Review: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Publisher: Balzer and Bray
Series: Unraveling #1

Pages: 445

Received: Borrowed from library

Release Date: April 24, 2012
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Goodreads Synopsis:

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed--as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows--with every fiber of her being--that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something--but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened--the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life--points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets--and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

From debut author Elizabeth Norris comes this shattering novel of one girl's fight to save herself, her world, and the boy she never saw coming.

My Review:

I had been hearing a lot about this book this year but never got around to it, so when I saw it at the library I jumped at it just to see what all the hype was about.I was pleasantly surprised with this book, it was quite a long book (and I did feel it at times) but it was so much fun to read!

The first thing that really jumped out at me when reading this book was the chapter headings, they were the countdown, so readers are continually reminded that something big is going to happen at the end of this book. There is always this mention of the countdown to something big and obviously not good, but when I found out what everything was counting down to my mind was blown! I really couldn't believe what this story was really about in the end, it just didn't cross my mind.

I really enjoyed Janelle's character, she grew up as more of a parent in her family making her strong and able to deal with what comes at her easier. I was impressed with how Janelle holds up, a big part of this story is loss. Janelle loses a lot of things and people and there were so many scenes that were heartbreaking and yet Janelle is still standing. It's also nice to see that family is a big part to this story. Janelle has a little brother that she would do anything for, and her and her dad are very close (which I always love to see).

The ending of this book was done well in my opinion. This book could be a standalone if you really wanted which is what I really like. Though you are left with questions it is not imperative to read the next book if you aren't into it. I love that it doesn't end in a huge cliffhanger, though it does end leaving you want more Ben and Janelle (which I'm excited for!)

As a side note I had to give this book extra points for bringing in Jack Bauer from 24 as a mention, definitely one of my favourite shows when it was on!