Untold (The Lynburn Legacy Book 2)

Sorcerer Rob Lynburn has returned to Sorry-in-the-Vale, and is determined to return it to the old ways that ruled the place for centuries.

Now it's up to Kami and her friends to stop him from claiming human sacrifice, and dominating the entire village. Unfortunately, "Untold" has a case of middle-book syndrome here -- it's still a clever, gripping story with a likable, go-getting cast of characters, but often it feels like Sarah Rees Brennan is just treading water before the final book.

With Rob Lynburn returned, battle lines are being drawn in Sorry-in-the-Vale -- he's collecting as many loyal sorcerers as he can, as well as loyal mortals who want things back the way they used to be. Kami and her friends are brainstorming about what to do, but they soon find themselves with a deadline when Rob declares that Sorry-in-the-Vale will offer him a human sacrifice at the winter solstice.

With only Lillian, Ash and Jared on their side, Kami and Co. don't really have much of a chance -- especially now that her link to Jared has been severed, and the two of them are barely speaking. Their only chance at defeating Rob is for the boys to gain enough power, but the only ways available may be fatal -- and their time is rapidly running out.

After the mystery and Gothic beauty of "Unspoken," it's a little hard to not be disappointed with "Untold." It very much feels like the middle chapter in a trilogy -- the plot doesn't advance very much until the very end, which leaves you dangling once more on a cliffhanger. More than anything else, it's a slow rev up to the third Lynburn Legacy book.

Instead, Brennan tries to compensate by focusing on various characters' romantic relationships, which feels awkward -- when the town is being conquered by evil human-sacrificing sorcerers, why should I focus on Holly's struggle with her sexuality or Rusty dating a "bad girl"? It feels like a massive diversion from the main story.

"Untold" is at its best when it focuses on Rob's threat to Sorrow-in-the-Vale, and the roiling unrest that is growing under its veneer of normalcy. There is still a clever, tongue-in-cheek approach ("Lulubelle") and Brennan's beautiful writing ("The tree branches were limned with ice: it made the whole wood look as if it was made of moonlight"), but there's a darker undercurrent to everything the characters do, such as when a corrupt cop tries to intimidate Kami, or when her family starts to fall apart as her mother's secrets are revealed.

The most interesting development is actually for Ash and Jared -- Ash struggles with his mother's contempt for him, and the other sorcerers' belief in his weakness, while Jared is constantly tempted by his inner darkness and the loss of the link. There is a lot of tension between them, and not just over Kami -- both boys are seeking their "place," but don't want to hurt others.

Kami is still a sprightly go-getter, but the fragmentation of her family and the loss of the link to Jared make her a more serious, intense heroine this time. She also puts her skills to use by investigating some of the Lynburn secrets of the past, which promise to become even more interesting in the story to come.

About half of "Untold" -- the half about the Lynburns and Sorrow-in-the-Vale -- is beautifully written, but it's padded by too much "middle-chapter" fluff. But Brennan's story promises to regain its steam for the finale.

Sarah Rees Brennan has yet to write a bad book, all her characters are believable and their antics interesting. You'll need to read book 3, of course, since this is a trilogy. I used to really dislike books that don't stand on their own, but if you read all 3 you'll find it worth every penny and every page.

AMAZING book. Very well written and entertaining. Couldn't put it down, literally.

This series is so good. It really grabs a hold of you all the way thru.

I enjoyed the book..I look forward to reading more of Sarahs work!!I enjoyed the book..I look forward to reading more of Sarahs work!!

I adored this book - I'd been anxiously awaiting it since reading unspoken last year. Not sure how I will make it until the next book! Sarah Rees Brennan did not disappoint.

I really like this series. It's such a cool concept. Having someone in your mind, all of the time. Knowing everything about you, knowing your soul. Sounds weird and invading but she has had him in her brain since birth. Without him in her brain makes her insecure and lonely. Not having him in her brain drove me crazy! She missed him and so did I. I tend to rate books on whether or not they go my way. The first one made me cry at the end and that made me want to rate it badly. Not fair, I know. I get so wrapped up in the characters that when they aren't happy, neither am I and the end of the last book made me very unhappy. I love the characters and I love how funny they are. I had to ask my daughter who is obsessed with all things British what a jumper was. Kami kept saying it and right after I asked her, Jared addressed it in a funny way. I just love how I can laugh and get upset and hurt right along with them. I love Ash who is so polite and generous. He never seems to want to speak poorly about anyone even if it means standing up for himself. I hope that Kami can help him with his courage. I got a lot more insight into Rusty and found myself really liking him as a character. I hope there will be more of him even though I get the feeling that he is destined for heartache. I was not expecting it to end the way it did and I cannot wait to find out what comes next.

I also want to point out that young adult today sometimes isn't so young. I have a thirteen year old daughter who I won't let her read some things because I feel like, yes, they are YA, but I think she needs to be a little closer to adult instead of the young partI have been telling her about this series and I feel comfortable letting her read this. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did.

Rating: ★★★★☆ - really liked it
Genre: young adult fiction, ya mystery, paranormal fantasy
Pros: queer rep, more banter!, funny
Cons: love triangle (ish), occasionally choppy narrative

A lot of the things I would talk about in a review for Untold are things I already talked about in my review of the first book, Unspoken. To avoid being repetitive I will skip those and advise you to read that review, then move on to Untold-specific things:

Untold is one of the better sequels I've read in a while. It didn't fall into the traps a lot of "middle of a trilogy" books fall into.

We get more insight into the personalities of several characters that we didn't get in the first book. This is done through a ton of POV switching (Unspoken switched between Jared & Kami, Untold goes much farther than that). This can sometimes make the narrative feel a little choppy, but overall I think it's good for the story.

