Unraveling

Sixteen-year-old Janelle Tenner is used to having a lot of responsibility. She balances working as a lifeguard in San Diego with an intense academic schedule. Janelle's mother is bipolar, and her dad is a workaholic FBI agent, which means Janelle also has to look out for her younger brother, Jared.
And that was before she died...and is brought back to life by Ben Michaels, a mysterious, alluring loner from her high school. When she discovers a strange clock that seems to be counting down to the earth's destruction, Janelle learns she has twenty-four days to figure out how to stop the clock and save the planet



I had chosen another book for this challenge this month but when I saw Pitch Dark Books was re reading Unraveling this week, I had to join and since I didn't actually write a review the first time, I decided to change to this book.
I first read this in Dec and now I feel like I was too harsh. I remember reading reviews about it before choosing this book, I was looking for dystopian novels for the end of the world marathon and I liked it but found several negative reviews so I went into this book with the thought that it was practically a copy of other ideas. I remember thinking the first time, as I was reading the first chapters that everything looked very familiar to different stories and I had just started reading Sci Fi; I kept questioning everything. It wasn't until halfway through, that I stopped thinking like that and looked at it as fiction (there's a reason why I read mostly fiction) and stopped comparing every little detail. I found two things: 1, I liked that kind of plot and Sci Fi was not what I thought it would be; and 2, it reminded me that I do love mysteries and trying to figure things out.
So, would I change my rating after reading this a second time with an open mind? Yes! I'll give it 5 monkey bookmarks!


I love everything about it! You'd think since it was very similar to a show (based on a series) I loved, still do, I would have been more open to this book and really liked it. Back then I felt like it was a betrayal, but not anymore. They are not the same, they have similar ideas, but every little difference is what makes each one what they are, amazing.

As I was re reading it, I kept thinking of my first images of this world and characters and they have not changed. I still see the streets, events and characters the way I first pictured them.

This story keeps unraveling (interesting choice of words) all the way till the end. You never stop wondering what will happen next, how will things wrap up and what will happen with the characters. This is full of surprises and twists and you just don't see most of them coming. It's a mystery - crime investigation with a fantastical plot, that just keeps you wondering what is really going on.

There's still the normal teenager with a big responsability, dealing with high school and life, very realistic and relatable. The normal side of the story has many characters and events to which the reader connects, but there is more to that, where the paranormal - for me is paranormal, most of those things aren't possible and the others, even if they're theoretically possible, I just don't believe - side comes in. So, it's a little surreal, but that's what makes it Sci Fi and interesting. She's trying to take care of her normal life, practically raising her brother by herself, while trying to figure out what is happening. Aren't they always teenagers trying to save the world? Doing things we say are impossible, but that's how life in fiction books work. They're there to entertain us and this one did just that. It's a new world with different rules.

I love Ben, he is awesome and just the way I like them, like Daryl from the Walking Dead. I've heard complaints about the characters and how they're too perfect, but I don't think they are, besides people with those characteristics do exist, aside from the paranormal stuff.

I'm glad I read it again with a different way of thinking and not really letting other people's reviews make up my mind, assuming the worst before even starting it. I've been always aware of the fact that we don't all think the same way, I usually accept other's perspective but never let it affect me or my thoughts, I don't know how that happened with this book.

Favorite parts:
"You're not going to believe me"
"Life is a fragile thing. Apparently the whole world is fragile too"
"Lives are made of strings of moments, and every once in a while, one of those moments is pivotal and defining."
"Mr. Michaels, please stop asking Ms. Tenner to marry you and pay attention."