Unraveling

By: Elizabeth Norris

Narrated by: Katie Schorr

Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Two days before the start of her junior year, 17-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, she knows - with every fiber of her being - that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, 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 boy she never saw coming.

©2012 Elizabeth Norris (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

OMG such a good book

Finally a YA book that an adult can enjoy. It has everything you need in a book and the characters are real and intelligent. Highly recommend.

A good book for teens

Would you be willing to try another one of Katie Schorr’s performances?

Yes. I've heard The Immortal Series, and loved it Katie's voice.

Any additional comments?

The book is good. Has a good story and make you wish a second part. Book I think is good for teens, or someone who is looking just for a distration. Isn't so amazing as I thought, but is not bad at all. Is different.

Roswell + Fringe = Unraveling

When I first started listening to this book it reminded me of a late 90's early 2000 teen TV show about a group of alien teenagers. The very premise, a girl who gets fatally wounded and then is miraculously healed by a boy who is obsessed with her, is exactly what happened in the very first episode of this TV show. The story took a different turn however, which I'm glad of, but then started to remind me of another TV show, Fringe. I don't want to say too much and give it away, but if you've seen Fringe and listen to this book you will totally see the connection.

I liked the book, don't get me wrong. It kept my interest and there were a few twists and turns that kept me guessing...for a little while anyway.

The main character, Janelle, is smart, strong, and very persistent. Ben, the boy who saves her, is also an ok character. I didn't love him and I didn't find myself overly rooting for their relationship. It was just kind of sweet and a little bland. The relationship that is. I really liked Alex, Janelle's best friend. He was also super smart and witty. A very good sidekick. Everything seemed to flow pretty well and the prose was very readable. The structure of the book was a major redeeming quality. Short chapters and the ever present countdown helped to add urgency to the storyline.

The narrator was pretty good. My only complaint is that I wished she would have deviated the voices a little more. All the male characters pretty much sounded alike. Not a huge deal, mind you. She did a great job with emotions and never became overly dramatic.

Some of the things in the book that bothered me... Well, the first was some of the logic in the book. I really had to suspend belief for some parts. LIke how Janelle seemed to have such easy access to her father's files and his laptop. Her dad is an FBI agent, well no he's the head of a division of the FBI is San Diego to be exact, and it seems to me like it should not have been so easy for her to sneak a peek at his files or get onto his computer and email. HIs partner also seemed to allow her so much free reign into the investigation that it was a little more than unbelievable. And how is it that pretty much all of the central teenage characters in the book are so smart? Seventeen year olds that seem to have such a good grasp on quantum physics...ok? Anyway, the second thing that didn't bother me so much but might offend other people was the language. The F bomb is dropped several times and in general there is lots of cussing. So be warned. The third thing is that toward the last half of the book it felt like it began to lag a little. It was like fifty pages could have been cut out in order to move things along more quickly. Or maybe I was just anxious to see if my theory about the countdown was right?

The ending has me conflicted. In one way I thought, wow that is a brave way to end a book. Spoiler...the author kills off three of the semi-important characters in the story. One early on and two more at the end of the book. But the ending also made me angry, and not just because it was a cliffhanger. But because it was really sad and left me feeling like after what happened maybe I don't want to read the sequel, which there will inevitably be.

Bottom line: This is a decent read. I enjoyed it and I kept listening, which says a lot because I've been known to give up after only getting a few chapters in to certain books. While the plot lines were borrowed from other sources, the writer still made them her own. The writing style was definitely readable and flowed reasonably well. The cussing was a little overboard and the romance was a of the insta-love variety and I didn't find myself really caring about it one way or another. If you like sci-fi/mysteries give this one a try but prepare yourself for a cliffhanger and lots of suspension of belief.

could have gone better

Im really starting to like teen romance fantasy books since listening to twilight but the book just felt half done. its like half way through E Norris realised she needs a character with a secret and then there is a guy with friend all from another world.
Books not bad and i reckon if you you dont have something else in your wish list give it a go but the Norris could of taken us on an amazing journey which she didnt.

