Book Jacket:
Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.
But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.
You can read an excerpt here.
Review:
Here’s the thing about this book – while I was reading it, I absolutely, positively, HAD to know how it was all going to end. There was a delicious tension that built throughout, but once the curtain dropped and all was answered, I realized that it all didn’t really add up to much at all. Though this story certainly kept my attention, in the end I found Unraveling Isobel to be rather disjointed and dissatisfying.
The bedrock of this story is a familiar trope – the “is this real or am I going crazy?” dilemma – but I really enjoyed how Isobel’s father’s mental health issues, and the evolving presence of Isobel’s stepfather, Dick Wickham (and with a name like that, it’s not hard to guess what kind of guy he is) enhanced the trope in interesting ways. As for the ghost story elements, there are many enjoyably creepy and tense moments throughout this book, but Gothic ambiance aside, this book really isn’t all that much of a ghost story. Similarly, Isobel’s sarcasm supplies plenty of humor, but teen snark aside, this story really isn’t a teen comedy either. And it’s far, far too shallow a story to have a claim on being an introspective contemporary either. The hook is a powerful one – the question of Isobel’s sanity certainly kept me turning the pages – but aside from that, it’s kind of hard to say exactly what this story was trying to be, as all the disparate parts clashed with each other.
Yet taken separately, there were definitely things to enjoy about those disparate parts – the ghostly vignettes were spooky fun, and the humor was often downright hilarious. Admittedly, the mental health discussions did teeter a bit towards the PSA end of things, the romance didn’t do a lot for me, and the characters were entirely one-note, but there was nothing about it all that overtly offended me. Weirdly this book felt kind of like a high-concept Hollywood movie, to me – it had the hook, and instead of fight sequences it had ghost story vignettes, but it was trying so hard to be everything – it’s funny! And scary! AND romantic! – that it ended up never really being much of anything at all (think Prince of Persia, the movie). Not to mention, you pretty much know from the beginning how it’s all going to end, I saw the major reveal coming about twenty miles away, and the ending is ridiculously convenient.
And yet, jarring hodgepodge though it may be, I still absolutely had to see this story through to the end. But unfortunately, when it comes to this book, the whole is decidedly less than the sum of its parts.
Byrt Grade: B
As Levar Burton used to say – you don’t have to take my word for it…
This blend of paranormal romance, murder mystery and quirky, coming-of-age narrative offers tasty moments, but the elements prove incompatible, leaving a bad taste in mouths…As she did in The Education of Hailey Kendrick (2011), Cook gives readers a fast-paced plot, likable narrator and interesting characters, but even first-rate ingredients can’t save a flawed recipe.
…something just didn’t feel finished about this book. Not everything felt like it was fleshed out. I still enjoyed the book though.
…Cook (The Education of Hailey Kendrick) sometimes relies on overly familiar devices (such as when Isobel and her new friends try out a Ouija board during a slumber party), but Isobel’s sass and her steamy romance with her new stepbrother will help readers race toward the dramatic conclusion, even if the climax predictably occurs on a cliff during a rainstorm.
thanks for the review. i’ve been seeing this one around lately. not sure if it’s really my thing but i appreciate the insight.