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sandeeisreading's review against another edition
4.0
"You know, Ellie, Nightbird is just another name for 'moth'. Maybe that's where your dreams come from."
I would like to thank Netgalley and Tor books for providing me this review copy for an honest review.
Where do I even start with this?
Until now my head is just overflowing with possibilities on what will happen on the next book. That's a bit of a spoiler isn't it?
Yes, there will be sequel!
And this baby, ended in a way that you will surely ask for more.
This is how I looked like as I was reading this. This is chronologically arranged, starting from when I started reading it up to when it ended.
STARTED READING:
AT ABOUT 30%:
AT ABOUT 60%:
AT ABOUT 80%:
AFTER FINISHING:
THIS BOOK WAS A SUCKER PUNCH TO THE GUT OR FACE... WHATEVER!
It will keep you guessing up until the last minute, even after they're already revealing the secret behind the mystery, you are still guessing if it's true or not.
For the GIST
Ellis doesn't know how she got on that train going to Gamin, Maine. All she remembered was waking up from a nightmare, and in front of her was a nurse who knows her, but she had no memory of ever knowing her.
Upon her arrival to the town, she was greeted warmly by people she had never met, but knew her. Doctor Carmichael (who prefers to be called Uncle) picks her up from the train station and takes her to her cousin, Jenny, to recover from an illness she also does not have any memory of.
She still gets dreams, and the dreams are getting more and more vivid. She doesn't distinguish which is real and which is a dream anymore.
She wants to trust in someone, but she doesn't know who she can trust, especially now that everyone can't seem to tell her what happened to her. No one tells her anything. She wants answers, and she will find them no matter what it takes.
MY RATING
WRITING: 17
PLOT: 20
CHARACTERS: 17
UNPREDICTABILITY: 20
PACING: 5
ENJOYABILITY: 8
----------------------------
87 points
WRITING
I just have one thing to say about the writing, it was damn eerie. It has that mysterious vibe oozing through its pages. It will make you flip through its pages faster than you should. I usually don't like third person narration, except for maybe the Harry Potter series and Cassie Clare's books, but this one worked for me.
Waking up without a memory will cause you to be confused, puzzled, and lost. I've never lost my memory, so I couldn't really confirm if this was an accurate thinking of a person who had amnesia. But I kind of think it was as close as it could get to it.
PLOT
UNIQUE. The plot of this book is nothing I've ever read before. I wasn't exactly sure at first, if it was going to be a paranormal book, or just an otherworldly contemporary book. The story doesn't really giveaway too much of wha was going to happen until the last few pages of the book. This book was like a puzzle with missing pieces, that we were trying to complete. As the story progress, we get one piece of the puzzle at a time until the whole picture is revealed.
It was amazing.
CHARACTERS
Ellis was an admirable character. She may have lost her memory, but she doesn't give up in finding out the truth about who she was, and what was going on around her, because there was a lot going on in the background. There was a lot of thing we weren't able to see at first. She thinks before she speaks. Although everyone tells her she was sick or something, it didn't break her spirit. I liked that about her. She knew she'd be a fool to trust anyone, which was the right decision. Although, there was a point she misjudged someone, which I kind of thought she would.
I don't want to get too much on the details about the other characters because I'd probably give away too much if I did. There were a lot of secondary characters, but not all of them had a role, most of them are just pawns on the game that one of them was playing... So no, I wouldn't tell you guys anymore about the characters.
PREDICTABILITY
I still gave this a perfect score on my book, because majority of the time I was just shaking my head in disbelief that what I was thinking about is so far from the truth. I did guess one thing right though, I guessed who the evil villan was!!
PACING
It was too slow for my taste, but towards the last quarter of the book, all the truth came out in the open and hit you all at once.
ENJOYABILITY
I love my mystery so I definitely enjoyed this book!
FINAL RAMBLINGS
I am totally impressed with this book! I would have finished this earlier had I not been irritated with the Bluefire reader. *NOTE TO SELF: never send a galley through Bluefire!!*
Romance was not a big thing in this book so if you're looking for paranormal romance in this novel, better look for it some place else. There is pseudoromance I guess, but I'm not really sure until I get the next book which I want right now!!!
