Title: The Taking (The Taking #1)
Author: Kimberly Derting
Genre: YA Sci-Fi / Mystery
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: April 29th 2014
Page Number: 368
Rating: 5/5
Summary:
A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.
When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.
Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.
Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?
REVIEW
I think everyone can agree that it's easier to write a review for a book you disliked than a review for a book you loved, so I am going to try my hardest to sell this book to you all, because it's one that everyone should read. Trust!
From the first sentence we are met with mystery and intrigue, and it grabs you in. We're learning the story of Kyra Agnew and that first sentence is not what you're going to be thinking of. And it ends up leading into the story that will have you thinking "What the heck?!" on every page.
The story, despite being a YA Paranormal/Mystery is very realistic. I felt like these characters could actually be my best friends, because they were so fleshed out. They weren't spoilt brats who got everything right. Kyra was a "normal" sixteen year old girl, who worried about her grades, sports and was obsessed with love. In fact, she even cared about if her legs were prickly from not shaving. Not one YA books I've read has ever included a problem like that. And I was really happy that Kimberly wrote entirely realistic characters.
After finishing the book I immediately thought that this book would make an amazing TV series. It had romance, suspense and plenty of mysterious action. It has something for everyone and it's why I think a lot more people should read it. I will admit that at first it does take a little time to deeply understand the age differences but I felt such a deep connection to every character, even the villains. Kyra's father is so understanding and you could never blame her mother for moving on with her life. She went through something that is completely heart-breaking.
From the first page to the last, I fell deeper and deeper in love and now I am in immediate need to read the sequel but I have to wait until it's out in paperback, but the wait is worth it. Hopefully.
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