Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

3 / 5 stars
Aaaghhh!  This is my scream of frustration after finishing Unspoken.  I had such high hopes for this book.  I wanted so badly to like it, especially after reading so many excellent reviews for it.  I mean, some people said this is the best book they've ever read.  Really?  Really???  Try as I might, I was just not feeling it.

It started off going pretty well for me.  The main characters were wonderful.  Kami was quirky and witty, sarcastic and sharp.  I loved the easy banter between her and Angela.  I also really enjoyed her mental conversations with Jared, probably more than their actual verbal communication.  Each of the female characters held their own, exuding strength without being too crazy feminist. 

I was also really proud of the author for not creating an "insta-love" situation between Jared and Kami.  In so many YA novels, the leads meet and within 3 hours are passionately devoted to one another and willing to follow each other to the ends of the earth.  In this case, Kami and Jared have had their whole lives to get to know each other and still aren't sure if they belong together romantically.  For a good part of the book, I could truly feel the depth of their relationship and how it transformed between best friends, soul mates, enemies and, even at times, brother/sisterish?  Kami and Jared's bond was much more intimate and believable than many of the flat connections in other YA books.

With that said, the second half of the book lost me.  The plot-line became muddled and was far too similar to Beautiful Creatures (which I also didn't love).  The fun, clever repartee disappeared, leaving me with a bogged-down, somewhat depressing story.   

I was also very put off by the lack of transitioning between scenes.  The chapters were very disjointed, jumping from place to place and even between differing points of view without any kind of warning or explanation.

And, um, am I the only one who thinks it's a little creepy that twin sisters were fighting over marrying their cousin?  Seriously, doesn't anyone else see something wrong with FIRST cousins getting married?  I know I'm from America, and this was written by an Irish author and set in England, but nobody in the book even thought twice about the fact that Ash's parents were cousins.  The only real mention was from Kami's dad who stated, "Which brings us to the least sexy word in the English language, kids.  Inbreeding.  Avoid it.  Think about dating outside the Vale."

I'm so disappointed that I didn't enjoy this book more.  It definitely had some redeeming qualities, but after slushing through the last 100 pages, ugh...enough said.