Monday, January 20, 2014

Review: Unhinged by A. G. Howard

Oh, I don't know how to write this review. I truly don't. So I'm going to start by saying that I adore the author; Anita. She's an amazing person. But I have to be honest about my feelings for this book, and I just did not enjoy it. I wanted to. So much. But I couldn't. Will explain why in my review. For the most part.

It's been more than a year since I read the first book, Splintered. Back when I read it I really liked it, though I didn't fully love it. Because of the love triangle. And I suppose that was my biggest issue with this book as well. I could not enjoy it. Not for a single moment. Which broke my heart a little.

I probably should have re-read book one before reading this; as there were a few things I didn't remember. But I figured I would understand most of it, still. And I did. And I do think I will re-read both books before the third one. Most likely. I don't know how to write my review, though. Because I know it will be negative and I wish to apologize for that. But I'm also going to be honest, and negative was just the way I felt for this book.

To me, Unhinged was a disappointment. I wanted so much more from it, but I didn't get it. That was disappointing to me. Sure, the book isn't all awful. There were a few things that I liked. But they weren't enough. I wish that they had been, but they weren't. Now to try to put my thoughts into words.

I won't do a recap of the first book. And I won't do a recap of the things that happen in this one either. Instead I will just talk about a few things. Mostly the things that I did not like. Sigh. Anyway. Unhinged is told from the point of view of Alyssa. And I liked that. I'm not sure how I felt about her as a character, though. Most of the time she annoyed me. I didn't like how she cried all the time, and at the same time thought that she didn't have the luxury to cry. It confused me a little and made me a bit annoyed.

I'm not sure what to think of the writing in this book. Most of the time I didn't have a huge issue with it. I didn't find it to be perfect, which made me a bit sad. And there were many words in it that are not in other books that I have read. Sure, that's supposed to be a good thing. Except that for me it was not; considering I had never heard of the words before. That was another reason for why I failed to love this book. Since I didn't love the writing; I had some issues :\ That was only the beginning, though..

In this book Alyssa has been with Jeb for a whole year. And I liked that. Except that we didn't get to know anything that happened in that year. Sure, her mom is back. Which I suppose was good. Except that I didn't really like her at all. Her dad started to annoy me as well. Sigh. But anyway. Jeb. I liked him. But then I didn't love him. He and Alyssa annoyed me a little. First, why hadn't they already had sex? They had been together for a whole year. Ugh. What annoyed me the most was looks they exchanged.

And that kind of ruined a lot of the book for me. How Alyssa could see everything emotion in their eyes. I just don't get that. At all. Because I can't see a damn thing looking into someone's eyes. And Alyssa could see everything? How is that even possible? Sigh. It just bothered me a bit. Anyway. Jeb was always looking at her in a way that melted her and whatever. I just didn't find it to be real and I didn't think it was very romantic either. But I do ship Alyssa and Jeb. I just don't ship this book all that much.

Then there is the thing that I disliked the most. Morpheus. I didn't like him at all. Not even a little bit. And I didn't understand how Alyssa could be attracted to him. And I hated how stupid she became around him; like she couldn't even think at all. Like she just forgot about her one year together with Jeb. And then later she sees this future thingy, and she completely changes how she feels. And it pissed me off. And I only see one solution for book three: to kill Morpheus. I want him dead. Just saying :)

I'm not sure what I can say about this book. I hated how much of it was focused of Morpheus and Alyssa's attraction to him and blah blah blah. I just did not like that part at all. Another thing that bothered me was that I felt that this book had no magic. It only takes place in the human world. That made me sad. And there is all this drama and school drama and it just wasn't good for me. It wasn't the adventure book that I wanted; that I kind of expected after the first book. So I'm sorry that I didn't like this one.

I just wish I had liked this book. But it had so many things that I do not like and I couldn't fool myself into thinking that I liked it. I'm sorry; but it is the truth. Though I have seen so many else love it. Sigh. Anyway. I read my hardcover of this book, but I also got this gorgeous ARC from UK publisher, Tina. <3 Thank you so so much. Though I didn't love the book, I very much love all my different copies of it.

7 comments:

  1. Sorry it was disappointing. I haven't read the first book as yet but I would like to. The covers are lovely. Thanks for the honest review.

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  2. Ooo, wow. I have not read Splintered yet, despite having a copy for over a year. I've heard so many amazing things about both books, but it seems like this book really was just NOT for you D: Interesting view on Morpheus LOL

    Fantastic review, Carina!

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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  3. I'm so sorry to hear that you didn't like the book!
    But thank you for your very honest review!

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  4. I'm sorry this didn't work out for you as the first book did. I haven't read any books from this series but I did see a lot of positive reviews for the first. I'll have to check Splintered first and let's see from there. Thanks for the honest review, Carina. And no need to apologize for being honest. Hope the next book will be much better for you.

    Eunice @ Book Overdose

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  5. Aww! Sorry this didn't work out for you. I am a Morpheus fan so really enjoyed his bits. I have some issues with Jeb though and wish the triangle was a bit less prominent in the story though I can understand it.

    I think it is always best to be honest and I believe most authors and readers alike all understand that we share our opinion which is unique to each of us. Thank you for being honest about a book that didn't work for you though it has for most people. It's always hardest when you love the author and everyone loves the book so much. I think we've all had that happen.

    Maybe (hopefully) your next book hits you better.

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  6. Oh wow, we are the complete opposite on this book. Lol. I am not a Jeb fan and I felt like the book focused too much on her trying mold herself to stay with him. I like how blunt and pushy Morpheus is, and I think that Alyssa fits so much better with him. Funny how readers can see things so differently.

    Jennifer
    YA Sisterhood

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