Oh and the cover's gorgeous! I should have given plus points for that. Publisher's should always remember that the cover gives the book additional pull to its audience.
What else am I missing?
I think that's all for my review of this book! Would I recommend it? Abso-fucking-lutely! I'm not really sure if this was supposed to be YA or adult or something, but younger readers could read this. No mature themes that I have read, just a little bit of gory stuff towards the end.
VERY FINAL NOTE I don't get the title. Why was it Unwept? Maybe I missed it somehow. I'll probably skim through it at some point to figure it out!
routergirl's review against another edition
1.0
This book is so poorly written that at times I stopped reading the actual story and just noted how many badly composed sentences were on each page. In spite of that, and even with an actual attempt to follow the plot (which was a bit like following a drunk friend who is SURE the way home is just THIS WAY), I never managed to figure out what the hell was going on.
In fact, I found it so hilariously awful that I almost recommended it to a friend who reads books that are fun to hate. The problem? It wasn't fun, hating this thing. It made me sad. Sad that books like this manage to get published.
Basically, there is this girl who is imagining herself in a coffin. Then she is on a train with a snotty nurse and a crying baby. Then there is the train platform, where everyone is staring at her, and no one else boards a train, and then we go into the bizarre and nonsensical town of Gamin. We get to meet the founder of Gamin, Merrick, who is kind of a dick. This girl, the main character, whose name might be Ellis or Ellie or Janelle (seriously), wanders around in a daze meeting people, all the time being offended at things in the manner of an uptight Victorian girl. I can't even remember how many times we got to hear how ugly Ellie/Ellis thought her traveling clothes were. Who gives a good god damn? This book would have been torture for an adept mystery reader. Red herrings everywhere, and none of them meant a damn thing.
I was hoping for a quick trashy young adult book. I ended up with the dog's breakfast of books.
In fact, I found it so hilariously awful that I almost recommended it to a friend who reads books that are fun to hate. The problem? It wasn't fun, hating this thing. It made me sad. Sad that books like this manage to get published.
Basically, there is this girl who is imagining herself in a coffin. Then she is on a train with a snotty nurse and a crying baby. Then there is the train platform, where everyone is staring at her, and no one else boards a train, and then we go into the bizarre and nonsensical town of Gamin. We get to meet the founder of Gamin, Merrick, who is kind of a dick. This girl, the main character, whose name might be Ellis or Ellie or Janelle (seriously), wanders around in a daze meeting people, all the time being offended at things in the manner of an uptight Victorian girl. I can't even remember how many times we got to hear how ugly Ellie/Ellis thought her traveling clothes were. Who gives a good god damn? This book would have been torture for an adept mystery reader. Red herrings everywhere, and none of them meant a damn thing.
I was hoping for a quick trashy young adult book. I ended up with the dog's breakfast of books.
expatamber's review against another edition
3.0
This was a dark tale of morbid curiosities with gas lamps and steam engines set in a sleepy seaside town of mysterious circumstance. It grabbed me on the first page and kept me interested throughout. The story picks up near the end to a dizzying pace. It gets a little confusing to tell the difference between waking moments and nightmarish discoveries, but the cliffhanger leaves you begging for more. If you like steampunk-ish fairy tales with a twist of gore, this is definitely the series for you. I will be on the lookout for The Nightbirds #2 to find out what happens to Ellis.
*I received this copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review, and opinions are mine alone.
Review: http://casualreadersbookclub.blogspot.com/2014/06/review-unwept-nightbirds-1.html
*I received this copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review, and opinions are mine alone.
Review: http://casualreadersbookclub.blogspot.com/2014/06/review-unwept-nightbirds-1.html
eserafina42's review against another edition
2.0
I really wavered between two and three stars, because I would actually give it 2-1/2 if that were allowed, but I've always felt there was a fine line between interestingly intriguing and annoyingly obscure, and this book crossed over it. The girl with amnesia (except for her name) traveling by train to the small town of Gamin, who is told that she is going there to rest and recuperate and has no choice but to trust those who are in charge of her, is an interesting premise, but it just gets too weird and the big reveal (such as it is) comes way too late. This is the first of a series but I think it would have been better if the first and second book had been published as one, since I was left feeling extremely frustrated and not eager for the next installment, as I'm sure the intent was. I also didn't really connect with any of the characters, including the protagonist.
nissahh's review against another edition
3.0
At the request of the publisher, this review is being held until closer to the publication date
urlphantomhive's review against another edition
3.0
READ IN ENGLISH
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!
