The Things They've Taken
All Lo Campbell wants is to be a normal teenager—to go to one high school, live in one place, and have one real friend. Instead, she travels the country with her mother, chasing the unknown, the what else that’s out there...
Until one day, the what else chases back.
Determined to rescue her mom from whatever supernatural being took her, Lo will need more help than a badly dressed demon obsessed with country music. She’s going to need a Tracker—and lucky for her, she finds one. Shaw is strong, good-looking, possibly available, and utterly infuriating. Sure, he may have secrets, and his help costs more than a brand-new car, but she’ll have to deal with him if she wants to find her mother—and get her home alive.
If you like starting new trilogies, are okay with slow buildups that leave you with more questions than answers and can handle cliffhangers then you’ll love this book. If you’re one of those that has become so accustomed to the Netflix binge way of life then you’ll need to wait until the whole series is out.
Like most first books in a trilogy this one is all about foundation with very little payoff. You’re getting a story with a slow pace, a skeleton framework in world building and character development along with just enough storyline to give you an idea of where the author is taking you. The one true negative about this book is the romance between the characters which didn’t feel very reality based or like they were even invested in it themselves; almost as if the author is playing with the idea but isn’t sure she’s going to keep that as part of the plot. Could also be she felt compelled to throw it in there since girl meets hot guy and falls for him seems too often be a must need plot device in the YA genre. It’s 2017, why can’t girl just be a strong character who doesn’t need to turn mushy over a guy and suddenly lose her ability to function without him?
There’s a good bit of action, some crazy twists and diversity in characters so you don’t lose interest and aside from the romance entanglement it’s obvious this is going to be an entertaining trilogy. McElhenney definitely leaves you wanting more but I have a feeling because of how little world building is in this book readers will enjoy it more once further books are out.
Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for allowing me to review this book.
*synopsis and pic from netgalley.com