paced. I do enjoy a good fast-paced YA paranormal book.
    I think I would be a bit frustrated too with how easily they picked up the pieces to the mystery and also the love triangle which I dislike, but I will still give this book a shot.
    Lovely review, Melissa and I'm glad that you liked it despite being a bit wary on starting it! :)

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  3. Thanks for your review melissa, I wasn't a fan of Beautiful Creatures either because it just dragged so much and I found it boring. That's why I wasn't so quick to add this one to the TBR pile after seeing it, so you probably read it in the same frame of mind I would be.

    I'm glad you enjoyed the book though, Kennedy sounds like a strong character that isn't annoying or whiny. And the supporting cast sounds decent. Just a shame it has another annoying love trianglE!

    Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

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  4. I haven't read any paranormal for AGES (even though it really is my first YA love) and I haven't read Beautiful Creatues - not sure I want to take on another big YA series at the moment - but I have to say this one sounds promising! I may just check it out at some point. :)

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  5. I'm always a little wary when it comes to jumping into books dealing with supernatural beings, even more so however when an authors work hasn't previously worked for me. I don't think that this would be my sort of read, but the fact that the secondary characters play such a significant role and bring so much of their own, I find throughly appealing. Lovely review Melissa!

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  6. I down right hated Beautiful Creatures, it just wouldn't work for me. This one, however, I am thoroughly intrigued by. Great to hear that you liked it for the most part!

    Lovely review, Mel! <33

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  7. I read this one a while back and am really having a hard time remembering it! I'm going to definitely have to skim it again before I do a review on it because, while I remember enjoying it, nothing really stuck. Oops.

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  8. For some reason, the premise of this reminds me of TMI a little, so combined with the fairly borderline reviews, I don't think I'll be reading this. It seems to have been either just alright or forgettable and seeing as I'm not a fan of this author, this one doesn't seem to be for me. Lovely review, though, Melissa!(:

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  9. I tried "Beautiful Creatures" but dropped it after a few pages. I couldn't get into it. I think I'm a bit burnt out on the paranormal stories for now and the premise doesn't seem all that unique. I don't think this book is for me but I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to continue the series.

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  10. I had mixed feelings about Beautiful Creatures...still on the fence about this one!

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  11. I'm a huge fan of Beautiful Creatures but I'm a little wary about both Stohl and Garcia's solo works. Mostly because they aren't as much within my genre. Glad it was a good speed b/c BC was kinda slow at times.

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  12. I haven't heard of this one, but I'll have to check it out. I'm with you--I need a strong female character in a paranormal book or I lose interest quickly. Thanks for the review!

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  13. It's a shame that there is a love-triangle, but there are at least two great guys :) I like the overall sound of this book, so I might give it a shot some day!

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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  14. Sweet! I didn't really enjoy BC either. This one sounds pretty good with good characters with their own stories. I like hard to investigate mysteries too so I coincide with your point, the suspense and realistic mood is needed for an excellent mystery.
    Fantastic review!

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