Almost everyone got a little character development. Kami has to learn to cope with things on her own, Holly must learn to accept who she is, Jared learns to care about other people and let them in, just to list a few. Even the adults got some moments of development.

I've never read a book with such a strong ensemble of characters, and I'm not sure how I can go back to reading books where background characters are 2-dimensional plot devices now that I've found Sarah Rees Brennan's novels.

I want to take a minute to talk about the queer representation in the novel, because something happened that you so rarely see. We already have the character whose sexuality we discovered in the first book, and that gets developed a bit. Turns out she knew and accepted that she was a lesbian, but wasn't quite ready for other people to know. Then we get another character who is unsure of her own sexual identity because she knows she likes boys and now is shocked to discover an attraction to another girl. She discusses this with another character and this is where I braced myself for the inevitable "you can just like people, not labels" or some other such copout. But instead he openly discusses bisexuality with her. He even says the word "bisexual"! For some people this probably seems like a small thing to be so excited about, but being bisexual myself, and constantly seeing media refuse to acknowledge it even when they have bisexual characters, this scene was very important to me and utterly refreshing.

The plot feels a little slower paced than the first book, but I think this is mostly due to the fact that there is less suspense and mystery. Instead of finding bodies and trying to figure out who the bad guys are, the group are preparing for a showdown. There is still some mystery and there's a big confrontation at the end like the first novel, but most of the book is about planning and preparing. Luckily, the book is well-written and there is enough going on the keep the reader interested despite the somewhat slower plot.

On the whole, Untold is an excellent bridge between the first novel and the third. The reader ends up just as invested in the main plot arc as in the first novel and more invested in the characters, which is exactly what a second book needs to do to move a trilogy along. It's an easy read with enough substance not to be considered fluff.

In addition to those who enjoyed the first novel, Unspoken, I recommend Untold to fans of ya romance, paranormal fantasy, and novels with strong characterization.

When the Lynburn family returned to Sorry-in-the-Vale after nearly two decades of absence, amateur journalist Kami Glass saw it as an opportunity to find out just what kind of secrets her cozy little town was hiding. She never expected to discover the imaginary friend she’d been hearing in her head all her life was real and that magic runs through the veins of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Now Rob Lynburn, a powerful sorcerer, is determined to take control of the town and resurrect a system of sacrifices in order to gain more power. Kami and her friends must find a way to stop him before more blood is spilled.

I reread Unspoken, the first book in Sarah Rees Brennan’s Lynburn Legacy series, at the end of July and finally got around to picking this second book up for a reread. Untold takes all of the fun elements of Unspoken and raises the stakes. Kami Glass is still one of my favorite protagonists. She continues to surprise those who’ve underestimated just how brave, tenacious, and resourceful she can be. The relationship between the characters are constantly developing and even though I’ve already read this one, the tension and anguish felt just as fresh as the first time. Characters like Jared Lynburn, who has a lot of messy thoughts about himself and whose behavior can sometimes be self-destructive, are the ones you root for the most throughout this series. In Unspoken his entire world seemed to revolve around Kami, the one person in his life he’d been able to count on, but in Untold, he learns to trust other people and I really liked seeing his relationship with his cousin Ash grow.

Brennan has a gift for writing flawed characters and she isn’t afraid to let them make mistakes. Even the adults, who sometimes play minuscule roles or are absent altogether in YA books, are given a chance to be human. They make mistakes, they don’t always know what to do, and sometimes their fear gets the best of them. Not only do we learn more about magic and the history of the Lynburns in this sequel, but minor characters like Rusty and Holly are given larger parts. I love the fact that not all the relationships in this book are made important by their proximity to the protagonist. Everyone has their own issues with one another. They have their own arcs, which makes every character important and enjoyable to read about.

Untold manages to be hilarious, witty, and heart-breaking. I’ve been avoiding the last book in the series because I don’t want to let go of these wonderful characters, but after finishing this one, I don’t think I can wait too much longer to find out what happens.

When I read Unspoken, I really didn't like it. I gave it 3.5 stars because, I felt like I should have liked it because it was witty and cute and a great idea, but that maybe I just wasn't in the mood for something witty and cute and fun. Now I'm thinking that I just have a huge mental block when it comes e-books because most of the time, I don't have fond feelings for them. I can name at least 5 off the top of my head that were books from Netgalley that everyone seemed to enjoy, but when I got to reading it, I couldn't understand. Not that it never happens anyway, but you catch my drift.

This book though? I loved. I know that they were two different books and its possible to like book two and not book one and vise versa. But I found that some of the things I had a problem with in the frist book, I enjoyed more in this book. I found them laugh out loud funny to the point where I got strange looks from people on the train.

I'm still not sure how I feel about Kami, she was really kind and compassionate, but she didn't make sense all the time and her decision making skills were questionable at best. I really loved how the whole cast interacted together between Ash trying to sort out who he was now that his father had shown his true colors. Holly was there trying to sort out her roll in this group, and Angela struggling with the fact that she likes girls. I think what I liked most about this book was the marked increase that we got in page time that Rusty had. He was hilarious and probably made me laugh the most out of all the characters.

I got a little tired of the back and forth between Jared and Kami. They were so hot and cold with each other that I just wanted to bang their heads together. I missed the connection that they shared I'm sure the same way that they both did. There was so much that was unsaid between them now, that it made me sad. It was almost like they were two ships passing in the night. He would say things that he didn't mean and then she would do things to contradict herself. It was all very frustrating.

In the end, I enjoyed this book so much more than the first. There was so much action, so much cunning, and more romance which was great. Since I've discovered my problem with E-books, maybe I'll just revisit the first book on audio.