Mini-Review: The Taking

The Taking by Kimberly Derting
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: April 2014
Genre(s): YA, science fiction, mystery, romance

Synopsis (via goodreads.com)

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

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?

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I came across The Taking during the Young Adult Scavenger Hunt this past October. YASH is a great way to discover new authors and expand your MUST READ list. The Taking was on mine.



I really enjoy Kimberly Derting's writing style; her tone/ voice she uses to make Kyra into a three dimensional character is very believable. What I DIDN'T buy was the general reactions of everyone seeing their 16 year-old daughter/ friend return 5 years after disappearing in the exact same outfit/ looking how they last saw her. (No spoilers, but c'mon. Not even the school newspaper is interested?)

Also, after re-reading the last line of the synopsis: "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?" I find I'm confused. And the teaser line on the cover is: "What if the life you are living is not your own?" And I find THAT confusing. Because I don't feel that either statement jives with how the book unfolded. Maybe they're spoilers... not sure.

Interesting plot, but I felt it just got started 1/2-way through the book! I'd continue reading but it's not a "must read" series for me... Yet...

 ~ Spinning Jenny