Review: Untold

Free from bonds, but not each other

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?

Title: Untold (The Lynburn Legacy ~ Book 2)
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website | Blog
Publication Date: August 29 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Length: 336 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: Love it, the colors, the creepy factor, everything.
Point of View: 3rd person

My Rating: 5 Stars

I love this series and these characters beyond all reason.  A year ago when I read Unspoken, I fell in love.  I fell in love with the setting, the dialogue, the characters, honestly I just fell in love with every single aspect of Unspoken.  I patiently waited for Untold to be released and then I hurriedly jumped right back into the world of Kami, Jared, Ash, Holly, Angela and Rusty.  As soon as I started, I let out a content sigh of relief.  It was great to be back.

“It must be nice,” Holly said tiredly, “to know exactly what you want.”

“Not when you know what you want, and you know you can never have it again,” Jared told her.

If you have read Unspoken, or my review for it, then you will know that it had a pretty heavy duty cliffhanger.  My heart was left broken into two.  And, over the last year Sarah has been releasing little teasers... or should I say evil teasers, to get us ready for Untold's release.  We asked for a kissing scene, and she gave us the absolute wrong people kissing... and so it went.  It has been a year of torture, and I think Sarah enjoyed making us crazy.

So was the torture worth it? Absolutely.  Untold picks up right after Unspoken ended.  We now know that magic has returned to Sorry-in-the-Vale, and there is a war for power upon the horizon.  There are secrets uncovered and even more tales to be figured out.

“I don’t think you’re weak,” Jared said. “I want to guard you because you are important to me.  Because you are –God, this is going to sound so stupid, I can never think of a way to say it –you are precious.   I can never think of how to describe the value you have on me, because all the words for value suggest that you belong to me, and you don’t.”

Kami and Jared.  *sigh*  How much do I love these two?  I can't even put it into words.  I want nothing more than for them to end up together and happy.  Untold is a roller-coaster of emotion when it comes to their relationship.  There are deep and painful lows, as well as high flying happiness.  I cried frustrated tears, I cried happy tears, and I cried sad tears.  There were times I wanted to knock their heads together, and there were times I wanted just hug them both to let them know it was all going to be okay.  Well, I hope it is all going to be okay.  Seeing as how Sarah herself has in the past commented that she never made any promise that Jared and Kami would end up a couple... I guess anything is possible.  But I have faith that somehow, these two will end up with their happily ever after.  I hope.

“I belong to you.  He has no idea what he’s up against.  And that will get him in the end.  I believe that.  Everything’s going to come right for you.”

“And you,” Kami said again.

“If everything’s right for you,” Jared said at last, “everything’s right for me.”

The side characters are also what help make this such an amazing series.  We see a completely different side to Ash in Untold.  He wasn't my favorite character in Unspoken, and after this I can say my heart has warmed to him.  He is such a sad and lonely character.  I didn't really understand that before.

The only character that annoyed me a little was Holly.  I couldn't understand what was driving her for most of the story.  I kinda understand her a bit more at the end, but I still can't forgive her for some of her earlier actions.  There is one scene that I will never be able to read.  Because of an earlier teaser released by Sarah, I knew the scene was going to happen.  But, I actually made a friend at work read it before me on our lunch hour.  I didn't want to miss anything important, but it hurt my heart too much to actually read it.  When you read Untold, you will know exactly what scene I mean.  I still haven't read it.  I've been given a cliff notes version by my friend.

Then there is of course, Angela and Rusty.  Angela is great as always, she continues to prove how good a friend she is to Kami.  And Rusty, what can I say about him?  I love this guy so much.  He plays a larger role in this book, and I loved every single minute of it.  The dialogue in this series, is one of the reasons I love it so much... and Rusty is right up there with Kami when it comes to the quirky back and forth.  I completely lost count at the number of times he made me laugh.

“I know what other people think about me,” Rusty told her.   “‘That Rusty,’ they say.  ‘Charming and handsome,’ they say first, of course – they’re not blind.  Then they add, ‘All the ambition and drive of a chocolate sundae.’”

What about the ending you ask?  Well, it's another cliffhanger.  Not nearly as painful as the one in Unspoken, but one that has left me very much wanting the final book, Unbroken.  As of the time of this review, there is no exact release date planned, we only know that it will be in 2014.  My guess would be around the same time as Unspoken and Untold, which was around August and September.  I know this seems like a long time to wait, but hopefully we will get lots more teasers from Sarah to make it go by at a swifter pace.

However, if they are as evil as last time... maybe we are best just waiting for Unbroken's release.  I shall be off now to crawl into my hole to wait out the next year...

“I never had a single moment like that, I was never lonely a day of my life, until now.  Now I feel like the world is hell, and hell is a place where the souls of the damned can still see heaven.   Because that’s the worst thing of all.  And yet I can’t look away.”