A Teen Heroine that is Easy to Root For

There was a lot I liked about this book, but perhaps my favorite thing was the heroine. She had just enough teenage angst, but she wasn't swallowed by it like so many other YA heroines. She seemed to have a good sense of herself, which was refreshing. I also liked that the plot was totally different than anything I've read in the YA genre.

I had no problem at all with the narration. I found Katie Schorr to be pretty terrific, actually.

The story wasn't perfect. The adults seem placed only to forward the story for the teens, but that is forgivable in a YA book. Overall, there were more good things about the story than bad, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Non-stop twists and turns

What did you love best about Unraveling?

This book is fast-paced. It goes places I didn't expect and doesn't flinch away from major life changing moments for the main character. I also enjoyed the romance and science elements.

What does Katie Schorr bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Katie Schorr really captures the main character--she is emotional in this extremely controlled way. I could feel the rising panic in the narrator's voice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. It was very hard to turn off and I spent a lot of time in parking lots waiting for a good place to turn off the car. (There were never any good places.)

Unexpected -- Reels you in -- can't stop listening

You start off at the beach and the initial teen drama fools you into thinking that this is going to be a uninteresting thriller so superficial that you start to think about what else in your library; after all this is a 11 plus hour listen. Then bang, someone is dead, then alive and then another death. I won’t say more – this is not a spoiler since this all happens so rapidly that if you are not paying attention you’ll have to skip back in time.

One of the things I like about the way Norris’ structured the story is she opts for very short scenes. It makes the story move very fast and gives you many point to pause -- briefly because you want to get back to it. Pretty quickly you get sucked into the world of Janelle Tanner; before you know it, Norris has made you curious about the other characters, their relationships. Soon you are wondering when she is going to give you more backstory -- like Alex's mother for example.

Katie Schorr does an excellent job of narration in this first person point of view novel. Her voice is pleasant and melodic.

This is the first of a series. I recommend the first one enthusiastically. It will appeal to anyone who like a teen series. It does have a x-files feel at times, so if that is not your interest you may love it a little less. But I think it is well worth the read. A big thumbs up.

A good story except for the ending

Would you listen to Unraveling again? Why?

Not really, problem is I hated the ending.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Unraveling?

Saying this would mean spoiling the story!

What does Katie Schorr bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Emotions I guess, by listening to the change in the narrator's tone as she portrays different characters, my emotions also get affected, making the story more exciting.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Getting home may be way harder and more disastrous than you can imagine.

Any additional comments?

I don't really like the main characters: Janelle and Ben, I find them a bit selfish at times. On the contrary, I like Alex and Alijah, the side characters as these too are really people who can become your bff.

This is actually my favorite book I’ve read

I remember picking this book out at the public library and being skeptical about it because the back description seemed so bland, like another boring story about some unrealistic magic. When I started to read it tho, the characters first person narration and how they carried themselves kept me reading it. The secret the boys have and the involvement in science fiction was extremely out of left field and perfectly captivating to me. It is what made this whole 2 book series so good to me. I could see this being a good movie. I have read and listened to this book multiple times.

If you like romance, a strong determined, smart heroine, and a respectable and beautiful romance while also twists with science fiction, this book is for you. It also has mystery and family quarrel and characters that are easy to like.

There are things that don’t get answers till the second book and I love how thought out that makes the plot seem for when they are originally brought up. The Characters are very relatable in my opinion emotionally speaking and how they act makes sense. It’s one of the books that makes me feel like I am there going through everything with the main character. I want to be her friend because shes cool and admirable and not boring. I hate peoples vague reviews and I hope this helps. Because this is honestly as a 25 year old still one of my favorite books…

With how it’s teenagers and romance and science fiction and mystery and family conflicts this book really wasn’t like any other book I can compare to which to me speaks volumes, it’s unique in its own way for how balanced it is. It’s also fast paced in the right ways.

Good Story/Not So Good Narrator

The story is really good but not great. It had the potential of being great but had a few things that detracted from the story.

It had the feel of a combination of tv shows i.e. X-Files, Fringe, Sliders, Roswell.

The narrator was bad but not horrible. She did deliver emotion but she can not do a male voice to save her life. The female voice is kind of annoying in the way it sounds. It would have to be a really good book for me to want to listen to her again.

There is a sequel and I am looking forward to it but hoping they cast a better narrator next time.