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Unwanted
All her life, eighteen-year-old Bea has wanted nothing more than to become a sniper on the wall and earn the coveted ink of a Dread warrior - a mark of distinction among her people.
She knows that one day the terrifying Erebii might break through the city's outer defences, and if her people aren't prepared and the wall is breached then the last human city will fall.
But everything Bea thinks she knows is about to be challenged...
What does the ink really do as it flows underneath their skin and who is the mysterious Unwanted boy that keeps appearing in her life?
She knows that one day the terrifying Erebii might break through the city's outer defences, and if her people aren't prepared and the wall is breached then the last human city will fall.
But everything Bea thinks she knows is about to be challenged...
What does the ink really do as it flows underneath their skin and who is the mysterious Unwanted boy that keeps appearing in her life?
319 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2015
2 people are currently reading
354 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
March 3, 2015
This book was a treat. The plot is intriguing and well crafted. I felt like I really knew the city. Bea, the main character, wants to be a sniper on the wall to protect her people from the enemy outside, but when she does something she knows is against the law she starts to make some horrible discoveries. The moving ink is real cool, and I enjoyed the way the characters started to show their true selves as the plot unfolded. Most of them are a little bit flawed and that's what makes them so interesting. It was fascinating watching the relationship between Bea and Red evolve. The major twist was totally unexpected and that was huge for me.
February 10, 2015
Oh my flecking gaudness! i loved this book and quite frankly i wish there was a sequel (i havent found one if there is one) i felt quite annoyed when it ended like that!!!!!
any who 5 stars and amazing work!
p.s RED IS MINE
any who 5 stars and amazing work!
p.s RED IS MINE
March 18, 2015
I absolutely loved the concept of "ink", flowing, constant, ever present , betraying the emotions of the characters. And the outstanding courage of Bea, whose endeavors awaken the hero/heroine in all of us. An exciting read! Really looking forward to the sequel.
March 5, 2015
This review appears on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews!
I really wanted to like Unwanted, as a dystopian by an Australian author, and while it had some unique elements to it, I couldn’t quite get into it.
I’m always gunning for a unique dystopian that isn’t like The Hunger Games or Divergent, and Unwanted definitely delivered in that respect. From the sinister Erebii monsters with yellow eyes, to a crow’s eye embedded into Bea’s hand (it’s as gross as it sounds), to unique tattoos that move, I was intrigued with the world. People are divided into Dreads, who guard the walls of the city and train as warriors, and Storks, who are surrogate mothers for the city. The world building was definitely my favourite part of the book.
Unfortunately, I found it difficult to connect to Bea or the characters around her. While she’s a strong, purposeful warrior who wants to save her sisters and purge the crow’s eye from her hand, she lacked emotion and her point of view was quite bland. She’s a sniper for the city and everyone keeps on saying how she’ll earn full Dread warrior status, but I was disappointed from the lack of warrior training or action that happens in the book.
There’s supposed to be some sort of love triangle between Bea, the Unwanted Red who offers to help and her childhood friend and fellow Dread warrior, Gus. But with barely any romantic thought or development between either of these guys, I was incredibly surprised when she suddenly blurts out “I love you” with barely any setup. I did feel she developed more of a connection with the other guy too, so I was taken aback when it happened.
While the writing was solid, I struggled with the slow pacing throughout the book. It’s a rather descriptive book, focusing on Bea’s surroundings a lot which I had to skip through at times. There isn’t really a distinct plot, rather a story that unfolds as Bea learns more from Red about the city, which may have contributed to the slowness as well. It does speed up towards the last 50 pages or so where the city’s mysteries unfold.
Unwanted is an unique dystopian with it’s moving tattoos, Erebii and embedded eye in the hand, but it was difficult to stay interested throughout due to its slow pacing and execution. Although I liked the world and the setting, I found it lacked emotion and the character was difficult to connect to. It’s hard to come up with a dystopian that hasn’t been done before these days though, so kudos to the author for doing so!
Thanks to Penguin Random House for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!
I really wanted to like Unwanted, as a dystopian by an Australian author, and while it had some unique elements to it, I couldn’t quite get into it.
I’m always gunning for a unique dystopian that isn’t like The Hunger Games or Divergent, and Unwanted definitely delivered in that respect. From the sinister Erebii monsters with yellow eyes, to a crow’s eye embedded into Bea’s hand (it’s as gross as it sounds), to unique tattoos that move, I was intrigued with the world. People are divided into Dreads, who guard the walls of the city and train as warriors, and Storks, who are surrogate mothers for the city. The world building was definitely my favourite part of the book.
Unfortunately, I found it difficult to connect to Bea or the characters around her. While she’s a strong, purposeful warrior who wants to save her sisters and purge the crow’s eye from her hand, she lacked emotion and her point of view was quite bland. She’s a sniper for the city and everyone keeps on saying how she’ll earn full Dread warrior status, but I was disappointed from the lack of warrior training or action that happens in the book.
There’s supposed to be some sort of love triangle between Bea, the Unwanted Red who offers to help and her childhood friend and fellow Dread warrior, Gus. But with barely any romantic thought or development between either of these guys, I was incredibly surprised when she suddenly blurts out “I love you” with barely any setup. I did feel she developed more of a connection with the other guy too, so I was taken aback when it happened.
While the writing was solid, I struggled with the slow pacing throughout the book. It’s a rather descriptive book, focusing on Bea’s surroundings a lot which I had to skip through at times. There isn’t really a distinct plot, rather a story that unfolds as Bea learns more from Red about the city, which may have contributed to the slowness as well. It does speed up towards the last 50 pages or so where the city’s mysteries unfold.
Unwanted is an unique dystopian with it’s moving tattoos, Erebii and embedded eye in the hand, but it was difficult to stay interested throughout due to its slow pacing and execution. Although I liked the world and the setting, I found it lacked emotion and the character was difficult to connect to. It’s hard to come up with a dystopian that hasn’t been done before these days though, so kudos to the author for doing so!
Thanks to Penguin Random House for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!
March 10, 2015
Hmmm not bad, not bad. I thought this might end up being like quite a few YA dystopian books I've read, but the premise was unique and the story ended up going places that were unexpected. I was glad to follow on with it, and enjoyed the journey. The characters were a delight, the dreaded love triangle never making fruition, thankfully. The love Bea had for her family as opposed to the blow in maybe love interest was astounding for YA, and I loved it!
Basically humans have been reduced to a single, walled city. Yeah I know, not that unique a setting. There is the usual issue of breeding, and some females elect to bear babies for a large sum of money. It's not compulsory though, and Bea is training to be a warrior, or a 'Dread'. Of course there is a discovery of corruption, rescues etc, but it still managed to feel fun and fresh. I zoomed through it!
I really like this one, and I hope there is a sequel. Even if there isn't, the book ends with open possibilities. Four stars, and highly recommended!
