Review: Unraveling (Unraveling 1) by Elizabeth Norris

 Goodreads Description:

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she’s opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn’t possible, Janelle knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her reincarnation, and Ben’s possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI-agent father’s files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what’s right in front of her: Everything that’s happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben’s sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she’s going to need to uncover Ben’s secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

From debut author Elizabeth Norris comes this shattering novel of one girl’s fight to save herself, her world, and the one boy she never saw coming.

This is one great book. Infact, it’s a lot like the X-Files, if not more awesome. And when the novel starts with the main character’s death and resurrection, you have no choice but to completely get swallowed up in the plot. And what a plot it is.

Janelle’s normal, easy-going life takes a shocking twist when she is run over by a pickup truck. She’s dead, but when she comes to, she’s staring into the eyes of Ben Michaels, a loner from her school whom she’s never noticed before. And Janelle is pretty sure he somehow –somehow- brought her back from the dead and gone.

A million questions arise in her mind, and things get even more confusing when the FBI,  whom her dad works for, has discovered a clock that counts down to something. The scariest part: no one knows what it’s counting down to or how to disarm it.

And with the sudden appearance of radiation victims popping up everywhere, Janelle realises that something intense is going to happen soon – something she’s sure involves her.

What I Like About This Book

Janelle. She’s an excellent, solid character, the daughter of an FBI agent. She swears a lot, which makes her more realistic, and I love her narration. Ben is just too cool. From the outside, he appears to be all sullen and broody, but once Janelle gets to know him, the cover comes off, and he shows he’s an intelligent and really funny guy. The other characters are superb too.

The way every chapter begins with a countdown definitely helps with pumping up the intensity of the plot. But with its badass action and shocking twists, the plot doesn’t need any stimuli at all.  

What I Didn’t Like About This Book

Unraveling is such a great read, there’s hardly any thing to not like. In an attempt to dig something up, I realised that I would have liked the story to have spread over more pages. All the action is kind of stuffed into the 445 pages. You don’t get space to breathe while turning the leaves.

Other than that, Unraveling showed up with no drawbacks. I impatiently wait for the second book. You guys should go out there and grab a copy. This is a book to buy, not borrow. Sci-fi greatness.

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