Bookworms: UNBREAKABLE (2013) by Kami Garcia

Title: Unbreakable (The Legion Series #1)
Author: Kami Garcia
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published Date: October 1, 2013
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Genre: Paranormal, urban, young adult fantasy

I never believed in ghosts. Until one tried to kill me.

When Kennedy Waters finds her mother dead, she doesn’t realize that paranormal forces are responsible–not until mysterious identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into her room and destroy a deadly spirit sent to kill her.

Kennedy learns that her mother’s death was no accident, and now she has to take her place in the Legion of the Black Dove–a secret society formed to protect the world from a vengeful demon. A society left in the hands of a misfit group of teens with unique skills: Jared, combat trained, with a temper to match; Lukas, rogue hacker and code breaker; Alara, whose attitude is as powerful as her voodoo protections; and Priest, an engineer capable of making a weapon out of a soda can.

As the teens use their individual talents to battle paranormal entities, they earn their rightful places in the Legion–except for Kennedy, who is left wondering if she is truly one of them.

Can she stay alive long enough to find out–without losing her heart in the process?

Protect Yourself.
What you can’t see CAN hurt you.

Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed this book. It’s fast paced, action packed, and full of interesting bits of plot that kept me turning the pages. The plot isn’t complicated, but it is interesting, and that was the most important thing for me. It’s a fast read and it kept my interest. I even felt myself becoming agitated as I read, because the things that happened to Kennedy, the main character, were beyond the scope of normal life that I felt I was watching a horror movie at times.

Now, this is not the best written book I’ve read this year. It’s not supposed to be, though. Kami Garcia is a wonderful author. I’ve met her once and she has a great sense of actually knowing how to build a story and create a sense of urgency in her writing that you just have to keep reading. She’s not going to win the Nobel Prize for Literature with this, but that’s okay. It’s a book for young readers who are looking for something interesting and different to read.

The characters are all teens who are driven together because their parents, or guardians, die suddenly. We find out that they were all killed by spirits under the control of a demon named Andras, who was brought into this world centuries ago by their ancestors. Kennedy isn’t a heroine like Katniss; she’s afraid and unsure of herself, uncertain of her place in this new world, and definitely afraid of letting herself fall in love. To me, she’s a normal teenage girl, except that her circumstances are anything but normal at this point. The other characters, Alara, Jared, Lukas, and Priest, round out the cast of characters and bring out a sense of the diversity of the world in which we live.

The relationship between Kennedy and the twin brothers Jared and Lukas is a little annoying after a while, but it’s clear that Kennedy has feelings for only one of them pretty early on. I sense this is a pattern in YA literature these days and something I’m not too keen on seeing repeated. (Pst, authors and publishers: quit with the love triangles.)

If you’re looking for a gift for a reluctant reader, try this. It’s a great book for someone who loves reading already or someone who’s not really inclined to it. UNBREAKABLE is truly a page-turner and will get anyone reading and wanting more. It involves action and adventure, angels and demons, light horror, a little romance, and thinking through impossible puzzles. Anyone, even the most reluctant readers, should gobble this one right up!

Still skeptical? Watch the book trailer and decide for yourself!