3.75 STARS
Unbreakable 2 picked up immediately where Unbreakable left off. I was instantly intrigued as to what would happen next...Mainly because the end of Unbreakable was where, I as the reader, was finally hooked and grabbed for more of the story.
I have to say that I had a hard time connecting with the characters. While I did enjoy the fact that Lilly was a strong female character, she tended to overpowered the opportunity for Luke to fill a role of being an Alpha Male. There were times he seemed to0 feminine in both books. Using phrases like... "me like" when observing Lilly's naked body just turned me off. I could understand those words coming from Lilly because she was a young 18 year-old girl but Luke was a couple years older than her and had the ability to live and experience life as he grew up. I expected him to be more "manly" so to speak. On occasion, he was permitted to fill the role of dominate male but those moments were few and far between. It's possible to have a strong female lead without taking away from the male/alpha aspect. However; I did enjoy how Luke was truly, madly and deeply devoted to Lilly even before she was of age. They truly had a deep connection and Love that would rival a few other stories I've read.
I was repeatedly thrown off by the plot regarding the death of Lilly's mother. As in the first book, there is a constant reference to voodoo practice; which kept me wondering if the story was beginning to fall into the paranormal genre or not. While I understand that this practice is common for the location/setting of the story, it continued to fizzle the story for me. Also, in both books I realized there was a lot of showering. Lilly showered, Luke showered, Lilly and Luke showered together, Jacob showered. While I understand the importance of cleanliness, I think that more time could have been spent expanding a bit on the rest of the story plot. Drawing it out a bit as it occasionally seemed rushed. They would stumble upon a clue and BAM, the next day they would get a letter that would explain it all. It was all too coincidental. Some parts were too fast paced and other parts moved a bit slow.
While I did enjoy this story, I felt it needed a some TLC to make it easier for the reader to read. Conversations between the characters didn't flow naturally. The wording/phrasing used wasn't how the typical person would speak. Occasionally what I was reading felt robotic. It is ok to use contractions from time to time. Unbreakable 2, The Mystery of Lilly was a sweet story. After all is said and done, I did enjoy reading about Lilly and Luke's love and would read more of their story if it presented itself. I love being able to see the characters through to the end and I was happy to see the HEA the characters were given.
This Naughty Mom gives Unbreakable 2, The Mystery of Lilly a 3.75 stars