Unwept (The Nightbirds, #1)

Unwept (The Nightbirds, #1)
Tracy Hickman and Laura Hickman, 2014

New Release! I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley for the purpose of review.

Premise: Ellis wakes up on a train after a terrifying dream. She is sitting across from a woman with a baby, who tells her that she’s been sick, and she is going to stay with her cousin. She has no memory, only a sense that something is terribly wrong.

This is one of those books where the discovery is half the joy. You, the reader, will figure out things faster than Ellis, who doesn’t have the ability to notice references and foreshadowing. I went back and forth while reading the book over which of a few possible reveals I thought it would be, and which I wanted. While I’m not 100% on board with the final reveal, I think the world could go interesting places from here.

The setting, a tiny New England town, is perfectly creepy, and the build slow without losing tension. It helps that the book is rather short. Ellis uncovers one unnerving thing after another, while everyone around her is so happy that she’s back, and so eager to hear about her trip to the city, which of course she can’t recall.

All the details about the town and the people in it just contribute to the mystery, and just a heads up: the tone of the book takes a swing from dark fantasy into horror for the last section.

I really liked Ellis, I liked the way she tried to stand firm as everything around her fell apart, I understood her fear and confusion, I liked where she chose to push and where she chose to conserve her strength.

I wish the book had more of an ending, but this is a ‘real’ series, where you’ll have to read the next one to find out what happens…

4 Stars - A Very Good Book