Heyo Bookaholics!
A Slow Burning Space Adventure!
The launch of this book was the best! I did make a blog post on it, which you can view by clicking this link, and see all the fun photos and hear about my first time meeting the wonderful Megan Spooner. Amie and Megan are such an iconic duo and I could not wait to dive into this novel (but I did…).
Blurb When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying's advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered. For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study... as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don't loot everything first. Mia and Jules' different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance. In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race's secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race...'
Review!
Controversial opinion: I didn’t like the Starbound trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner. And by “didn’t like”, I mean that I couldn’t make it past the first chapter of the first book and didn’t read anymore. Hence why I was so hesitant to begin Unearthed, and why it dropped to all of my TBRs until now.
Disclaimer: I love and respect both Amie and Megan, and I don’t mean to drag them in any way, I just want to share my thoughts on the book and my experience as a reader.
I began this book with the hope that I’d like it far more than their previous collaboration, and oh my gosh I was! The book was pitched as ‘an Indiana Jones crossed with a Guardians Of The Galaxy’ and it totally lived up to the hype especially with the whole story being set on a planet in another galaxy – Gaia – with the protagonists chasing an Alien signal that leads them through a temple riddled with traps; and of course the government is involved.
This novel took me on a bumpy ride. It started off quite harmless, introducing the characters and letting us know who is who and the power differences between the two protagonists and narrowing the audience quite a bit with the use of dual perspective where the characters interchange at each chapter. I personally enjoy this style of writing, where others may not. I find that it really opens the reader up to knowing everything that goes on and creates just that bit more tension with the reader and the characters, especially when something is so obvious to the reader but not to the character.
The dual perspective really allowed me to understand the mission far more than if it was told from one perspective. I did feel as if Mia (or Emilia) really drove the whole novel, maybe because the book opened with her or just because she really was the typical protagonist type we see in every novel – and that is by no means a bad thing.
I loved how the state of earth was explained from both a rich/ upper-class perspective – Jules – and a poor/ lower-class perspective – Mia – from two sides of the globe, though both had to put their differences aside in order to survive on a barren undeveloped planet. Though both protagonists were teens of 16 and 17 years respectively, they spoke in the manner of people who were far older, and the incorporation of backstories assisted in the understanding of why they were like this.
As they interacted, their agendas became known; with one promising to assist the other for their own gain; whether it be survival or a way back home, and as the story progresses, the truth about what they were after slowly unveiled itself and so did their attraction towards each other.
At first, I wasn’t too sure about the love side of the story. I felt like it took away from the fact that they were just teenagers, but it also didn’t seem to add much too the storyline until I noticed that it was really the only connection between the characters. The only thing that kept one following the other was the deep mysterious love they felt towards each other. Though it worked quite well when they found themselves in do or die situations – much like the portal scene – and all it took was a single kiss to persuade Jules to follow Mia into the unknown dark object in front of them.
The plot twist ending was a shock and a half, full of deception and realisations of things that I couldn’t foresee. The duo had made new friends and enemies, but in their efforts not to destroy precious artefacts, or kill anyone; they departed the planet with an alien spaceship with multiple dead bodies on board; and the answers to all the questions.
The Undying are as they say.
The Undying never died, they slept lying in wake for humans to find them. Curious, gullible humans. The languages on the wall, the hidden message, the warning. I can only imagine more death and destruction can come upon the greedy race of human-kind as these aliens enter their planet.
★ Rating ★
I chose to give this book ★★★☆☆ (3/5 stars) because though I found it very enjoyable to read, it wasn’t my favourite, but I am keen on picking up the sequel because that ending has me wanting to know more about the Undying and their reasons for escape and deception.
The Sequal
Undying
Trapped aboard the Undying’s ancient spaceship and reeling from what they’ve learned there, scavenger Mia and academic Jules are plunged into a desperate race to warn their home planet of the danger humanity’s greed has unleashed. From the mountains of Spain to the streets of Prague, the sequel to Unearthed is a white-knuckle ride that will send readers hurtling back to earth, and leave them breathless until the last page. (Coming November 28th 2018)
The earth’s fate rests in Mia and Jules’s hands in the epic conclusion to New York Times best-selling authors Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner’s tomb-raiding sci-fi duology.
What are your thoughts on Amie and Megan’s colaboration novels? As you can see I quite enjoyed this one and am excited for Undying to be released in November.
Leave your opinions in the comments or alternatively on my social media channels!
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Thank You, With Love Bree xx
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© Jasper+Spice 2018. All Rights Reserved. Please do not use without my permission. This post was not sponsored, all photos and graphics are of my own creation.
great review, i am v tempted by it and im glad its encouraged you pick up the second
Thank you. I had mixed feelings while reading this book but for some reason I couldn’t put it down! 😊 I cannot wait for the second one.
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