Basically humans have been reduced to a single, walled city. Yeah I know, not that unique a setting. There is the usual issue of breeding, and some females elect to bear babies for a large sum of money. It's not compulsory though, and Bea is training to be a warrior, or a 'Dread'. Of course there is a discovery of corruption, rescues etc, but it still managed to feel fun and fresh. I zoomed through it!
I really like this one, and I hope there is a sequel. Even if there isn't, the book ends with open possibilities. Four stars, and highly recommended!
March 27, 2015
Bae Azaeli comes from a world where and alien race is trying to take over the world. The only thing that keeps her and the rest of their human population safe is a guarded wall that surrounds her city. The city is controlled by The Elders with order being the most important structure for survival and everyones movements being accounted for at all times. It's the only way to make sure they stay safe. Or is it? Bae finds herself questioning everything when she comes across a crow and then a boy called Red.
I really enjoyed Unwanted. I loved the creativity that went into the characters and the storyline. The Erebii race with their abilities was unique. Unwanted was a fast-paced read that was exciting, mysterious and creepy all at the same time and I found it hard to put down because I had answers that needed to be answered.
If you're looking for something different to read that stretches your imagination, taking you to a different time and place then this one is for you.
I really enjoyed Unwanted. I loved the creativity that went into the characters and the storyline. The Erebii race with their abilities was unique. Unwanted was a fast-paced read that was exciting, mysterious and creepy all at the same time and I found it hard to put down because I had answers that needed to be answered.
If you're looking for something different to read that stretches your imagination, taking you to a different time and place then this one is for you.
March 4, 2015
The world of Unwanted is bleak and seemingly well-ordered but it's clear from the outset that it's not going to stay that way. I found the novel an interesting one but it was slow at the start and I found it difficult to engage in the story. At about the quarter-way mark that changed and I enjoyed the rest of it immensely. The ending wasn't completely resolved so I'm assuming that more books are coming in this series. I am interested in the world and look forward to seeing where it goes from here.
February 13, 2015
Elements of Dystopian sci fi horror....some original concepts with lots of potential for a sequel.
March 19, 2015
I received this book for free from Penguin Random House Australia in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Once upon a time there was a badass warrior who had been trained her whole life to protect her walled city from outside invaders.
She passed her test and was about to graduate when she did something really really stupid that caught the attention of the rebels. Or course, this made her super special, and now she was the rebels' only hope to spy on the bad guys.
Despite being a badass warrior, we never really get to see her in action.
Instead, she spends the entire novel running around after her pregnant sister, and trying to cover up her crimes against humanity.
She is captured by the rebels who blackmail her into helping them. They need her to spy on the evil overlords so they can blow up a communications tower, because that'll free everyone, somehow.
SPOILER TIME
Unfortunately, there are a few plot holes in the book.
The reason for this is that we are stuck outside Bea's head and absolutely never get how she feels about any situation. She's an emotionless robot. Sure, she cares for her sisters, and she has a bright, loyal, brave personality, but she doesn't have any emotions. She feels nothing.
Also, we never see her being a badass warrior. We're told she's wonderful, other characters tell her she's the best of the lot, and we never see what we're told.
10+ points for originality. And extra 5 points for clear writing. Negative 5 for clumsy worldbuilding, another negative 5 for massive plot holes and inconsistencies, and another 5 for writing a heroine we can't connect to because her emotions are never explored.
I enjoyed reading most of the book until the plot holes reared their head. Ultimately I was disappointed.
Once upon a time there was a badass warrior who had been trained her whole life to protect her walled city from outside invaders.
She passed her test and was about to graduate when she did something really really stupid that caught the attention of the rebels. Or course, this made her super special, and now she was the rebels' only hope to spy on the bad guys.
Despite being a badass warrior, we never really get to see her in action.
Instead, she spends the entire novel running around after her pregnant sister, and trying to cover up her crimes against humanity.
She is captured by the rebels who blackmail her into helping them. They need her to spy on the evil overlords so they can blow up a communications tower, because that'll free everyone, somehow.
SPOILER TIME
Unfortunately, there are a few plot holes in the book.
The reason for this is that we are stuck outside Bea's head and absolutely never get how she feels about any situation. She's an emotionless robot. Sure, she cares for her sisters, and she has a bright, loyal, brave personality, but she doesn't have any emotions. She feels nothing.
Also, we never see her being a badass warrior. We're told she's wonderful, other characters tell her she's the best of the lot, and we never see what we're told.
10+ points for originality. And extra 5 points for clear writing. Negative 5 for clumsy worldbuilding, another negative 5 for massive plot holes and inconsistencies, and another 5 for writing a heroine we can't connect to because her emotions are never explored.
I enjoyed reading most of the book until the plot holes reared their head. Ultimately I was disappointed.
February 13, 2015
BOOK REVIEW by Michelle 2nd February 2015:
RATING: 3.75 STARS!
I love reading YA dystopians and I also love reading Australian authors. I’m an honest reviewer so this is just my one personal opinion.
I want to start by saying I thought Amanda's writing was lovely, now here comes the tough part for me because I really wanted to love this book because virtually the moment it rocked up on my doorstep I opened it up. I was excited to read it.
Bea is a new Dread Warrior. I really liked the whole idea of Dread Warriors ( they have dreadlocks ) and this being the last city on Erth. No, that wasn’t a spell error.
I liked the idea for this dystopian. I think I needed Bea to be much more fleshed out for me to identify with her. She is a trained fighter but I didn't really feel that she was used much to show us this.
I felt like the story was a bit patchy and I found Red solved situations too easily. He would come along and things happened with relative ease. I thought he was like the solution guy. He knew everything and how to get about, it made for Bea's adventure into discovery very two dimensional. I felt like she had her own tour guide.
I could see the well of potential in Unwanted, but it missed the mark in several places for me.
I understood why Amanda kept Red slowly feeding Bea information because it kept the story moving, but I kinda figured some things out there, especially when we were shown something fairly early on when it came to a Stork. I felt Red could have connected with the reader better. He was a great character but he didn’t grab me. I so wanted him to grab me and for me to feel excited about him.
Gus was another character who I would call one of the three main characters, but there was a lack of connection there for me as the reader too. I felt like Amanda was trying to make a subtle love triangle but it simply wasn't there. I'm still a bit unsure of what was going on there. Nothing actually went on, but I felt like I was supposed to feel something. I would have loved to have had a deeper connection with him. I liked him, but...
One thing that totally had me going WT!! Was when Bea told Gus she loved him.
Man, WT!? I was a little confuzzed by that comment. Now if you read this book you will understand why I said that. I did this weird whiplash thing when I read that. There was no real basis for that comment to be blurted out of Bea.
