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Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Taking by Kimberly Derting

The Taking
(The Taking, #1)
by Kimberly Derting
Released |April 29th 2014 by HarperTeen|
Edition |eARC|
Source |Edelweiss|

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A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.
When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.
Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.
Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?
I was pretty excited to get my hands on the Taking because I've read two books by the author and have enjoyed them. The Taking was different than any of the alien books that I've read. The main character Kyra gets taken after an argument she had with her father after her softball game. She's wakes up behind a dumpster and finds out that five years has past. She has no memory, whatsoever, of what happened to her during those five years. When she returned she thought it was the day after the fight with her dad after the softball game. That entire concept brought an entirely different twist on the story and I think I found that to be one of my favorite things in the book. I enjoyed the characters and the romance of the story, but it kind of took awhile for those action packed scenes to get started. Overall, the book was pretty good and I can't wait to check out the sequel.


Kyra, the main character, is so confused when she is returned. Not only has five years past, but during those five years her mom and dad are divorced and her mom is married to another guy and Kyra also finds out that she has a little brother. Excuse me?! When she was taken her parents were happily married AND ON TOP OF THAT her boyfriend, now 'ex' is in love with her best friend! So yeah, I could definitely understand why Kyra was so lost and confused about things and why she was so distant from her family. Kyra's dad was the interesting of the two parents. Everyone thinks he's crazy because of his obsession about Kyra being taken by aliens. Soon she starts to figures out that she's not aged a day since she was taken. That brought yet another twist to the story! Everyone around her has aged, but her. The difference she sees in everyone made me feel so bad for her because she's suppose to 21 and yet she still looks 16. Her old friends are in college and she still has to finish high school at some point.

The love interest, Tyler, is Austin's little brother. Austin is Kyra's ex boyfriend. I thought the relationship would be a little odd at first, but since Kyra technically hasn't aged since she was taken it wasn't all that weird to me. The romance is considered to be a little insta-ish because the book is set in a seven day time frame, but I found myself enjoying it. Tyler was a really sweet character and was the only person that Kyra connected with when she got home.

One of the things I had a problem with in this book was that the action didn't start happening until you get halfway through the book. But once things start happening, it didn't stop. With the NSA out to get her, Kyra has to make a run for it and along the way she met some pretty interesting people who are just like her. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and I'm excited to read the sequel because the book did leave off on a cliff hanger. I received a copy for review through Edelweiss. All thoughts are my honest opinion.

15 comments:

  1. OOh nice review! I sooo cannot wait to read this one! Requested it multiple times at Edelweiss but finally gave up after multiple rejections! Love Kimberly's Body Finder series so I am eager to start this one! I am hearing how the romance is a bit odd and I am totally agreeing based on what I am reading! Looking forward to reading this one! Great review!

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    1. I know your struggle with Edelweiss Jessica! I swear they are the only ones that will accept me to read their books. Everyone else is a no go lol

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  2. I'm glad you enjoyed this story because I have heard varied reviews on this one. Especially about the romance being Austin's little brother, that sounds really weird. Lovely review Janina!

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    1. Thanks :) I think it depends more on people's preferences, but I think the author did a great job!

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  3. I just read this one so wheee, I can totally relate to a lot of things. Haha. First of all, I agree with the fact that her reaction - confusion and anger mainly - was done very well. I could relate to her a lot, and I totally felt her selfish reactions were realistic. I would have felt the same way if I were in her shoes. I also thought that her romance with Tyler was very ... instant-y. No more than a week passed and she was all over him just cause he looked like Austin. But I don't think I minded it too much because Tyler was super swoon-worthy... I dunno, everything about him screamed sexy to me. HAHA!

    Great review, love!

    Faye at The Social Potato Reviews

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    1. I swear I thought Tyler was the cutest thing :) How could you not like him? I think I was able to over look the instalove, but I'm for the sequel!

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  4. I am reading now and actually enjoying the setup. I had reservations with Tyler at first too, but he quickly grew on me

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    1. I hope you continue to like the book Brandi :) I can't wait to see what you think of it!

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  5. I loved Kimberly's Body Finder series so I'm excited to get my hand on this one. PLUS alien books are always the best =) Poor Kyra, I can't imagine coming home thinking no time has past to find your happily married parents divorced, remarried and with more kids! Great review!

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    1. That's the only series I've not read by the author. I've read the first two books , The Essence and The pledge, but not the third. And yes, the girl was going through some things! I felt so bad for her character.

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  6. I had the opportunity to read it too, but after few negative reviews I decided to push it down on my reading list. I'm glad to hear you are one of those who enjoyed The Taking.
    Great review.

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    1. I hope you like it when you read it Glass. I've seen a couple of mixed reviews as well.

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  7. That's good you liked this one overall, even if the beginning was a bit slow. I can't imagine having the people in your life grow and change without you.

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  8. The book sounds intriguing, but I'm a little put off by the insta-romance and everything happening in 7 days. Will have to think about it. Either way glad you liked it, great review :)

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  9. I am excited about this, because I always loving something different in YA kind of refreshing :D

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