Looking For a Good Book

I had really enjoyed the first book in Kami Garcia’s The Legion series, but it’s definitely been awhile since I read it, so it took me a little while to refresh my memory of the story.

Kennedy Waters has joined the Legion – a paranormal organization that fights to defend the world from all manner of demons. She did so after her mother died and she learned that her mother had been a member and that the Legion was slowly losing the battle against evil (see the first book).  Now Kennedy and her fellow Legion members are trying to track down a demon who was accidentally let free.  He walks the earth but Kennedy and friends have no idea who he might be. But in the course of this hunt Kennedy comes to learn more about her family history – and she doesn’t necessarily like what she learns.

As I started this book I was pulled in right away and I was reminded of what I liked so much about the first book.  The story itself, took a little more time to sink in.  The reality of this dark world is well conceived and brought to life.  We get a real good sense of the dangers and struggles of the Legion.

Kennedy is still a strong character.  She’s the sort of protagonist that you want your YA reader to identify with – strong, intelligent, quick thinking, but still human and flawed and working through her flaws and her interests. It is easy to see why this series has done well.  It can stand on Kennedy’s shoulders.

But….

This book really didn’t have much of a hook.  My sense is that this was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. There was action, but I didn’t care. The search for the demon didn’t really strike me as something that was important. That’s not the case, but it never felt as dire as I thought we were supposed to believe. I actually got bored with this book about half way through and struggled to finish it.

I liked the character, I liked the setting, but this had all the earmarks of a second book in a trilogy … it’s a passage to book three, but not a particularly strong book on its own.

Looking for a good book? If you are determined to read the series, then Unmarked by Kami Garcia is a necessary step, but despite the action, nothing much really happens here.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Unmarked

author: Kami Garcia

series: The Legion #2

publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 0316210226

hardcover, 382 pages