I thought Amanda’s idea was a really cool one, but in my one personal opinion I think it lacked in grabbing me as the reader and taking me along on Bea’s ride.
This is why I say it has a well of potential. Again, some readers may simply love it the way it is, and that is totally cool.
I feel like there was meant to be an attraction between Red and Bea but it was simply not spelled out properly.
If I was to be asked if there was a romance in this book, I would say no. Gus certainly showed his interest in Bea but she was off doing her thing, sure they had some wall moments and spent a little time together, but you gotta be present to have a thing.
I did LOVE the twist that came with this book as I think it is very hard to pick it and that is a double-thumbs-up for me.
I felt like at times it was a bit hard turning the pages because I needed more excitement or some romance or more flowing of story line. Don't get me wrong, Amanda uses Bea's sisters and other Dread Warriors and other characters, I liked Jim, but...
Owl Vaughn could have been used better I thought too. I know why he wasn't in the book much, but it kinda felt forced when he popped back up. He was like the start and the end.
I felt like there could have been a lot more suspense to this read considering what I know at the end and also it is a dystopian and they should come with kickass action and suspense.
These are just my honest thoughts and I am a well read reviewer. I really wanted to like this book and I feel terribly bad that it didn’t connect with me.
I gave this book a bit more than I was intending because visually through Amanda’s writing I could see in my head her world, nice enough, but I just wanted to shake the whole story and its characters up a bit.
Michelle
RATING: 3.75 STARS!
I love reading YA dystopians and I also love reading Australian authors. I’m an honest reviewer so this is just my one personal opinion.
I want to start by saying I thought Amanda's writing was lovely, now here comes the tough part for me because I really wanted to love this book because virtually the moment it rocked up on my doorstep I opened it up. I was excited to read it.
Bea is a new Dread Warrior. I really liked the whole idea of Dread Warriors ( they have dreadlocks ) and this being the last city on Erth. No, that wasn’t a spell error.
I liked the idea for this dystopian. I think I needed Bea to be much more fleshed out for me to identify with her. She is a trained fighter but I didn't really feel that she was used much to show us this.
I felt like the story was a bit patchy and I found Red solved situations too easily. He would come along and things happened with relative ease. I thought he was like the solution guy. He knew everything and how to get about, it made for Bea's adventure into discovery very two dimensional. I felt like she had her own tour guide.
I could see the well of potential in Unwanted, but it missed the mark in several places for me.
I understood why Amanda kept Red slowly feeding Bea information because it kept the story moving, but I kinda figured some things out there, especially when we were shown something fairly early on when it came to a Stork. I felt Red could have connected with the reader better. He was a great character but he didn’t grab me. I so wanted him to grab me and for me to feel excited about him.
Gus was another character who I would call one of the three main characters, but there was a lack of connection there for me as the reader too. I felt like Amanda was trying to make a subtle love triangle but it simply wasn't there. I'm still a bit unsure of what was going on there. Nothing actually went on, but I felt like I was supposed to feel something. I would have loved to have had a deeper connection with him. I liked him, but...
One thing that totally had me going WT!! Was when Bea told Gus she loved him.
Man, WT!? I was a little confuzzed by that comment. Now if you read this book you will understand why I said that. I did this weird whiplash thing when I read that. There was no real basis for that comment to be blurted out of Bea.
I thought Amanda’s idea was a really cool one, but in my one personal opinion I think it lacked in grabbing me as the reader and taking me along on Bea’s ride.
This is why I say it has a well of potential. Again, some readers may simply love it the way it is, and that is totally cool.
I feel like there was meant to be an attraction between Red and Bea but it was simply not spelled out properly.
If I was to be asked if there was a romance in this book, I would say no. Gus certainly showed his interest in Bea but she was off doing her thing, sure they had some wall moments and spent a little time together, but you gotta be present to have a thing.
I did LOVE the twist that came with this book as I think it is very hard to pick it and that is a double-thumbs-up for me.
I felt like at times it was a bit hard turning the pages because I needed more excitement or some romance or more flowing of story line. Don't get me wrong, Amanda uses Bea's sisters and other Dread Warriors and other characters, I liked Jim, but...
Owl Vaughn could have been used better I thought too. I know why he wasn't in the book much, but it kinda felt forced when he popped back up. He was like the start and the end.
I felt like there could have been a lot more suspense to this read considering what I know at the end and also it is a dystopian and they should come with kickass action and suspense.
These are just my honest thoughts and I am a well read reviewer. I really wanted to like this book and I feel terribly bad that it didn’t connect with me.
I gave this book a bit more than I was intending because visually through Amanda’s writing I could see in my head her world, nice enough, but I just wanted to shake the whole story and its characters up a bit.
Michelle
April 21, 2015
If you liked divergent and the hunger games, you will love this book. Bea is inspiring and clever, a good role model who has flaws to learn from. This book has horror elements (not too bad though) and is full of fantasy. Betrayal and trust is a huge part of this book so be prepared for confusion. I really enjoyed this book and hope that it is part of a series!
March 19, 2015
Review: http://ruthreads.tumblr.com/post/1126...
Actual rating: 4.25 stars
Actual rating: 4.25 stars
April 20, 2015
This review first appeared on Readers in Wonderland
It was only a couple of years ago when the dystopian trend was in full swing. We got some good books out of it, but we also got some carbon copies. A scaffolding arose and it started to feel like every book was the same. There’d be a main character who would lead a rebellion against a bad government in a post apocalyptic/experiment world where the general populace was broken up into classes. UNWANTED is another YA dystopian, but I’m glad to say it doesn’t follow the generic mould too closely! Also it’s by an Australian author, has basically no romance, and is a standalone (at least, I think it’s a standalone. Book Depository seems to think otherwise)
UNWANTED follows Bea, a girl training to be a sniper. Not that she gets to do much shooting in this. Aside from the first chapter she doesn’t get much combat time. Most of the novel is spent following Bea, and sometimes one or two other characters, as she uncovers the truth behind the city she lives in and does her best to save various members of her family from the bad situations they end up in. She doesn’t even properly join the rebellion, she’s more blackmailed into it.
The world of UNWANTED is quite interesting. There is the standard city surrounded by a wall, but that’s not the cool part. What I loved was the whole ink thing. Tattoos/ink play a major role in this world. All adults have one once they graduate from stalk school or dread (army) school, and the amount and type of ink you have signifies your rank and role in the system. And it’s not just a tattoo, it’s ink that moves and helps express things such as emotions which leads me to my next point: showing vs telling.
The thing I enjoyed most about UNWANTED was how Holohan built the world. You know how we always ask for more showing not telling? Well Holohan’s mastered that technique. It was very rare that we’d get an info dump unless one character was explaining something directly to another. Most of the time she’d build the world by describing the surroundings and character’s actions. I should have marked a page to quote as an example. One way I can explain this was when Holohan described the appearance of a billboard advert to show how the government was actively encouraging girls to become Stalks (surrogate mothers for embryos provided by the council). She describe the cheery background, the happy model, the slogan but never outright stated that the girls were coerced into the career. The writing really was great. Unfortunately some other parts of the novel have me feeling meh about it, as much as I enjoyed it.
