ARC Review: The Taking (The Taking #1) by Kimberly Derting

The Taking

Author: Kimberly Derting

Series: The Taking

Pages: 368

Publisher: Harper Teen

Amazon

Release date: 29^th April 2014

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

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?

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

I have been so excited about The Taking ever since I first glimpsed the amazing cover, plus I am a huge fan of everything Kimberly Derting has written to date so I read this the moment I downloaded it.

Our main heroine is sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew who after an argument with her father wakes up behind a dumpster five years into the future; her family and friends are shocked by her return and questioning her whereabouts for the past number of years as well as the fact she hasn’t aged a day since and has re-appeared wearing what she vanished in. There have been accusations and questions about her disappearance but the truth was interesting.

Things have certainly changed, her family has moved on as has her boyfriend Austin Wahl but she finds friendship in her boyfriend’s little brother, Tyler who supports her and helps her to retrace her steps and work out what had happened to her, I really liked their interactions and the sweet little gestures, I found myself really enjoying the romance despite thinking it did happen a little too fast but it was sweet none the less. Tyler was a great guy and really supportive of Kyra who was going through many changes so I’m keen to see how it progresses in future installments, especially after the ending we were left with.

What had happened to Kyra was one big mystery and one I was eager to unravel and despite my curiosity it did take quite some time to get answers. There was action, conspiracies and surprise twists that I didn’t see coming, I would have liked more background information about the National Security Agency, the missing years and about those who have previously returned but I’m sure anything which has been left open will be tied up in the sequel.

Kimberly Derting’s writing is engaging and kept me flicking through the pages, I enjoyed the overall premise of this story and the world the author created was exciting, dangerous and mysterious. I loved the character development and the sweet, budding romance – I’m eager to see how the story comes together in the next installment, things are getting interesting.

Thank-you to Harper Teen for the opportunity to read and review The Taking.

 

About the author (Goodreads): 

Kimberly is the author of the BODY FINDER series (HarperCollins),THE PLEDGE trilogy (Simon & Schuster), and THE TAKING trilogy (coming Summer 2014 from 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.