Unwept: Book One of The Nightbirds by Tracy and Laura Hickman

Unwept: Book One of The Nightbirds by Tracy Hickman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


☆ ☆ ☆
Actual 3.5

No spoilers and colorful language abound! I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.





Imagine coming into consciousness on a train, you remember nothing of your self at all but your own name. Your travel companion refuses to tell you anything, only referring to your uncle that you are traveling to see. When you arrive it turns out he isn't even your uncle, just someone who likes to be called "uncle" by the entire town read: creepy as fuck. None of the smiling faces at the station feel safe or remind you of home, no one will give you answers and keeps coddling you because of how unwell you are. The thing is, you don't feel unwell, you feel confused and angry because who the hell are you and why won't anyone tell you?

Bonus: Interesting as hell premise.



Almost immediately I was absorbed into this interesting world Hickman had created and was quickly locked down by the mystery of it all. Each little hint of the truth was revealed excruciatingly slowly, all the while second guessing my hunches and realizing I actually have no idea what is happening. I have a deep love-hate relationship with mystery, I love it because when written well I can do nothing and see nothing else. Nothing gets under my skin like a good mystery. However, I get incredibly annoyed when it takes the entire book to get even the slightest sense of truth, but I suppose that's part of the seduction of it all. In retrospect the clues were obvious enough, at least to give you an idea of what it all meant, but as I said earlier, I was second guessing myself until the very end.





This reads very much like a first installment, which of course it is. However this is not an aspect I appreciate, but one I accept. The truth is that not many authors can carry an entire first book on the premise of laying down the foundation and follow it up with something spectacular, that ending tho. I do hope in the second installment there is a bit more character exploration, I was left with way more questions than answers.

Ellis gets off the train in Gamin, a strange but quant seaside town brimming with curiosities that speak of the life and times of the 1920's. She is swept up in a life she doesn't recognize filled with people she isn't sure she can trust. With aspects of a child-like secret society, a passion for music, and the ever present sensation that she has to remember you own't be able to put this down! I don't want to spoil so I'll keep this part vague, it's a fast and engrossing read that I read in one delightful sitting.







View all my reviews