Overall the plot of UNWANTED didn’t have much action. There was a bit at the start and the end (which was more brutal on the characters than I was expecting and didn’t last long enough) and the occassional close call as Bea went around helping rescue people. Other than that there wasn’t much. And I’m okay with that because the world was what I was more interested in anyway, plus it took me in a direction I wasn’t entirely expecting. Even though the society has a dystopian sounding set up, there’s a sci fi element to it: the Erebii. These creatures and their technology were so interesting, would have loved for them to be fleshed out more.
My only real complaint aside from the lack of action when it comes to the UNWANTED are that I would have liked more character development. I never really grew emotionally attached and if I had, I think I may have cried at the ending because there were some surprise deaths then. It doesn’t help that the book is only short. It also would have been nice to see a bit more of the action at the end and maybe an epilogue just so we could see what happened to the characters because it ends almost mid scene.
UNWANTED is a dystopian novel I think a lot of people have been asking for: a standalone dystopian with basically no romance. The world was very interesting and superbly developed. I loved the way the author wove the history and world building into the descriptions and didn’t rely on info dumps, instead showing us how the world worked. The plot also surprised me, taking itself in a direction I wasn’t really expecting. Ultimately the only reason this didn’t get a really high rating from me was because I would have liked a bit more action and I never really formed an emotional attachment to the characters.
It was only a couple of years ago when the dystopian trend was in full swing. We got some good books out of it, but we also got some carbon copies. A scaffolding arose and it started to feel like every book was the same. There’d be a main character who would lead a rebellion against a bad government in a post apocalyptic/experiment world where the general populace was broken up into classes. UNWANTED is another YA dystopian, but I’m glad to say it doesn’t follow the generic mould too closely! Also it’s by an Australian author, has basically no romance, and is a standalone (at least, I think it’s a standalone. Book Depository seems to think otherwise)
UNWANTED follows Bea, a girl training to be a sniper. Not that she gets to do much shooting in this. Aside from the first chapter she doesn’t get much combat time. Most of the novel is spent following Bea, and sometimes one or two other characters, as she uncovers the truth behind the city she lives in and does her best to save various members of her family from the bad situations they end up in. She doesn’t even properly join the rebellion, she’s more blackmailed into it.
The world of UNWANTED is quite interesting. There is the standard city surrounded by a wall, but that’s not the cool part. What I loved was the whole ink thing. Tattoos/ink play a major role in this world. All adults have one once they graduate from stalk school or dread (army) school, and the amount and type of ink you have signifies your rank and role in the system. And it’s not just a tattoo, it’s ink that moves and helps express things such as emotions which leads me to my next point: showing vs telling.
The thing I enjoyed most about UNWANTED was how Holohan built the world. You know how we always ask for more showing not telling? Well Holohan’s mastered that technique. It was very rare that we’d get an info dump unless one character was explaining something directly to another. Most of the time she’d build the world by describing the surroundings and character’s actions. I should have marked a page to quote as an example. One way I can explain this was when Holohan described the appearance of a billboard advert to show how the government was actively encouraging girls to become Stalks (surrogate mothers for embryos provided by the council). She describe the cheery background, the happy model, the slogan but never outright stated that the girls were coerced into the career. The writing really was great. Unfortunately some other parts of the novel have me feeling meh about it, as much as I enjoyed it.
Overall the plot of UNWANTED didn’t have much action. There was a bit at the start and the end (which was more brutal on the characters than I was expecting and didn’t last long enough) and the occassional close call as Bea went around helping rescue people. Other than that there wasn’t much. And I’m okay with that because the world was what I was more interested in anyway, plus it took me in a direction I wasn’t entirely expecting. Even though the society has a dystopian sounding set up, there’s a sci fi element to it: the Erebii. These creatures and their technology were so interesting, would have loved for them to be fleshed out more.
My only real complaint aside from the lack of action when it comes to the UNWANTED are that I would have liked more character development. I never really grew emotionally attached and if I had, I think I may have cried at the ending because there were some surprise deaths then. It doesn’t help that the book is only short. It also would have been nice to see a bit more of the action at the end and maybe an epilogue just so we could see what happened to the characters because it ends almost mid scene.
UNWANTED is a dystopian novel I think a lot of people have been asking for: a standalone dystopian with basically no romance. The world was very interesting and superbly developed. I loved the way the author wove the history and world building into the descriptions and didn’t rely on info dumps, instead showing us how the world worked. The plot also surprised me, taking itself in a direction I wasn’t really expecting. Ultimately the only reason this didn’t get a really high rating from me was because I would have liked a bit more action and I never really formed an emotional attachment to the characters.
June 18, 2018
This book is pretty amazing!!!
I command the author for her ability to come with a very unique world! Moving tattoos, aliens, magical people and so much more . . . She has the lot.
What I wasn’t sure about at the being of this book was who the target audience is. It was unclear in regards to this. I mean the cover was old enough that I would pick it up, however at times the writing felt more directed to a more child fairy tale, sort of direction. But I am certainly glad that I chose to read it, it really is an intriguing and well described novel.
And the characters! Especially the old man's (Jimmy) POV is original and interesting. The story behind each one is actually more interesting than one would think. When authors move to one character to another, it is most annoying thing when it comes to developing a storyline. But this author did it really well.
Red is an awesome character, too!!!
The eye thing and making it from Red's own body is also interesting.
I also love how the book is completely different to something I have always read. I couldn't even guess about where it was heading.
The whole Si-fi and magic together is totally different.
I highly recommend this book to anyone!!!! It will certainly be worth it. I promise!
I command the author for her ability to come with a very unique world! Moving tattoos, aliens, magical people and so much more . . . She has the lot.
What I wasn’t sure about at the being of this book was who the target audience is. It was unclear in regards to this. I mean the cover was old enough that I would pick it up, however at times the writing felt more directed to a more child fairy tale, sort of direction. But I am certainly glad that I chose to read it, it really is an intriguing and well described novel.
And the characters! Especially the old man's (Jimmy) POV is original and interesting. The story behind each one is actually more interesting than one would think. When authors move to one character to another, it is most annoying thing when it comes to developing a storyline. But this author did it really well.
Red is an awesome character, too!!!
The eye thing and making it from Red's own body is also interesting.
I also love how the book is completely different to something I have always read. I couldn't even guess about where it was heading.
The whole Si-fi and magic together is totally different.
I highly recommend this book to anyone!!!! It will certainly be worth it. I promise!
