Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Book Review: The Taking, by Kimberly Derting

For a book that's supposed to be about alien abductions, The Taking screams, "romance!"

Kyra is 16 when she wakes up behind a quick shop and the last thing she remembers is being outside a car with her dad and seeing a bright flash of light. Kyra walks home, and soon realizes that things have changed a lot. Her mom and dad are divorced, her mom is remarried, and she has a new brother. Her boyfriend is now dating her best friend. She comes to realize that five years have passed since she disappeared.

Here's my problem. Kyra, YOU HAVE BEEN GONE FOR FIVE YEARS!!. This doesn't seem to phase Kyra very much, other than calling her new little brother "my brother" (yes, in quotes) instead of using his name. Kyra is a snot, but I forgive her for that. But what I don't forgive her for is OBSESSING about Tyler, the boy next door, and also the brother of her boyfriend from five years ago.

Awful things happen. She finds out the man who drew her blood at the hospital (a very strange blood draw, to begin with) has died. Doesn't phase Kyra..."Where's Tyler? When will Tyler be home?" Kyra has the same bruises and callouses and finds out her teeth are exactly the same as five years ago. Again, doesn't phase her, it's all about Tyler.

Her mother is panicked and wants her to stay close (of course, after thinking she was dead for five years.) Does Kyra care? No. Let's sneak over to Tyler's house. Her dad has gone off the deep end, trying to prove that Kyra was abducted by aliens -- she rejects him. When strange government officials start asking her questions, does she turn to her parents? Nope. Tyler.

Another little niggly thing. Kyra is gone for five years. She even states she had a Motorola Razr phone (that was still charged when she returned after five years.) She gets a new phone and is totally comfortable with the new smart phone technology. None of the technological changes that happened in five years was ever mentioned. iPads? eReaders? Like I said, niggly, but I thought it would have added a lot if Kyra had been "amazed" by some of the new stuff that is now available. I guess what I'm saying is that some details would have helped me believe the story. Kyra's reactions to the whole scenario were entirely "off."

The Taking got interesting after Kyra (and of course, Tyler) are on the run. She finally focuses on figuring out what happened. But by then I was so disgusted with her, I just wanted it to be over. And, even though I finished The Taking, it's not really over. This is the first book in a series, so we are left with a pretty big cliff hanger. I don't think I can stand the romance, so I probably won't continue the series.

Published by HarperTeen, April 29, 2014
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
368 pages

Rating: 2.5/5





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1 comment:

  1. Yup, I was so disgusted with Kyra I didn't even realize the technology bit. She was incredibly self centered!

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