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raven168 's review for:
Juniper Unraveling
by Julie Belfield, Keri Lake
4.5 stars
This was such a good book. The characters were fantastic in their realness and the world created here was completely believable. It showcases so much of the horrible things that humans are capable of, but at the same time the whole point of the story is to have hope and just live out your life in a way that makes you happy. It was dark, dirty, and appalling. There's so much death and torture. But it's also refreshing in the way that good doesn't always win. That's simply not how the world works. Especially one as horrible as what it has become here. What I loved the most though was the monster we meet who is also the roughest sort of sweet that had me swooning.
The book takes place in two parts. In the first one, the story revolves around three characters: Dani, Wren and Six. I spent so much of the time reading about them trying to figure out how they were all linked together, because I just knew they were. And when we find out exactly how, I was totally wrong...on all my theories. We follow Dani as she pretends to be a boy after her family is killed and she is taken to a compound outside the walls of a safe and protected city that lives in ignorant bliss. Outside of those walls the world has been ravaged by a virus that turns people into vicious creatures that feed on humans. Where Dani finds herself is worse than any hell she had imagined and she suffers thru and sees unspeakable horrors. The only thing that saved her was the fact she could read and write which earns her a spot at one of the more decent scientist's side. As decent as one could be in a place rife with human suffering. Wren is the daughter of doctor inside the walls. She has a rebellious streak and is nothing like the other kids her age there. There's just always been something different about her. One day when she goes into a forbidden area she finds a hole in the wall thru which she meets Six. After seeing his suffering, she is determined to save him and even pulls it off. Six is mute, but the following months (at least I think it's months) they spend together has them getting closer and closer and of course falling in love. Six is extremely damaged and occasionally loses control of himself but Wren never fears him. Their happiness is shattered though when Six is captured and they are ripped apart. Soon after, Wren's past comes back to her and she finally understands why she's always been so different.
The second part is eight years later. Eight years of Wren believing that six is dead. No longer a child, Wren passes thru the gates of the wall to hunt or just get away. Her life inside the wall is much the same as before though. Only when she loses her father do things change for and rather quickly. Outside the wall she gets caught by bandits in order to rescue a young girl. Then she is sold to the rebels where the guy that buys her intends to hand her over as a distraction to his leader. When Wren gets there, she is disgusted by what she thinks she sees going on. She sees their leader, Rhys, as the worst type of human out there...until she realizes who he really is and what's really happening. The last eight years have really hardened her heart, but at the prospect of Six being alive again, she feels hope once more. Rhys also believed that Wren had been killed, and in those years he did a lot of terrible terrible things. Without her there to calm him, the darkness takes over and he suffers from blackouts where he doesn't remember the horrible things he just did. Now that his little bird has come back to him though, Rhys is even more willing than ever to do whatever he has to in order to keep her safe and at his side. Even when Wren sees how easy it is for him torture someone, she isn't disgusted or scared. She still loves him, and that's what scares her more. The way Rhys loves her was so deep and so strong it was impossible not to fall for the guy. Damaged monster or not. And Wren refuses to lose him again. So when he gets captured again by the evil scientists, she follows and will not leave without him. The two of them refuse to live without the other and when a lot goes down quick in that compound of death, it's a race for them to make it to freedom in time. Rhys might have changed his mind over his goals for the future because of Wren, but he doesn't care because he still has her. And we end with him doing another sweet as hell thing for her that just keeps showing how much he loves her.
I really did enjoy this book and if the author comes out with more like this one, I'd definitely love to check them out.
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.
This was such a good book. The characters were fantastic in their realness and the world created here was completely believable. It showcases so much of the horrible things that humans are capable of, but at the same time the whole point of the story is to have hope and just live out your life in a way that makes you happy. It was dark, dirty, and appalling. There's so much death and torture. But it's also refreshing in the way that good doesn't always win. That's simply not how the world works. Especially one as horrible as what it has become here. What I loved the most though was the monster we meet who is also the roughest sort of sweet that had me swooning.
The book takes place in two parts. In the first one, the story revolves around three characters: Dani, Wren and Six. I spent so much of the time reading about them trying to figure out how they were all linked together, because I just knew they were. And when we find out exactly how, I was totally wrong...on all my theories. We follow Dani as she pretends to be a boy after her family is killed and she is taken to a compound outside the walls of a safe and protected city that lives in ignorant bliss. Outside of those walls the world has been ravaged by a virus that turns people into vicious creatures that feed on humans. Where Dani finds herself is worse than any hell she had imagined and she suffers thru and sees unspeakable horrors. The only thing that saved her was the fact she could read and write which earns her a spot at one of the more decent scientist's side. As decent as one could be in a place rife with human suffering. Wren is the daughter of doctor inside the walls. She has a rebellious streak and is nothing like the other kids her age there. There's just always been something different about her. One day when she goes into a forbidden area she finds a hole in the wall thru which she meets Six. After seeing his suffering, she is determined to save him and even pulls it off. Six is mute, but the following months (at least I think it's months) they spend together has them getting closer and closer and of course falling in love. Six is extremely damaged and occasionally loses control of himself but Wren never fears him. Their happiness is shattered though when Six is captured and they are ripped apart. Soon after, Wren's past comes back to her and she finally understands why she's always been so different.
The second part is eight years later. Eight years of Wren believing that six is dead. No longer a child, Wren passes thru the gates of the wall to hunt or just get away. Her life inside the wall is much the same as before though. Only when she loses her father do things change for and rather quickly. Outside the wall she gets caught by bandits in order to rescue a young girl. Then she is sold to the rebels where the guy that buys her intends to hand her over as a distraction to his leader. When Wren gets there, she is disgusted by what she thinks she sees going on. She sees their leader, Rhys, as the worst type of human out there...until she realizes who he really is and what's really happening. The last eight years have really hardened her heart, but at the prospect of Six being alive again, she feels hope once more. Rhys also believed that Wren had been killed, and in those years he did a lot of terrible terrible things. Without her there to calm him, the darkness takes over and he suffers from blackouts where he doesn't remember the horrible things he just did. Now that his little bird has come back to him though, Rhys is even more willing than ever to do whatever he has to in order to keep her safe and at his side. Even when Wren sees how easy it is for him torture someone, she isn't disgusted or scared. She still loves him, and that's what scares her more. The way Rhys loves her was so deep and so strong it was impossible not to fall for the guy. Damaged monster or not. And Wren refuses to lose him again. So when he gets captured again by the evil scientists, she follows and will not leave without him. The two of them refuse to live without the other and when a lot goes down quick in that compound of death, it's a race for them to make it to freedom in time. Rhys might have changed his mind over his goals for the future because of Wren, but he doesn't care because he still has her. And we end with him doing another sweet as hell thing for her that just keeps showing how much he loves her.
I really did enjoy this book and if the author comes out with more like this one, I'd definitely love to check them out.
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.