Warning: This book doesn't contain an ending. It doesn't stop mid-sentence, but it's close. Somehow this makes it feel like you're just reading a very long promotion to the second book. I never like it when it's so obvious you can't just read a book on its own. If you want to have some questions, you'll have to continue this series.
The premise is very good. A girl in a mysterious village during WW1. Everyone seems to know a lot about her. She doesn't remember anyone. She doesn't remember who she herself is. From the beginning it's obvious something strange is going on. Although the pace is quite slow at the start, I was intrigued. But as so few questions are answered during the book and at the same time the story gets weirder (and -for me- not for the good) I felt like it kinda lost me. I still want to know what happened, how it happened and exactly how the prologue does fit in the rest of the story.
Besides being a bit slow at the start, I liked the writing, it made for a nice and easy read. I'm still curious to see what answers will (hopefully) be given in the second book, like what with the murders? Where comes her medical knowledge from? Who's this mothman? And just, what happened to her?
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!
Warning: This book doesn't contain an ending. It doesn't stop mid-sentence, but it's close. Somehow this makes it feel like you're just reading a very long promotion to the second book. I never like it when it's so obvious you can't just read a book on its own. If you want to have some questions, you'll have to continue this series.
The premise is very good. A girl in a mysterious village during WW1. Everyone seems to know a lot about her. She doesn't remember anyone. She doesn't remember who she herself is. From the beginning it's obvious something strange is going on. Although the pace is quite slow at the start, I was intrigued. But as so few questions are answered during the book and at the same time the story gets weirder (and -for me- not for the good) I felt like it kinda lost me. I still want to know what happened, how it happened and exactly how the prologue does fit in the rest of the story.
Besides being a bit slow at the start, I liked the writing, it made for a nice and easy read. I'm still curious to see what answers will (hopefully) be given in the second book, like what with the murders? Where comes her medical knowledge from? Who's this mothman? And just, what happened to her?
purplepages's review against another edition
4.0
"You know, Ellie, Nightbird is just another name for 'moth'. Maybe that's where your dreams come from."
I would like to thank Netgalley and Tor books for providing me this review copy for an honest review.
Where do I even start with this?
Until now my head is just overflowing with possibilities on what will happen on the next book. That's a bit of a spoiler isn't it?
Yes, there will be sequel!
And this baby, ended in a way that you will surely ask for more.
This is how I looked like as I was reading this. This is chronologically arranged, starting from when I started reading it up to when it ended.
STARTED READING:
AT ABOUT 30%:
AT ABOUT 60%:
AT ABOUT 80%:
AFTER FINISHING:
THIS BOOK WAS A SUCKER PUNCH TO THE GUT OR FACE... WHATEVER!
It will keep you guessing up until the last minute, even after they're already revealing the secret behind the mystery, you are still guessing if it's true or not.
For the GIST
Ellis doesn't know how she got on that train going to Gamin, Maine. All she remembered was waking up from a nightmare, and in front of her was a nurse who knows her, but she had no memory of ever knowing her.
Upon her arrival to the town, she was greeted warmly by people she had never met, but knew her. Doctor Carmichael (who prefers to be called Uncle) picks her up from the train station and takes her to her cousin, Jenny, to recover from an illness she also does not have any memory of.
She still gets dreams, and the dreams are getting more and more vivid. She doesn't distinguish which is real and which is a dream anymore.
She wants to trust in someone, but she doesn't know who she can trust, especially now that everyone can't seem to tell her what happened to her. No one tells her anything. She wants answers, and she will find them no matter what it takes.
MY RATING
WRITING: 17
PLOT: 20
CHARACTERS: 17
UNPREDICTABILITY: 20
PACING: 5
ENJOYABILITY: 8
----------------------------
87 points
WRITING
I just have one thing to say about the writing, it was damn eerie. It has that mysterious vibe oozing through its pages. It will make you flip through its pages faster than you should. I usually don't like third person narration, except for maybe the Harry Potter series and Cassie Clare's books, but this one worked for me.
