Read my full review here: http://cbabblings.blogspot.com/2015/02/unforgotten-by-jessica-brody.html

So I was kind of meh about Unremembered, the first book in this series, when I read it last year. I liked it but didn't love it, but I was intrigued enough to want to continue with the series. If it's been a while since you read Unremembered, the book does a fairly good job at throwing in reminders about what happened previously, although it would never hurt to at least skim the previous book before moving on to this one.

I ended up enjoying Unforgotten way more than the previous book. I'm guessing this is because most of the initial worldbuilding was out of the way and the major characters were already established. This one struck a good balance between action scenes and quieter moments, and probably tipped towards more action and less exposition.

I still don't necessarily love Sera and Zen as a couple, because I still feel like they're two people who we were told were in love, but we never really saw it. I just don't feel the chemistry between them, but ultimately their relationship isn't what drew me into the book, anyway. I like his devotion to her, though, and wish we could have seen more of that firsthand rather than being told about it. Regardless, Zen's illness takes him out of the picture for a good chunk of the story, and Sera has to carry it mostly on her own. Things get interesting as she starts to unravel the many secrets of her existence and why Diotech is chasing after her this time. There's a new character who is introduced as an antagonist to Sera, who for many reasons will remind you a lot of how Sera was at the beginning of the first book, and it's interesting to see them play off of each other.

I do like that we were given a lot of answers in this book. Sci-fi type series can often draw things out for too long, leaving you unsatisfied with all the loose ends from book to book, but here, we've already started to learn the truth about Sera's origins, how she wound up in the year 2013, etc. It was a good move to start handing out more answers, even while creating more questions to be resolved in the trilogy's final installment.

While there were some aspects I found predictable -- and a few guesses I've made for the next book already -- overall I was really satisfied. Unforgotten answers many questions that you were left with from the first book, brings back some old characters, and raises the stakes for the third book. Unforgotten is a quick, easy read, thanks to Brody's brisk writing style, so it shouldn't take too much of your time.

I AM VERY VERY EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK! I LOVE SERAPHINA AND ZEN'S RELATIONSHIP..AND WELL THE FIRST WAS PERFECT. Cannot wait! February 2014 come faster!!!

Great story! Can't wait to read the next one!

Review to come.

Sera og Zen passer sig selv i en landsby udenfor London i 1609. Folk er lidt mistænkelige overfor Sera, men Zen for det altid forklaret ved hjælp af fantastiske historier. En dag går det dog galt, Zen er ved at blive slået ihjel og Sera bruger sine kræfter på at redde ham - men derved afslører hun også sig selv og bliver brændt på bålet som heks.

Eller, det tror folkene der er vidne til det i 1609. I virkeligheden er hun blevet hentet af Kaelen, en "computerskabt" agent, ligesom Sera - bare bedre! Kaelen er blevet sendt af sted for at finde Sera for hun er den eneste der kan finde vej til modgiften der har gjort deres skaber syg - men det er også den samme sygdom som Zen har. Sera sætter nu alt ind for at finde frem til modgiften, samtidig med at hun får rystet Kaelen af. Undervejs finder hun dog ud af sandheden omkring hende og Kaelens skabelse - en sandhed der ryster hele hendes verden og er med til at gøre det muligt for hende at redde Zen...

Jeg er rigtig betaget af denne serie, den har, synes jeg rigtig meget godt kørende for sig. Det er en spændende handling, tidsrejse aspektet er interessant og til tider meget forvirrende og komplekst. Personerne deri, selvom Sera er "computerskabt" har hun alligevel en fascinerende personlighed og hun kan udvise følelser og omsorg for andre.

Samtidig er bogen også en stor kærlighedshistorie. Sera vil gøre alt for at redde Zen, ligesom Zen har gjort alt for at redde Sera før i tiden. Han har ikke på noget på opgivet håbet, så det nægter hun også at gøre, selvom hun til sidst må træffe et næsten umuligt valg.

Kan slet ikke forlige mig med at den afsluttende bog først kommer i 2016 - ufint, siger jeg bare!

More reviews at YA Book Queens!

NOTE: I received this book from this publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A continuation of UNREMEMBERED by Jessica Brody, UNFORGOTTEN picks up several months after the end of Unremembered. The first thing that really irritated me about UNFORGOTTEN was the pace. I honestly would've liked this book so much more if the beginning went faster. I understand that the book needed to start somewhere, and, yes, action did happen in the beginning, but I just really wasn't feeling it. I wish it was a bit more interesting. Although after Sera was accused of witchcraft, the book definitely got better.

Kaelen, a new character, was by far my favorite other than Cody. I can't really say anything about Zen, because he was barely in the book. In my review of UNREMEMBERED, I said that I wanted to see more of Zen and Sera to decide whether or not I liked them together. I was a bit bummed out that I didn't get to see them grow as a couple, because I really wasn't feeling them as a couple in UNREMEMBERED.