April 10, 2017
Unwanted was an exceptional dystopian novel, following the story of Bea Azaeli, who discovers that the last standing city in her known world has been holding more secrets than anyone could have possibly imagined.
The book held a lot of unique concepts, mixing the idea of a dystopian city with mythical/fantasy enemies. However, despite all of this, there was still something major lacking. It was difficult to connect with the characters Holohan fabricated, although the storyline was easy to follow, with straight forward ambitions and goals.
The ending, I wasn't very fond of, as there were certain things that were left that were never completed and answered. It ended too quickly, and abruptly, and it wasn't pleasant. So many things were left unanswered as to what happened to Bea and her loved once.
It was a little bland, and boring at times, but the story line was amazing, and there were a few kickass action scenes, although they too, ended a little too quickly.
This book was just...alright.
February 1, 2015
This book was a dystopian fail. I really wanted to like this book but no matter how many times I talked myself against it, my argument would just fall apart. There were many times during the novel where I was struggling to finish it because I was just not pulled in by the story, writing or characters.
This story was generally very bland. The characters were dull and two dimensional, their voice and motivations lacked something to make them memorable and stand out. Bea is a talented girl who all her life has just wanted to be a sniper for the small, post-apocalyptic world she yearns to fight for and protect against the Erebii who I think is supposed to be this sort of alien who can shift forms. She's a hard working and driven introvert who has lost her father to suicide who was also a sniper, an owl which is like the highest rant of snipers. She has also lost her mother to the Farm which is like a punishment centre for rebels. Now, Bea is left with only her older sister,Joy who is a Stork, a job that pays woman to be surrogates and provide their world with the new generation. And also the youngest, Abby who does not talk. Together, they're supposed to create an unfortunate family who rely on each other. Instead, I felt their relationship was shallow and how they treated each other was like how you treat someone you don't know well. Too much politeness, not enough affection. Bea was such a gullible character. There was so much evidence out there that she had plainly seen that should have made her realise that her world was not what it was said to be but still she whined and whined about how it's a mistake. Blah blah blah
The plot itself was quite uneventful. What was supposed to be a realization and plot twist was actually not surprising. It was a very bland and predictable dystopian book. There was too much talking and not enough action. The ending was very anti-climatic and rushed. What I think was supposed to be a romance, just fell quite flat.
Nothing happened much in this book. I'm really disappointed that I didn't enjoy this one. The idea of the novel didn't pull me in, in the first place. The writing was slow and average, the plot was the same and the characters fell flat, all of them blurring into one.
August 23, 2015
Amanda Holohan has fully-fleshed out a fascinating city world in Unwanted. The first half of the book builds details of Bea's community;the culture, history and war torn physical environment. At times the reader is left with the uneasy feeling that this place is not so different to ours, acknowledging that we too are blind to the manipulations of media, government and corporations.
High achiever, Bea, is well on her way to achieving her goal of becoming a hero sniper when something happens to open her eyes to her city's underground and from there the book's pace races as Bea tries to keep her family safe while coming to terms with the horrors of her world.
Despite Unwanted fitting firmly within the dystopian genre, both the plot and setting are highly original and unique. I would recommend this book to all young adults, even those not normally interested in sci-fantasy.
High achiever, Bea, is well on her way to achieving her goal of becoming a hero sniper when something happens to open her eyes to her city's underground and from there the book's pace races as Bea tries to keep her family safe while coming to terms with the horrors of her world.
Despite Unwanted fitting firmly within the dystopian genre, both the plot and setting are highly original and unique. I would recommend this book to all young adults, even those not normally interested in sci-fantasy.
August 31, 2015
this was actually very good, quite a different angle for a dystopian world really we entering the world of sci fi here and I don't mean that in a negative way this has a broader base than your usual dystopian plot and I think it works. Took some time to establish plot characters and all the intricacies that promise more. Bea Azaeli promises to be an interesting lead. I look forward to the next instalment!
May 5, 2017
I loved this book. It was exciting, suspenseful and I couldn't put the book down. Bea is an awesome character and loved the moving ink on the skin. This should be made into a movie. Can't wait for the next one!
March 14, 2015
Wow that was cool. Won't write a full review just now, but really hoping we'll have a sequel to this one! Still many things to be cleared up (like...you know, the fact that war has just started).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2015
I enjoyed this. It was a little different to most dystopian's I've read lately. I loved the little twists, I just need to know what happens after....
March 29, 2016
Long review is long, in short the actual rating is 4.75 and worth a read if you like dystopian stories.
If you care to read the full review continue below.
Unwanted is the tale of the dystopian city Erth, and the villagers living inside. Eighteen year old Bea Azaeli has always dreamed of following her father's footsteps, to become a sniper on the wall, and earning the full Dread ink, a mark of distinction among her people. The dread soldiers are trained to fight the Erribii a shape shifting monster/alien that has already destroyed the rest of the world's major cities, leaving Erth as the last living human city. As Bea earns her way into the army things start to change small at first until it is clear her world is about to change forever.
First thoughts made by chapter 3:
The story starts by throwing the reader straight into the action of the final test for Bea to earn her place into the Dread army and wastes no time with set up, instead gives you little hints to the back story with Bea remembering things from the past or quickly inserting a description between the action. Within the first two chapters you start to see Bea's character developing beyond just a soldier into something more, she already begins to question the way things work even if she doesn't realise start away.
Ending thoughts:
This city was well written, little details are formed to give you the overall picture of what the city looks like and how things are done without being weighed down with word heavy descriptions, example would be the billboard Bea spots that depicts a career as a Stork as being a wonderful thing and something all girls should aspire towards.
The living ink that all citizens earn as they progress through their careers was a nice touch and a unique addition to the story, you could feel the excitement in the characters as they marvelled at each others ink that danced around on a persons body reacting to their emotions.
The story itself is fairly fast paced with the entire book taking place within a short time span, perhaps a week or two, with something always happening. The down side to this being so fast paced is that some events seem to get glossed over as they aren't that important towards the big picture but could have benefited with a little more time spent in that moment, to truly understand Bea's feelings as not a lot of her feelings are made openly obvious when reading.
While overall Unwanted follows the same pattern as most dystopian stories the author does manage to bring her own style towards the genre, even if they are only minor, that being said just because a story follows the same pattern as another doesn't take away from the enjoyment.
The ending comes too quickly and leaves a lot unanswered, at this point the sequel can not arrive soon enough.
Main Characters:
Bea is a wonderful lead character for me, while being physically strong she doesn't become 2 dimensional, Bea has regular emotions she gets scared, angry, upset and curious. There are times when she needs someone to save or help her but she also knows how to get the job done herself when needed.
Gus was hard for me to like, he seemed to just be around for Bea to have someone to associate with in the beginning without having any real need for him, Especially once Red arrives. Even near the end there was no real emotion he seemed just too set into the role soldier to offer anything else. Maybe I just focussed on Red too much to care for Gus.