Waking up without a memory will cause you to be confused, puzzled, and lost. I've never lost my memory, so I couldn't really confirm if this was an accurate thinking of a person who had amnesia. But I kind of think it was as close as it could get to it.
PLOT
UNIQUE. The plot of this book is nothing I've ever read before. I wasn't exactly sure at first, if it was going to be a paranormal book, or just an otherworldly contemporary book. The story doesn't really giveaway too much of wha was going to happen until the last few pages of the book. This book was like a puzzle with missing pieces, that we were trying to complete. As the story progress, we get one piece of the puzzle at a time until the whole picture is revealed.
It was amazing.
CHARACTERS
Ellis was an admirable character. She may have lost her memory, but she doesn't give up in finding out the truth about who she was, and what was going on around her, because there was a lot going on in the background. There was a lot of thing we weren't able to see at first. She thinks before she speaks. Although everyone tells her she was sick or something, it didn't break her spirit. I liked that about her. She knew she'd be a fool to trust anyone, which was the right decision. Although, there was a point she misjudged someone, which I kind of thought she would.
I don't want to get too much on the details about the other characters because I'd probably give away too much if I did. There were a lot of secondary characters, but not all of them had a role, most of them are just pawns on the game that one of them was playing... So no, I wouldn't tell you guys anymore about the characters.
PREDICTABILITY
I still gave this a perfect score on my book, because majority of the time I was just shaking my head in disbelief that what I was thinking about is so far from the truth. I did guess one thing right though, I guessed who the evil villan was!!
PACING
It was too slow for my taste, but towards the last quarter of the book, all the truth came out in the open and hit you all at once.
ENJOYABILITY
I love my mystery so I definitely enjoyed this book!
FINAL RAMBLINGS
I am totally impressed with this book! I would have finished this earlier had I not been irritated with the Bluefire reader. *NOTE TO SELF: never send a galley through Bluefire!!*
Romance was not a big thing in this book so if you're looking for paranormal romance in this novel, better look for it some place else. There is pseudoromance I guess, but I'm not really sure until I get the next book which I want right now!!!
Oh and the cover's gorgeous! I should have given plus points for that. Publisher's should always remember that the cover gives the book additional pull to its audience.
What else am I missing?
I think that's all for my review of this book! Would I recommend it? Abso-fucking-lutely! I'm not really sure if this was supposed to be YA or adult or something, but younger readers could read this. No mature themes that I have read, just a little bit of gory stuff towards the end.
VERY FINAL NOTE I don't get the title. Why was it Unwept? Maybe I missed it somehow. I'll probably skim through it at some point to figure it out!
skelleycat's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
When I first started reading Unwept, I thought to myself, "What the heck is going on?" -- and I have to admit that this mystery factor was the driving force that kept me reading. I was unsure what kind of story this was going to be, and my guesses kept changing as new things happened (all without any explanations, somehow). By the end of this novel, I was still wondering what the heck was going on, and so I found myself rather frustrated. Confusion reigns supreme in this novel, which would have been fine if I'd gotten more of an answer by the end of this book. As it stands, I don't know that I'll continue the series.
When I first started reading Unwept, I thought to myself, "What the heck is going on?" -- and I have to admit that this mystery factor was the driving force that kept me reading. I was unsure what kind of story this was going to be, and my guesses kept changing as new things happened (all without any explanations, somehow). By the end of this novel, I was still wondering what the heck was going on, and so I found myself rather frustrated. Confusion reigns supreme in this novel, which would have been fine if I'd gotten more of an answer by the end of this book. As it stands, I don't know that I'll continue the series.
alirenreads's review
3.0
While I was super intrigued by the synopsis, this book wasn’t quite what I expected, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However in this case, it wasn’t a good thing either.
The first two chapters had me curious as to what was going to happen and had me asking all the right questions. But I was disappointed in the fact that the build to find those answers was painfully slow, with not much going on to really hold my interest for the majority of the book. And while the writing is exceptionally good, it didn’t give much to the overall story, or plot for that matter, except pretty words.
I ordered book 2 in hopes that perhaps it will be a bit more fast paced. At the very least, I would still like to know how this story ends and what will happen.
