Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Title: Unraveling
Author: Elizabeth Norris
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: April 24, 2012
Source: Bought
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Summary: Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she’s opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn’t possible, Janelle knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her reincarnation, and Ben’s possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI-agent father’s files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what’s right in front of her: Everything that’s happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben’s sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she’s going to need to uncover Ben’s secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.
From debut author Elizabeth Norris comes this shattering novel of one girl’s fight to save herself, her world, and the one boy she never saw coming. 


Review: Unraveling didn't just knock my socks off it blew them straight to the moon and back. This is a book that is fantastically written with characters that I absolutely fell in love with. There's nothing about Unraveling that I didn't love. 


First of all, who wouldn't like a heroine like Janelle? She's brainy and has quite the mouth on her. It doesn't hurt that everything that comes out of Janelle's mouth is somewhat hilarious. But what I loved most about her was her determination to try and save the world, as we know it, from collapsing. It was amazing to see Janelle grow stronger and stronger during the book. 


Janelle is a great main character but the supporting characters made Unraveling even better. Janelle's father, and her best friend just won my heart. I don't think the book would have ever been the same without them. I admit, I do have a soft spot for Ben, Janelle's love interest. He's quite the interesting boy, to say the least, and I loved their interactions. 


Unraveling is also addicting and fast-paced. I blew through this book in record time. I don't think I was physically able to turn the pages fast enough. Norris writes in a style that was wonderful. It wasn't overly complicated or simple-it was just right. There's this huge reveal somewhere in the middle of the book that blew my mind. There's no way anyone could ever predict the huge curve ball that Norris sent flying in Unraveling. And, guess what? It was jaw-dropping and most of all it was awesome. All I can say is that sci-fi rules. 


Unraveling  is a book that I could read over and over again. It has all the elements that you could possibly want in a book. It contains great characters, a mind-blowing plot and it had a great emphasis on family. If you haven't got around to reading this one, I'd recommend you start now. I wasn't able to put this one down and I predict it'll be hard for other readers to do just that. 


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