Review: Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan

Untold (The Lynburn Legacy #2)
by Sarah Rees Brennan
Published: September 24, 2013




Free from bonds, but not each other

It’s time to choose sides… On the surface, Sorry-in-the-Vale is a sleepy English town. But Kami Glass knows the truth. Sorry-in-the-Vale is full of magic. In the old days, the Lynburn family ruled with fear, terrifying the people into submission in order to kill for blood and power. Now the Lynburns are back, and Rob Lynburn is gathering sorcerers so that the town can return to the old ways.

But Rob and his followers aren’t the only sorcerers in town. A decision must be made: pay the blood sacrifice, or fight. For Kami, this means more than just choosing between good and evil. With her link to Jared Lynburn severed, she’s now free to love anyone she chooses. But who should that be?

I will start this review by saying "it has a different cover". I like it but they did not make a matching one for the first book so.. you know how it gets. But that's beside the point. Unspoken's cover, while gothic-y, also has this fun side to it that you'll find perfectly matches the story. Untold is more sinister in comparison; both the cover and the plot. And I don't have a problem with that. But I have to say I'm a little disappointed.

I don't hate this. Of course not. I still like it but Unspoken left me in a tangled mess of emotions that I could have forced time to fast forward by sheer will just to have the sequel. But I found most of the things that made me love Unspoken was missing in Untold.

I consider second book sequels as the turning point of a series. It could either pick up from there, stay the same or go tumbling downhill. I've had my fair share of disappointing sequels this year. Unfortunately for this, Unspoken started with a bang and I could only hope that from there, Untold would stay with the same level of amazingness (because really, you won't hear me complain) or exceed it's prequel. I wanted it to be as hilarious or as heartbreaking or as everything, but what I got instead was a milder version which in turn brought my focus into the not so great parts of the story that was shadowed before. I've mentioned it in my review of Unspoken and it seems like that's what happened. Okay, so maybe it should be expected that this won't be as funny because of the situation but still, emotion overload is what I would have preferred.

The characters? No, I don't have a problem with them except I haven't seen much development is all. But that's okay. At least they remained to be the ones I liked in the first book. And for the record, I don't hate Jared - not ever. I love the guy. But I also love Ash, more so in this book. Kami.. I've always admired her for being who she was. Used to being looked down by people but she doesn't give a sh*t. Well, she does but she doesn't let it get to her and I love her for it. I think my most favorite part in the book is the one told in Jared's POV. It was a couple of chapters before the book ended, I guess (I forgot). I loved it. We rarely get to see what's inside his head and in that moment, seeing Kami in his eyes was sooo... sad. More of that, please? Maybe not all the sad but Jared?

I liked it overall. I just wasn't very enthusiastic with how it turned out but still looking forward to the next book.