Red was likeable however you don't really spend much time with him even though he is in majority of the book, it's always small moments with him, I was patiently waiting for a romance to start between Bea and Red nothing, there were a few moments that gave me hope though. What you do get to see of Red is good, he comes across as an easygoing but determined guy, he knows what needs to done but lets Bea discover and come to terms with it slowly without rushing her.
What I didn't like:
At times the story moves too quickly through certain scenes and rushes the outcome without letting you react properly to what is happening.
Someone of the characters I couldn't bring myself to like, see Gus above, which made it hard to identify with them however those that were lacking didn't really impact the story for me.
The Unwanteds. Am I the only one that didn't quite understand how these people became the Unwanteds of the Dump? Maybe I rushed the part that explains how such a large group of people just ended up in the dump with nothing.
Rating:
5 stars actual rating 4.75 Stars.
I really enjoyed this book and believe it deserves the five star rating however when broken down there were a couple of things that didn't fit well for me so it loses quarter of a point.
Recommendation:
As stated before most dystopian stories follow the same story guide but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable, fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent series and the like will enjoy Unwanted as well.
If you care to read the full review continue below.
Unwanted is the tale of the dystopian city Erth, and the villagers living inside. Eighteen year old Bea Azaeli has always dreamed of following her father's footsteps, to become a sniper on the wall, and earning the full Dread ink, a mark of distinction among her people. The dread soldiers are trained to fight the Erribii a shape shifting monster/alien that has already destroyed the rest of the world's major cities, leaving Erth as the last living human city. As Bea earns her way into the army things start to change small at first until it is clear her world is about to change forever.
First thoughts made by chapter 3:
The story starts by throwing the reader straight into the action of the final test for Bea to earn her place into the Dread army and wastes no time with set up, instead gives you little hints to the back story with Bea remembering things from the past or quickly inserting a description between the action. Within the first two chapters you start to see Bea's character developing beyond just a soldier into something more, she already begins to question the way things work even if she doesn't realise start away.
Ending thoughts:
This city was well written, little details are formed to give you the overall picture of what the city looks like and how things are done without being weighed down with word heavy descriptions, example would be the billboard Bea spots that depicts a career as a Stork as being a wonderful thing and something all girls should aspire towards.
The living ink that all citizens earn as they progress through their careers was a nice touch and a unique addition to the story, you could feel the excitement in the characters as they marvelled at each others ink that danced around on a persons body reacting to their emotions.
The story itself is fairly fast paced with the entire book taking place within a short time span, perhaps a week or two, with something always happening. The down side to this being so fast paced is that some events seem to get glossed over as they aren't that important towards the big picture but could have benefited with a little more time spent in that moment, to truly understand Bea's feelings as not a lot of her feelings are made openly obvious when reading.
While overall Unwanted follows the same pattern as most dystopian stories the author does manage to bring her own style towards the genre, even if they are only minor, that being said just because a story follows the same pattern as another doesn't take away from the enjoyment.
The ending comes too quickly and leaves a lot unanswered, at this point the sequel can not arrive soon enough.
Main Characters:
Bea is a wonderful lead character for me, while being physically strong she doesn't become 2 dimensional, Bea has regular emotions she gets scared, angry, upset and curious. There are times when she needs someone to save or help her but she also knows how to get the job done herself when needed.
Gus was hard for me to like, he seemed to just be around for Bea to have someone to associate with in the beginning without having any real need for him, Especially once Red arrives. Even near the end there was no real emotion he seemed just too set into the role soldier to offer anything else. Maybe I just focussed on Red too much to care for Gus.
Red was likeable however you don't really spend much time with him even though he is in majority of the book, it's always small moments with him, I was patiently waiting for a romance to start between Bea and Red nothing, there were a few moments that gave me hope though. What you do get to see of Red is good, he comes across as an easygoing but determined guy, he knows what needs to done but lets Bea discover and come to terms with it slowly without rushing her.
What I didn't like:
At times the story moves too quickly through certain scenes and rushes the outcome without letting you react properly to what is happening.
Someone of the characters I couldn't bring myself to like, see Gus above, which made it hard to identify with them however those that were lacking didn't really impact the story for me.
The Unwanteds. Am I the only one that didn't quite understand how these people became the Unwanteds of the Dump? Maybe I rushed the part that explains how such a large group of people just ended up in the dump with nothing.
Rating:
5 stars actual rating 4.75 Stars.
I really enjoyed this book and believe it deserves the five star rating however when broken down there were a couple of things that didn't fit well for me so it loses quarter of a point.
Recommendation:
As stated before most dystopian stories follow the same story guide but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable, fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent series and the like will enjoy Unwanted as well.
February 24, 2015
Bea Azaeli lives in a walled city, believed to be the world’s last surviving. Inside the city there’s a strict order and everyone has a role to play within it. Some, like Bea, train to be a part of the city’s army, patrolling the walls and playing a role of sniper to keep anything that might want to invade, out. Others like Bea’s sister are Storks, charged with producing the next generation for the city. Bea’s father used to be a sniper but then rumour was, he couldn’t take it anymore and jumped. Because someone has to pay for his crime, Bea’s mother was taken away to work in the Farms. It’s up to Bea, by far the most capable to keep their family together, her and her two sisters. Her youngest sister is mute and requires extra stability and reassurance.
But the Bea’s sister makes a terrible choice and Bea is forced to go after her. And the things that she discovers on her quest has her wondering just what lies outside the walls….and if maybe, the real danger is on the inside.
Unwanted is a new dystopian YA novel set in a could-be-anywhere-city in a ruined world. Some time ago, an invasion came by Erebii who are….aliens? Other life forms?.. that can mimic form. The first Erebii to inhabit Earth was friendly but then the warriors came and possessed humans, taking their bodies. Bea’s city is fortified by a wall and on the wall are snipers who will shoot anything that comes into sight. They cannot take the risk and have their security breached.
Bea is training to be a warrior, a sniper like her father before her. He died in disgrace although Bea has trouble believing that it happened the way that was claimed. Perhaps she feels that she can rectify her father’s disgrace by becoming a valued and formidable sniper although much of her training happens before the book begins. Instead we get her final challenge as our opening scene and the book quickly establishes a friendship between Bea and her neighbour Gus, who is also in training and has passed his final test. Gus seems to also regard Bea as more than a friend (this will be important later) but she doesn’t seem to have ever thought of him that way (this will also be important later).
To be honest, I found parts of this book confusing, especially after Bea meets Red and the rest of the underground crew. Red seems like one of those magic characters who can go anywhere and do anything and convince people that either he has a right to be there or not to see him at all and he came off so bland and two-dimensional. Bea has been indoctrined to believe one thing her entire life and it seems remarkably easy for Red to convince her of something else. If Red is that clever, surely he could just convince everyone else too? The whole underground community with the mad skills thing seems so overdone in dystopian literature, everything they need at their fingertips. I know it’s not that easy and they seem to have been working for a while towards their goal but suddenly there’s this idea that Bea is the one they’ve been searching for, the one that will make all their plans come to fruition.
