Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan (The Lynburn Legacy #3)

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Publication Date: September 23rd 2014
POV: Alternating - Third-person, Past tense
My Rating: 5 out of 5

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Powerful love comes with a price. Who will be the sacrifice?

Kami has lost the boy she loves, is tied to a boy she does not, and faces an enemy more powerful than ever before. With Jared missing for months and presumed dead, Kami must rely on her new magical link with Ash for the strength to face the evil spreading through her town.

Rob Lynburn is now the master of Sorry-in-the-Vale, and he demands a death. Kami will use every tool at her disposal to stop him. Together with Rusty, Angela, and Holly, she uncovers a secret that might be the key to saving the town. But with knowledge comes responsibility—and a painful choice. A choice that will risk not only Kami’s life, but also the lives of those she loves most.

As coauthor with Cassandra Clare of the bestselling Bane Chronicles, Sarah Rees Brennan has mastered the art of the page-turner. This final book in the Lynburn Legacy is a wild, entertaining ride from beginning to shocking end.

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This series is one of my absolute favourites. 5-stars across the board. It's just so unique. I really can't get over how unusual it was. It's so dark. And by dark I mean dark. The bad guys in this story are true evil. There is so much blood and death and destruction and pure greed and evil. Yet, at the same time, Kami is simply one of the best, smartest, funniest, and wittiest YA heroines I have ever read. She provides a balance that you need in order to handle all the darkness. This is one of those books where, when you try to list your favourites quotes, you find that you want to quote the whole book. 

Another thing I loved about this book was all the love. Kami and Jared's love is epic, but it wasn't the only focus. Everyone loved each other and were willing to sacrifice so much for each other. Kami loved Jared, but she also loved Ash and Rusty, in a different way. She never really gave her love for them a title, but it was probably more brotherly. Then of course she loved Angela and Holly, and her brothers and her parents, and everything she did was for them. If you have read this series, then you know exactly how much Rusty loved Angela and Kami. How much Angela loved Kami, and Rusty, and Holly. How much Jared loved Ash, and Holly, and Lillian. How much Lillian loved Ash and Jared. And how much Ash loved Jared, Lillian, and Kami. They forged such a large family together, through everything that they went through they became stronger.

As much as I love Kami and Jared's oddly epic love story, it's really everyone in this series as a whole that make me love it so much. All the characters, the way they fight for each other and what is right and what they believe in. The way that they handle the tragedies in their lives. How they never quit, they hang on to what they have and keep going. How they always look for the bright side, and even when they believe that they are all going to die, they still do what needs to be done. Despite the evil of the story, and the heartbreaking deaths, this series was uplifting and inspiring because of the courage of Kami and her friends and family. I will never forget it.

"Your name was the first word for love I ever knew."

Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan (The Lynburn Legacy #2)

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Publication Date: August 29th 2013
POV: Alternating - Third-person, Past tense
My Rating: 5 out of 5

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It's time to choose sides....

On the surface, Sorry-in-the-Vale is a sleepy English town. But Kami Glass knows the truth. Sorry-in-the-Vale is full of magic. In the old days, the Lynburn family ruled with fear, terrifying the people into submission in order to kill for blood and power. Now the Lynburns are back, and Rob Lynburn is gathering sorcerers so that the town can return to the old ways.

But Rob and his followers aren’t the only sorcerers in town. A decision must be made: pay the blood sacrifice, or fight. For Kami, this means more than just choosing between good and evil. With her link to Jared Lynburn severed, she’s now free to love anyone she chooses. But who should that be?

A darkly humorous take on Gothic romance, Sarah Rees Brennan's Lynburn Legacy weaves together the tale of a heroine desperate to protect those she loves, two boys hoping to be saved, and the magical forces that will shape their destiny.

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This more than makes up for the heartbreaking ending to Unspoken. I find that relationship cliffhangers kill me the most. They are way worse than story or action cliffhangers. That's why the ending of Unspoken destroyed me, but I was fine with the ending of Opal.

This story has more of what we loved in book one. More of the humour and the brilliant Kami. More of the awesome sidekicks Angie and Rusty. More of the brooding Jared and Golden Boy Ash. Especially Ash. We got to know him a lot better in this book and I really feel for him. He is so often overlooked. I hope he gets more affection from his mother in book 3.

 

"Everyone all right?" 

"I'm okay," [Holly] said. "I see you are too. I also see you have a weapon that is on fire." 

"I'm badass like that," Kami said.

Kami and Jared also break my heart. They are like star-crossed lovers. There are so many things set against them. But Jared is such a hero and a martyr. In that way he kind of reminds me of the Rajaram brothers from Tiger's Curse. He has traits of both. But make no mistake, he is not as awesome as Kishan. Very few people can compete with the love of my life, and none of those outside of my holy Quartet (Kishan, Ash, Warner, Jem). But, there is a great shortage of amazing heroines, so Kami does make the cut for me. She is whip-smart and clever and funny, and amazingly brave and strong. There are not enough heroines like her.

Although so far this has been a very clean YA series, Kami and Jared are still totally epic and they both love each other unconditionally and passionately. And not just romantically, but any way they can. Its Eros, Storge, Pragma, Mania, Philia, and Agape. And that, my friends, is beautiful!

"Do you remember how you used to believe I wasn't real? Sometimes I wish that was true. If I was just a thought in the back of your mind, then I'd be with you, and I'd be better."

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan (The Lynburn Legacy #1)

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Publication Date: September 11th 2012
POV: Alternating - Third-person, Past tense
My Rating: 5 out of 5

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Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

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This book was incredibly unique. It had me hooked from the very beginning with its unique feel and fascinating story. I could not put it down and I read it in just over a day and I stayed up way past my bedtime. It was a lot of fun to read and was seriously addictive. I loved the fast-paced, witty narrative. I did a good deal of laughing while I read this. And the characters were just as sharp. I especially loved Kami and Angela. It reminded me a lot of Nancy Drew, but set in a small Gothic town with magic. I have never read anything quite like it.

“Your soul is like the souls of a thousand monkeys on crack, all smushed together.”

Also, the whole idea of two ppl being linked from birth, and never knowing whether the person you share your whole life with is real or not; that created entirely new dynamics for Jared and Kami. Very complicated dynamics. I appreciated the tumultuous-ness of their relationship, although I could have done with a tad bit more hope.

There is usually miscommunication in YA romances, that leads to the main character and love interest taking far longer to come together than they should have. But you still always know it will happen, eventually. But at the end of this, I find myself not entirely sure. Jared and Kami are in a place that they have never been before and I dont know how they will come back from this, but I still have hope. I have to, its the only thing that will keep me going until Untold.

"All the lights in his crazy gray eyes were dancing. A shiver went through her, a ripple of his delight. She felt again the way she had at the Crying Pools and at her house, the thrill of sharing your secret soul and having someone think it was wonderful."