The Taking By Kimberly Derting

I received this galley in consideration for an honest review.

The Taking By Kimberly DertingThe Taking by Kimberly Derting
Series: The Taking #1
Published by Harper Collins on April 29, 2014
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Goodreads
two-half-stars

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?

 

We meet Kyra shortly before she disappears for five years, and then after when she wakes up to discover that her whole life has changed without her.  The journey she goes on to find out the truth takes her back to old loves, new loves, a new family, and a father whose “crazy” theories might just be true.  The relationship with her father was interesting because he was the parent who refused to move on from her disappearance, and while it basically destroyed his marriage and his life as he knew it, he ended up being the person that Kyra could depend on the most.

The foundation of the story was a good one.  I liked the sci-fi elements and the way the author showed how Kyra’s disappearance imploded her family, but something about it just didn’t fully connect.  I found the romance between Kyra and Tyler to be particularly undeveloped.  I hate to say it, but it really seemed like instalove.  While that romance was happening, the truth behind Kyra’s abduction is revealed and while they run from the authorities, all of their rescues seemed a bit too convenient.  I didn’t feel challenged by this book and I didn’t feel that it did enough world building, which accounts for my feeling that everything that happened was too easy.  Unfortunately, while I love this author’s other work, The Taking just wasn’t a story that worked for me.

 

 

two-half-stars

About Kimberly Derting

Kimberly is the author of the BODY FINDER series (HarperCollins), THE PLEDGE trilogy (Simon & Schuster), and THE TAKING trilogy (HarperTeen). She lives in the Pacific Northwest, the ideal place to write anything dark or creepy…a gloomy day can set the perfect mood. She lives with her husband and their three beautiful (and often mouthy) children who provide an endless source of inspiration.

Kate


6 responses to “The Taking By Kimberly Derting

  1. i was interested in her other series but i’ve read mixed things about all. Maybe i would like it 3 or 4 yrs ago but not now

    lovely review,kate

  2. *sigh* I’ve heard some not so great things about this book and when it came out originally I was super excited for it. I’m not the biggest fan of instalove and when things are just too convenient in books I tend to get irritated. Great review 🙂

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