I couldn’t really warm to Bea as a character, for most of the book she seemed almost robotic, perhaps a product of her upbringing and training but there was little to really show her personality except perhaps the way she went into bat for her sister Jo, who was a Stork. But even that seemed like something she was doing automatically. She was at her most human when interacting with her youngest sister but that didn’t stop her leaving her alone either. I think the main problem is that several elements of this book reminded me of other books – the eye embedding in her palm reminded me of the Juliana Baggott books and the Stork part reminded me of well, many other dystopian books to be honest.
The first part of the book is rather slow but the last third of the book is significantly faster paced and I think that’s the part I enjoyed the most. There were lots of developments, a few surprises and things I wanted to know more about which didn’t really eventuate. It looks set up for a possible sequel as well, so perhaps if that eventuates we’d learn much more about the world in which this story takes place.
But the Bea’s sister makes a terrible choice and Bea is forced to go after her. And the things that she discovers on her quest has her wondering just what lies outside the walls….and if maybe, the real danger is on the inside.
Unwanted is a new dystopian YA novel set in a could-be-anywhere-city in a ruined world. Some time ago, an invasion came by Erebii who are….aliens? Other life forms?.. that can mimic form. The first Erebii to inhabit Earth was friendly but then the warriors came and possessed humans, taking their bodies. Bea’s city is fortified by a wall and on the wall are snipers who will shoot anything that comes into sight. They cannot take the risk and have their security breached.
Bea is training to be a warrior, a sniper like her father before her. He died in disgrace although Bea has trouble believing that it happened the way that was claimed. Perhaps she feels that she can rectify her father’s disgrace by becoming a valued and formidable sniper although much of her training happens before the book begins. Instead we get her final challenge as our opening scene and the book quickly establishes a friendship between Bea and her neighbour Gus, who is also in training and has passed his final test. Gus seems to also regard Bea as more than a friend (this will be important later) but she doesn’t seem to have ever thought of him that way (this will also be important later).
To be honest, I found parts of this book confusing, especially after Bea meets Red and the rest of the underground crew. Red seems like one of those magic characters who can go anywhere and do anything and convince people that either he has a right to be there or not to see him at all and he came off so bland and two-dimensional. Bea has been indoctrined to believe one thing her entire life and it seems remarkably easy for Red to convince her of something else. If Red is that clever, surely he could just convince everyone else too? The whole underground community with the mad skills thing seems so overdone in dystopian literature, everything they need at their fingertips. I know it’s not that easy and they seem to have been working for a while towards their goal but suddenly there’s this idea that Bea is the one they’ve been searching for, the one that will make all their plans come to fruition.
I couldn’t really warm to Bea as a character, for most of the book she seemed almost robotic, perhaps a product of her upbringing and training but there was little to really show her personality except perhaps the way she went into bat for her sister Jo, who was a Stork. But even that seemed like something she was doing automatically. She was at her most human when interacting with her youngest sister but that didn’t stop her leaving her alone either. I think the main problem is that several elements of this book reminded me of other books – the eye embedding in her palm reminded me of the Juliana Baggott books and the Stork part reminded me of well, many other dystopian books to be honest.
The first part of the book is rather slow but the last third of the book is significantly faster paced and I think that’s the part I enjoyed the most. There were lots of developments, a few surprises and things I wanted to know more about which didn’t really eventuate. It looks set up for a possible sequel as well, so perhaps if that eventuates we’d learn much more about the world in which this story takes place.
February 13, 2015
Barely breaking the surface of a world gone down the drain, so little is explored. You can understand how they haven’t explored too much though given the characters spend the entirety of their lives within the confines of a giant wall designed to protect them by not letting them out. Hmm, this seems familiar. Anyway, they choose a career path that sets them for life such as horticulture or the city defense which protects them from the dangers beyond the wall. Wait, there’s that inkling again, the one telling me I’ve read this before… Ok then. If you join the city’s defenses you barely get to see your family as well as you are too busy protecting them all from harm. Wait a minute! Giant wall you aren’t allowed beyond? A set career path? Not being able to see your family because of choosing said career path? Within the first few chapters I felt like I was in a neighbouring city from Divergent, you know, one of the ones where they test out different living scenarios to survive?
Admitting it can be difficult to not repeat other genres in the post-apocalyptic sense and having discovered the similarity so early on I was discouraged to continue. However curiosity won over and I persevered.
You follow the life of Bea, a late teen girl looking to become a part of the city defenses and take down the enemy! Who is this enemy that has forced humanity into the confines of a city that seems to grow depending on storyline development necessity? Why the Erebii, morphing aliens (I think?) who sought to take over humanity for some reason we will get to somewhere in the book. She does this alongside her best friend Gus who naturally has a one eyed crush on our main character who in turn doesn’t see him. However something happens and everything she knows is turned upside down when a mysterious guy called Red appears making her question what she knows about the history of humanity and fight for what its future will be.
Basically we have the in-her-late-teens heroine cliché, the male best friend in love with her and she doesn’t acknowledge it cliché, and the mysterious male that comes into her life to screw everything up and inadvertently rival the best friend’s affections cliché. It’s a formula readers are seeing spring up everywhere at the moment, love triangles being thrashed to their full extent across numerous genres. The only strong deviation I could see that stood out was avoiding the mainstream ‘we destroyed ourselves’ to an alien attack was a better choice of narrative though not ventured into enough.
Overall the city in which our character lives feels chaotic when giving the impression of being under control, our characters appear shallow and disconnected from their world and each other, the past is not paid enough attention to explain the present and the events that take place drag at the beginning and suddenly become cramped at the end when trying to bring everything together. As a result the characters appear to have everything given to them on a silver platter. It’s shipwrecked on the shore with no tide to help cast off up until the final few chapters when everything starts to move finally.
Hopefully the next instalment keeps the pace found towards the end and we get to explore the world a bit more as well as the characters. There is something unique here to be discovered and I'm hoping Holohan can help us find it.
Admitting it can be difficult to not repeat other genres in the post-apocalyptic sense and having discovered the similarity so early on I was discouraged to continue. However curiosity won over and I persevered.
You follow the life of Bea, a late teen girl looking to become a part of the city defenses and take down the enemy! Who is this enemy that has forced humanity into the confines of a city that seems to grow depending on storyline development necessity? Why the Erebii, morphing aliens (I think?) who sought to take over humanity for some reason we will get to somewhere in the book. She does this alongside her best friend Gus who naturally has a one eyed crush on our main character who in turn doesn’t see him. However something happens and everything she knows is turned upside down when a mysterious guy called Red appears making her question what she knows about the history of humanity and fight for what its future will be.
