Review: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Title: Unraveling
Author: Elizabeth Norris
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication date: 24th April 2012
Source: Edelweiss
My rating: 4 stars


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Unraveling was a book which had been receiving tons of great reviews in the last couple of weeks. Two of my friends Maja and Sam had also rated it 5 stars, so when I got the opportunity to read it, I actually squealed! (This was not at a good moment as I was at a rugby match and my team was at a pivotal moment - taking a penalty, and the squealing did result in me receiving several death glares), but I didn’t care, as soon as I got home I knew that I would be starting it straight away and I couldn’t wait.

Janelle was hit by a truck, it popped up out of nowhere that she didn’t have a chance to move out of the way. As she lay there on the ground and felt her life slipping away from her, she knew she was done for, her family would be left behind broken, who would look after her bipolar mother and her mood changes? Who would look after her little brother Jared when her dad had so much to deal with already being an FBI agent and cooped up in his office all the time? But no sooner than she thought she was leaving this world, she woke up alive with the three school stoners; Ben, Elijah and Reid hovering over her. What just happened? Janelle knew she had died, with the impact of the truck there was no way she could have survived. She had a feeling it had to do something with Ben and his friends, but it was impossible even to fathom the idea that either one of them could have brought her back from the brink of death.

Then strange things start kicking off and she knows her father and his fellow agent Struz are hiding things from her, she’s got a feeling it’s to do with the driver of the truck who hit her. Then there’s this countdown her dads concerned with, why is it so significant? Is it connected to everything weird that’s been going on? And more importantly what is it counting down to?

By the end of this book, I hardly had any nails left from biting them so intensely. There was so much happening in this book all the time to get your head around and I was so caught up in such a whirlwind of emotion. I had a pent up passion to get to the bottom of it all; discover the truth and who was behind it all. But all these mind blowing obstacles kept getting in the way, they left me flabbergasted, shouting in frustration and some were so raw and cut you deep.

The characters were like a bag of pick n’ mix; you never really knew what you would be getting. Janelle was one of the toughest main characters I have come across in a while, she was thrown so much crap her way, nearly dying, having a younger brother dependant on her, running the house as her mother wasn’t in a fit state to do so, finally meeting the person she truly loved; but even that could be ripped away from her so quickly. I truly admire her for the depth and courage she displayed. Ben; I know he had a lot of my friends swooning, and I give him credit he had that aspect about him which could make your heart flutter faster. But I can’t put my finger on it, I actually preferred Alex; Janelle’s best friend more. (may be its because I have a soft spot for people with the name Alex) but I had my doubts about Ben’s character, I didn’t feel that I could trust him straight away, maybe because he came across a little shady and I didn’t really know him as thought I knew Alex? Elijah and Reid you never really knew what you would be getting with these two either, Elijah’s dislike for Janelle was instantly obvious; it was dripping off him with the way he spoke and his attitude towards her when he was around her. Reid was the complete opposite, never hurt a fly and was genuinely concerned with others around him. To say I was surprised with the development of these characters could be the biggest understatement of the year.

Overall Unraveling was an action-packed read, which keeps you utterly captivated. I just wish we didn’t have to wait so long for book two!

Thank you to Edelweiss and Balzer + Bray for the opportunity to read this book.

Unraveling counts as book 1 off my 100+ books I have every intention of reading list (for full list click here).