Because of me not feeling them as a couple, it was easier for me to latch onto Kaelen. On one hand, he's a horrible love interest that doesn't go with Sera at all, but when you really think about it, he's the best fit for Sera. They're the same. They're both created by Diotech. They're both supposed to be emotionless. They're perfect for each other. To me, Zen was a set of training wheels for Sera in the sense that he prepared her to really connect with someone that understood her more—Kaelen.

Like I said, other than Kaelen, Cody was my other favorite character. I don't think it's a spoiler saying that he was in the book. I mean, there's no other way that I can talk about this book without saying a few things that aren't in the summary. Cody is all grown up in this book, and he's still the same old Cody. I'm really glad that Brody was able to maintain Cody's voice even thirty years into the future.

The world-building aspect of UNFORGOTTEN is pretty good. I wasn't as confused in this book as I was in Unremembered, which is good. More science is added to the plot, and I feel like Brody explained it well.

The ending was alright. Just alright. Most of my rating is coming from the very beginning and the very ending. I'm not saying the ending was bad; I'm just saying that part of it was predictable. And infuriating. I suppose the infuriating part is okay, but it just sort of ruined the entire book for me. I realize that there's going to be another book, which I'm anticipating greatly! I need to see how the rest of this series pans out...

CONCLUSION:

This book was good, and I liked it. The was beginning was slow. The ending was a bit predictable, and it made me groan, because of I saw it coming. I loved Cody, and Kaelen is my favorite between him and Zen. I just don't see Zen and Sera as a couple, so if they're the end game, I hope Brody justifies their connection in the third book. The science is easy to understand yet still complex and interesting. In all, this is well worth the read! I'm wondering if it's a trilogy or if it has more books than just three. (Everything's a series these days.)

2.5/5 stars

This book was kind of disappointing. I really like the first book, Unremembered, so I was exited to give this one a go. This sequel turned out to be slower in pace, and not as exciting. Don't get me wrong, I still liked it OK but not as much as I had hoped to like it.

I'm not sure if I will ever get around reading the next book. If I find it somewhere cheap I might buy it and keep reading but at this moment I'm in no hurry to continue.

Lots of interesting things in this one! Review to come.

Review 2/18: UNFORGOTTEN was absolutely thrilling and definitely a wild ride. Whereas there were tiny things in UNREMEMBERED that I didn’t quite jive with, I really fell into UNFORGOTTEN and finished it within two days which is a pretty quick pace considering it’s a 400+ page book! I really got sucked into the action and with UNFORGOTTEN being much more action-packed and fast-paced, I really couldn’t put it down!

UNREMEMBERED left us with the interesting twist in the plot and one of my favorite things about science-fiction: TIME TRAVEL. In UNFORGOTTEN, we got to see so much more of that, figure out exactly how the time travel system and mechanisms worked, and what it meant for Seraphina, Zen, and also some more minor characters as well. It actually plays a really big role in the book which I wasn’t expecting so that was a pleasant surprise!

I actually loved the set-up in the beginning. The book starts in a totally different place (and time!) but I felt like the set-up was important to sort of slow everything down from where book one left off and set everything up for book two. We got to see more character development in both Sera and Zen and really see their characters interact which was hard to do in UNREMEMBERED at times since there was a lot at stake, there were a couple of action-packed moments in which the focus was on movement and not character development, and Seraphina was still getting to know a lot about herself as well. I really felt the chemistry a lot more in UNFORGOTTEN and I was really glad to see that connection not only made but also strengthened.

There were a couple of new characters introduced and I don’t want to say too much about them because it’s quite exciting to discover them yourself, but I really loved their involvement in the plot and how calculating Sera was about them. It’s become so hard for her to trust people with Diotech always dogging her steps and I just loved the uncertainty of who the readers can trust and who they can’t. There’s never quite a clear answer until something major happens and it’s really quite exciting!

OH OH also!!! There’s another character from UNREMEMBERED who makes an appearance (and I also don’t want to say who it is although you might already know or be able to guess) but I was really excited to see their involvement in the plot and really how different that person had become. I always love seeing characters from previous books return in future books, especially if I’m not expecting it. I just love how plots tie in like that and it really makes the book feel like all the pieces are falling perfectly into place.

UNFORGOTTEN was extremely exciting and I think I enjoyed it more than UNREMEMBERED having a concrete idea of where the series was going. There were definitely a few surprises, some good plot twists, and really solid foundation of what the series is all about. This was a really great sequel and I think fans of this trilogy will really enjoy it!

For a full review with character break-downs and recommendations, please visit my blog at The Book Addict's Guide!