Basically we have the in-her-late-teens heroine cliché, the male best friend in love with her and she doesn’t acknowledge it cliché, and the mysterious male that comes into her life to screw everything up and inadvertently rival the best friend’s affections cliché. It’s a formula readers are seeing spring up everywhere at the moment, love triangles being thrashed to their full extent across numerous genres. The only strong deviation I could see that stood out was avoiding the mainstream ‘we destroyed ourselves’ to an alien attack was a better choice of narrative though not ventured into enough.
Overall the city in which our character lives feels chaotic when giving the impression of being under control, our characters appear shallow and disconnected from their world and each other, the past is not paid enough attention to explain the present and the events that take place drag at the beginning and suddenly become cramped at the end when trying to bring everything together. As a result the characters appear to have everything given to them on a silver platter. It’s shipwrecked on the shore with no tide to help cast off up until the final few chapters when everything starts to move finally.
Hopefully the next instalment keeps the pace found towards the end and we get to explore the world a bit more as well as the characters. There is something unique here to be discovered and I'm hoping Holohan can help us find it.
February 1, 2015
Actual rating 2.5
The reason this got a 2.5 instead of a 1 is because I loved the author's writing style. Her ability to write is admirable and I very much enjoyed the way she structured and paced the novel. I also thought that the erebii bad guys were pretty well thought out. I was really excited after the first couple chaptwrs, hoping to have a kickass story by a great Australian author, but I was let down.
The book itself was quite clumsy. There was an attempted romance and love triangle incorporated but unfortunately it was poorly executed. I didn't really care about Gus, the vest friend, and found him to be obnoxious. There wasn't really any particular reason they were close, no bonding or inside jokes, and so I felt like he was just there for the sake of that ending. Then Red is full on instantly enamoured of Bea and she couldn't give two hoots about him. It really could have done without either of the characters but being YA the author felt the need to include them.
I felt like Bea wasn't a fully fleshed out character either. You can see she has the makings of it, but she just felt very 2D to me. I feel like she needed more motivation for following in her father's footsteps, as all I got was that she wanted to do it because her dad did, not from loyalty of fierce determination or to prove herself or some such other possible motivation. Also, despite being heavily trained she doesn't fight ANYONE or stand up for herself. Pretty much I thought that the author had more of a role in kind for her but didn't humanise her or make her feel real. Even her relationships with her sisters felt pretty flat and watered down.
In the end I just didn't care about this book. I read it for Holohan's writing more than anything, and I can tell that her writing will only improve. So while I felt Unwanted was a bit of a flop, I very much look forward to her future work and will continue to buy her books.
The reason this got a 2.5 instead of a 1 is because I loved the author's writing style. Her ability to write is admirable and I very much enjoyed the way she structured and paced the novel. I also thought that the erebii bad guys were pretty well thought out. I was really excited after the first couple chaptwrs, hoping to have a kickass story by a great Australian author, but I was let down.
The book itself was quite clumsy. There was an attempted romance and love triangle incorporated but unfortunately it was poorly executed. I didn't really care about Gus, the vest friend, and found him to be obnoxious. There wasn't really any particular reason they were close, no bonding or inside jokes, and so I felt like he was just there for the sake of that ending. Then Red is full on instantly enamoured of Bea and she couldn't give two hoots about him. It really could have done without either of the characters but being YA the author felt the need to include them.
I felt like Bea wasn't a fully fleshed out character either. You can see she has the makings of it, but she just felt very 2D to me. I feel like she needed more motivation for following in her father's footsteps, as all I got was that she wanted to do it because her dad did, not from loyalty of fierce determination or to prove herself or some such other possible motivation. Also, despite being heavily trained she doesn't fight ANYONE or stand up for herself. Pretty much I thought that the author had more of a role in kind for her but didn't humanise her or make her feel real. Even her relationships with her sisters felt pretty flat and watered down.
In the end I just didn't care about this book. I read it for Holohan's writing more than anything, and I can tell that her writing will only improve. So while I felt Unwanted was a bit of a flop, I very much look forward to her future work and will continue to buy her books.
December 9, 2015
Unwanted was an absolutely amazing book. I think the writing style is stunning but a bit to dramatic in some parts where Amanda Holohan could of made it a bit less dramatic. The story its self is amazing, but from what I heard, like 'Divergent'. The cool thing about this book was how well it could switch between characters point-of-views, I liked how you sometimes couldn't tell who it was until later. Holohan wrote this novel well and had a good storyline, but the cliffhanger at the end was torture. Also it is not a series, but a single ad that makes the cliffhanger really mean. I WANT MORE. Overall, this book was clearly awesome and I recommend it for ages ten to fifteen. It deservers five stars, well thats what I think. If your looking for a good book to read, this is the one. So if you like what I've said, hop into a car, go to a bookshop and look for it. It is worth a four hour drive.
March 2, 2015
Another science fiction dystopian novel...with a twist. I do not wish to provide any spoilers and this is one title that would easily be spoilt by too much information. Unexpected, enticing and providing a cliff-hanger ending, Unwanted would be popular with those who loved the dystopian worlds of Mad Max and The Giver and the science fiction worlds of ...nope, I must refrain from saying too much.
Recommended for ages 14+
Recommended for ages 14+
Read
December 17, 2015Putting this down for a few weeks unfortunately, just can't get into it at the moment.
April 5, 2015
It wasn't the best but I still liked it a lot.
July 4, 2018
Yay for a fellow Aussie and Blue Mountains resident.
I don’t know what it is but whenever I go into a book written by an Aussie author I expect it to be dull (I think because basically all the mainstream epic fantasies we get are from America so everything looks poorer in comparison). But I really really enjoyed Unwanted and found the world and the writing to be as good as and surpass some of the popular American fantasies/dystopians. It annoys me that books this good don’t reach the international market very often when they deserve to.
I found minor similarities with Divergent and a few others but it really did not matter because Unwanted was so so unique and awesome and such a page turner. I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next and I loved all the mysteries behind why things were the way they were and who could be trusted.
I’m definitely going to be looking for a copy of the sequel and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
I don’t know what it is but whenever I go into a book written by an Aussie author I expect it to be dull (I think because basically all the mainstream epic fantasies we get are from America so everything looks poorer in comparison). But I really really enjoyed Unwanted and found the world and the writing to be as good as and surpass some of the popular American fantasies/dystopians. It annoys me that books this good don’t reach the international market very often when they deserve to.
I found minor similarities with Divergent and a few others but it really did not matter because Unwanted was so so unique and awesome and such a page turner. I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next and I loved all the mysteries behind why things were the way they were and who could be trusted.
I’m definitely going to be looking for a copy of the sequel and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews