Review: The Taking by Kim Derting

The Taking

Author: Kimberly Derting

Release Date: October 14, 2014

Publisher: Harper Teen

The Taking Book #1

ISBN:   0062293605

ISBN13: 9780062293602

Genre: Young Adult

Review Copy Source: Edelweiss

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?

Imagine having a fight with your dad, a bright white light, waking up behind a dumpster and heading home thinking you were in so much trouble for being out all night only to find out its been 5 years since you have been seen and everyone you love has moved on with their life. Yeah, that is what happens to Kyra.

Not only does a story like this need great world building to pull it off, but great characters are needed to make you believe in what they are selling. THE TAKING managed to have both. I am pretty sure I would have reacted exactly the same way that Kyra did to the bizarre new life that greets her when she walks back into her life. It was very easy to put myself in her shoes and feel what she was going through. One of my favorite characters besides Kyra, was Tyler. Could he be any more perfect? He was a kid when she disappeared but always had a crush on her and he stepped up to be her rock and confidant from the moment she stepped foot back into her life.

This book was crazy! In a good way! Original, creepy, and intriguing all wrapped up in one great book. Just when you thought you were up to speed another twist is thrown in. THE TAKING starts out a bit slow but quickly picks up the pace. I was into it from page one and it never lost momentum for me. Book 2 was immediately put on my wishlist!

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.