The first two chapters had me curious as to what was going to happen and had me asking all the right questions. But I was disappointed in the fact that the build to find those answers was painfully slow, with not much going on to really hold my interest for the majority of the book. And while the writing is exceptionally good, it didn’t give much to the overall story, or plot for that matter, except pretty words.
I ordered book 2 in hopes that perhaps it will be a bit more fast paced. At the very least, I would still like to know how this story ends and what will happen.
sarrie's review
5.0
As posted on The Bibliophile's Diary
My experience with the Hickmans was Dragonlance, one of the first fantasy series I made very sad attempts to follow. The world was huge, and I loved it! I haven't ventured much back into those worlds recently but I never had any complaints about the Hickmans at the time, so when I spotted this beauty on NetGalley I quickly sent out a request.
I don't know what I expected, but I surely did not get what I expected. I don't even know what to tell anyone else to expect. I made a rather hysterical attempt at explaining and conveying to my roommate who also read Dragonlance as kid why she should read this. I mostly end up waving my arms around and sighing. Ellis wakes up on a train within the first few pages of the book, she's on her way to a city called Gamin to recover from a mysterious illness or trauma. Even from the beginning of the book you wonder if maybe perhaps we have an unreliable narrator. Ellis has no memory of how she got on the train, why she is on the train, or memories of the people who claim to be loved ones she meets. The most clearest recollection she has of the city and it's town are scattered memories and a fondness and comfort she feels with her cousin.
Throughout the first maybe 40% of the book I spent vaguely confused and not at all convinced of it. It's a slow start, and very strange. It seems that over and over the individuals she knew before she left Gamin originally expect her to remember odd things. Things like scrapbooks and relationships, ships and plays. You distinctly get the feeling that Ellis now is very, very different from Ellis before. You also begin to wonder just how sane everyone else is.
In the end it becomes... intense, the world and everyone in it seems to flip and honestly it took me by surprise. I expected maybe a slightly paranormal mystery, which is not what I got. But I loved what I got. The ride, the confusion, it kept me going. I remember looking up at my husband and wailing that I had no idea what was happening but I could not stop! I had to find the answers, and I was not disappointed. But the answers did somewhat disturb...
I would recommend this to a fantasy, paranormal, and maybe even a horror lover. The twist at the end really makes it unique and the next book in this series is an insta-buy for me if I don't get to a review copy. This was an insta-buy, I've already pre-ordered my hardcover.
My experience with the Hickmans was Dragonlance, one of the first fantasy series I made very sad attempts to follow. The world was huge, and I loved it! I haven't ventured much back into those worlds recently but I never had any complaints about the Hickmans at the time, so when I spotted this beauty on NetGalley I quickly sent out a request.
I don't know what I expected, but I surely did not get what I expected. I don't even know what to tell anyone else to expect. I made a rather hysterical attempt at explaining and conveying to my roommate who also read Dragonlance as kid why she should read this. I mostly end up waving my arms around and sighing. Ellis wakes up on a train within the first few pages of the book, she's on her way to a city called Gamin to recover from a mysterious illness or trauma. Even from the beginning of the book you wonder if maybe perhaps we have an unreliable narrator. Ellis has no memory of how she got on the train, why she is on the train, or memories of the people who claim to be loved ones she meets. The most clearest recollection she has of the city and it's town are scattered memories and a fondness and comfort she feels with her cousin.
Throughout the first maybe 40% of the book I spent vaguely confused and not at all convinced of it. It's a slow start, and very strange. It seems that over and over the individuals she knew before she left Gamin originally expect her to remember odd things. Things like scrapbooks and relationships, ships and plays. You distinctly get the feeling that Ellis now is very, very different from Ellis before. You also begin to wonder just how sane everyone else is.
In the end it becomes... intense, the world and everyone in it seems to flip and honestly it took me by surprise. I expected maybe a slightly paranormal mystery, which is not what I got. But I loved what I got. The ride, the confusion, it kept me going. I remember looking up at my husband and wailing that I had no idea what was happening but I could not stop! I had to find the answers, and I was not disappointed. But the answers did somewhat disturb...
I would recommend this to a fantasy, paranormal, and maybe even a horror lover. The twist at the end really makes it unique and the next book in this series is an insta-buy for me if I don't get to a review copy. This was an insta-buy, I've already pre-ordered my hardcover.