Release Date: October 10th 2013
Published By: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 320
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 3 out of 5

Synopsis: Kennedy Waters didn’t believe in ghosts, until one tried to kill her.

When Kennedy finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn’t know that evil forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into her house 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.

Suspense, romance, and the paranormal meet in this chilling urban fantasy, the first book in a new series from Kami Garcia, bestselling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures novels.

Review: I didn’t read the synopsis before jumping into Unbreakable, and it turned out to be a really good move on my part because I was taken on a supernatural journey that I’m not sure I would have gone on otherwise. Some good and not so good aspects of this book - upfront this is why I am rating the book 3 stars. Overall, I did enjoy this read and I’ll definitely read the next book, but I couldn’t turn a blind eye to some of the things in this book that grated on my nerves.

I was absolutely sucked into this read - which hasn’t happened to me in some time to be honest. But right from the first chapter, Unbreakable had me absolutely engrossed. I would have actually finished the whole book in one sitting (which is not the norm for me) had I not had to put the book down to go to sleep… although I did end up staying up far later than I intended to read “just one more chapter”.

The storyline itself was really great, and in my opinion the saving grace for Unbreakable. The plot itself was strong and well thought through and paced just perfectly. I loved the concept of having a team of ghostbusters go from location to location and collecting pieces along the way to help them build a weapon that is going to take out Andreas, the demon that their ancestors released 200 years ago. I’m a big video game player, and to me it felt like the Legion had to defeat a series of levels and villains in order to go up against the “boss”. I enjoyed this element very much, and the locations they had to go to were really dark and creepy but added a great element of adventure to the novel as well.

The characters let me down a little. Hot twins are always okay in my book. Especially when they’re hot twins that are also ghostbusters. That’s amazing. But I still don’t feel like their characters had much substance. They’re pretty to look at, but I don’t know anything much about them. Whilst I would have loved to have seen more character development take place in the first book, I am hopeful that we will get some more out of the other characters in the next book to follow.

One thing that is a pet peeve of mine in YA, is the trend of the girl picking the guy that is damaged goods. Why?! It sends out mixed messages to teenage girls, that it’s more romantic if you pick the damaged guys, because only you can help make them whole again. That is so wrong on so many levels. Of the twins, there’s Lukas who is balanced and mentally stable, and then Jared who is the broody dark brother that has issues. So Kennedy picks the one with issues. Girl… no. I could also see the love triangle coming from a mile away, and whilst it played out alright, it was just a little predictable, and instead of taking a backseat to the plot, it felt like at times the plot took a backseat to the romance, which wasn’t realistic.

I felt like there was no ending to this book. And I get why. I understand it’s the first book in a series, but I found myself a little frustrated none-the-less. We read this book to find out what happens, and we get so close, and then the book ends, which in turn makes us pick up the second book. But I find that to be a cop-out sometimes. People will pick up the second book regardless as long as the novel itself was really good. So often, authors leave us on this giant cliffhanger to almost ensure we have no choice but to pick up the next book. It just leaves me feeling frustrated that now I have to wait another year for the next book. I can’t help feeling unsatisfied by where Unbreakable ends, but true to the nature of the beast, I will be picking up the next one to find out what happens.

I feel like this series has some serious potential and I am really keen to see where the next book takes us. If you love shows like Supernatural, you’ll probably really enjoy Unbreakable. I have high hopes for the next one!

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