Series: The Taking (bk. 1)
Genera(s): Sci-fi Mystery/Romance
Subjects: abductions, abilities, aliens,
Setting: Burlington, Washington
POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: Kyra
Agnew
Age/Grade Level: Teen
Length: 357 pgs.
HC/PB: Hardcover, now in Paperback
List Price: $17.99/$9.99
Publisher: HarperTeen
Summary/ product description: “A flash of white light . .
. and then . . . nothing.
When
sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she
has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case
of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . .
yet she hasn’t aged a day.
Everything
else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her
boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has
changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames
her five-year disappearance on little green men.
Confused
and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth.
With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now
seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra
retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover
strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s
father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been
taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the
life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?”
My Review: I
finally decided to start this series since I know the 3rd book is
coming out in 2 months and it’s spring break, so why not series-binge? The
Taking was a fun, entertaining and mysterious sci-fi read. Perfect for fan of
the X-files. I watched the new 6-part series recently, so I felt in the mood
for some alien stuff.
Kyra Agnew, a 16-year old girl from Burlington,
Washington, was taken after her high school softball team won the championship
in 2009. She got into an argument with her dad, exited the car and saw a
blinding light. She wakes up on the ground behind a gas station thinking she
somehow choose to sleep outside for the night. She doesn’t find out that
actually 5 years have gone buy since that night until mistake her boyfriend’s
younger brother Tyler for her boyfriend Austin. Tyler who was only 12 last time
she saw him, and is now suddenly looking 17. Austin is now 22 and at college.
Kyra should be 21 now, but she looks exactly the same
as she did the night she disappeared, down to her clothes and the bruise on her
leg. She discovers her parents divorced, he mother remarried and she now has a
little half brother. Everyone is astounded at her return. Kyra is upset with
how her family is not the same anymore and feel angry with her mother and
jealous of her new brother, and even refuses to get to know her new stepfather.
Her real father is living in a trailer park now, kicked out by her mother for
spouting crazy ideas of alien abduction and other conspiracy theories. The NSA
wants to speak with Kyra, and may want to even experiment on her. There’s a mysterious
boy with coppery eyes that keeps showing up where she goes. The one bright spot
in her life is Tyler, who listen to whatever Kyra has to say. Tyler, who she’s
now falling for.
This was a thrilling, romantic, and awesome book.
There’s not enough sci-fi YA book currently out there that are set in
contemporary times. I love dystopian books, but once in a while I’d like some
modern science fiction. Some “paranormal romance” book could as science
fiction, I suppose.
I really liked the romance between Kyra and Tyler.
Tyler so funny and sweet. He’s a book nerd and does sidewalk chalk drawing to
impress Kyra. He’s very open about his feeling for her, extremely flirtatious.
He doesn’t like to be serious because he makes jokes in serious situation. Kyra
is more serious, but she can easily banter along with him. He jokes about her
being a dumb jock when she calls him a nerd. It’s very cute. It also feels a
little heart wrenching toward the end. I’m also hoping there will be no love
triangle, so I’m just going to dive into the sequel without reading the
description.
Also, I think that’s the way Kyra’s change since she
got back is cool. The blood thing’s a bummer, but I hope the abilities develop.
They seem to be stereotypical “enhanced” stuff, so I wonder if there’s more to
come possibly.
I recommend this series to fan of: The Rules trilogy
by Stacy Kade, Blackout by Robison Wells, Rush (the Game Trilogy) by Eve
Silver. Pretty much anything with aliens, or teens gaining superpowers. X-file
fans, Fringe fans, Kimberly Derting fans (I only read the Body Finder series).
Cover Art Review: Love the title made out of
fireflies! Perfect!
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