Book Review: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

You know how in every teen movie ever, there's always that party that gets way out of hand and giant dudes end up throwing around breakable things with no concern for their fragility? And 9 out of 10 times, that thing ends up smashed to bits? Well, Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan is a pair of giant dudes, and my heart is that breakable thing.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I think you should read the book. HEY, don't give me that look. I'm not crazy. I want you to read it because, sure, I am selfish and do not like to be alone in my misery. But also because I am selfless and want other people to experience good things. And Unspoken is a good thing. A very good thing. And also a thing that will use your feelings like a hacky sack. But let's start with the good things first:

HUMOR

This was, without a doubt, the first time I've laughed hysterically at a book (for what is probably not considered a normal amount of time) since I read the animal crackers scene in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. And I still have times when I think about that scene at any random moment in the middle of the day and turn into one of those crazy people who seems to be laughing for no reason at all. So yeah. This book is funny (even if you don't have the memory of Sarah unbuttoning her cardigan whilst doing a dramatic reading from it, as I so vividly do). My favorite spoiler-free hilarity:

Kami strode through a froth of daisies to a half-fallen wall that might once have been part of a fortress, but was now a tumble of stones studded with spiky yellow blooms. She bent down, rummaging in the wild tangle of garden around her feet, and chose a pebble. A large pebble. Kami wound her arm back, took careful aim, and threw.
The "pebble" crashed through both glass and curtain.
There was the creak of an old sash window being thrust open, and Jared's head and shoulders appeared at the window. "Hark," he said, his tone very dry. "What stone through yonder window breaks?"
Kami yelled up at him, "It is the east, and Juliet is a jerk!"
*pause to get laughter under control* [I mean, she just smashed his window open and he pulls out Romeo & Juliet?!]
Jared abandoned Shakespeare and demanded, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Throwing a pebble," said Kami defensively. "Uh... and I'll pay for the window."
Jared vanished and Kami was ready to start shouting again, when he reemerged with the pebble clenched in his fist. "This isn't a pebble! This is a rock."
"It's possible that your behavior has inspired some negative feelings that caused me to pick a slightly overlarge pebble," Kami admitted. 

CHARACTERS

I'm a sucker for a good character. Any good character, really. But these aren't just any good characters. You're going to wish you had a Kami Glass, Lady Sleuth, in your life. Kami is not only witty and entertaining, but she has the endearing quality of being so objective that she sees both the best and the possible worst in everyone. She's no damsel in distress, but she's not an invulnerable stone either. You're going to simultaneously want your own Jared Lynburn and hope that you never, ever get one. He's a bad boy but he doesn't really know why. He's full of anger and despair but also lightness and vulnerability similar to Kami's. You're even going to love the overly-boy-friendly Holly, who most other books would have turned into a teenaged nemesis in a frenzy of girl-hate. She's wide-eyed but also logical, friendly but also lonely. All of the characters are so beautifully complicated, I could go on and on, but I'll spare you. Just. Yes. Good.

PACING, PLOT & ALL THAT GOOD STUFF

Do not put this book down. It will start making irresistible weepy noises and begging you to come back to it.

You want an awesome concept for a book? Imaginary friend turns out to be real. He's got a weird family. Murders (both human and fuzzy woodland creature-- oh yes, she went there) abound and you think his weird family has something to do with it. Oh, and there's some weird magicky thing happening in the woods, and someone's trying to kill you. You know.

THE HACKY SACK

So, if you're one of those literary masochists (like me), who are not complete until a book has turned you into a puddle of emotions on the floor, I HAVE GOOD NEWS. The end of this book had me unable to form a coherent sentence about it for going on 3 hours. You see, throughout the whole thing, there are ups and downs-- moments that kind of lift you up and make you squee like a schoolgirl, followed by moments that throw that squee out the window and run it over with a large sedan. But nothing will prepare you for the end, when *something* happens and you're like FINALLY and you're walking on clouds and life is wonderful and you're about to slide down a rainbow and then suddenly it's all gone and there is nothing left and, nope, there's no parachute to soften this blow, so you're hurtling to the cold, hard earth that is the end of the book. And then, as my friend Will Herondale would say, you're left lying limply on the ground, trying to remember your own name.*

STOP READING THIS AND BUY IT

No, really. That's all I have to say about it. I hope I sold you on the book, and I hope you love it. But mostly, I hope you fangirl and commiserate with me.

★★★★★

*- I have found this phrase can apply to many different situations. For instance, Will used it to indicate how charmed Aloysius Starkweather would be by him. I have just used it to indicate how broken you will be by the end of this book. Just saying, it's a very versatile phrase.