Sunday, April 1, 2012

Review and Giveaway! - Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook

Unraveling Isobel

Hardcover304 pages
Published January 3rd 2012 by Simon Pulse
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.
When I picked up Unraveling Isobel, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into considering
1. I don't usually like books about people who see dead people.
2. I don't usually read about girls who dig their stepbrothers. 
But, Unraveling Isobel ended up being a superfantasticallyamazingstupendouslyawesomesauce kind of read. 
Seriously, that good.
Let me start off with saying this is probably the funniest book I've read in the past six months. From page one, I was sitting there in Spanish class trying not to giggle loud enough for anyone to think I was completely crazy. At first I thought, "Well, maybe it's just easy to make me laugh..." So I handed the book over to a friend or two, and quickly found that I'm not all that loopy. 
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The mystery in this book is crazy goodno pun intended. There are a fair amount of twists and turns, and no lie, I gasped two or three times. And when I gasp, we know it's serious. 
An issue I have with a lot of novels is the incapability to breathe due to suffocation of romance. For those of you staring at the screen and blinking repeatedly in confusion, I'm talking about those books with so much cheesy romance you can't help but feel you're suffocating due to lack of actual story line. Eileen did a wonderful job of keeping romance alive while also keeping the story moving. Love, love, love that. 
The character development was something else I really adored about Unraveling Isobel. Lately I've been reading too many books where scenarios are rushed into, or characters who who've known each other for less than twenty-four hours are openly admitting their undying love. UI's pace was impeccable and gave me just what I wanted: enough time to fall in love with a character. 
It was fairly easy to sympathize with Isobel, considering she'd been uprooted from her home on short notice and would be living with two dudes she'd never met before. She goes from being the big city girl to the small island kind of lady, and I can just imagine how torturous that can be coming from someone who's lived in Miami all her life.
Nate was just great. There's no other way to describe him. He's every girls favorite kind of guy: tough on the outside, soft on the inside. ;) While his bad boy facade only lasted a good 75 pages or so, it was enough for me to fall in love with him on spot. *sigh*
There's a lot I can say about Dick-the-dick. I mean-em. Right. Mild spoiler. There goes my attempt of a spoiler-free review. *cries*
...
So, here is my final verdict:
5 stars to Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook! Congrats!
Now, thanks to the ever-awesome Eileen, we'll be having another giveaway!
Ms. Cook has generously offered up The Education of Hailey Kendrick, which is pictured as below. 
The Education of Hailey Kendrick
Goodluck everyone! You all have till next Monday to enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

9 comments:

  1. I totally believe in ghosts, but am not afraid of them. I've had strange things happen in my house to NOT believe in them. Thanks for the giveaway!! :)

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  2. Yes, ghosts are real and you shouldn't be scared of them unless you screw with them lol

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  3. I think ghosts are real. Ghost Adventures has to be one of my favorite shows. Zak is so cute lol

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  4. To be honest, i think my house has mild cases of ghost activity such as the computer randomly turning on, strange noises on my closet (besides the evil monkey), and sometimes i hear voices. I am pretty crazy already but you never know... :)

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  5. this was not here yesterday. your website is playing tricks on me. no ghosts for me thank you

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  6. lol you know i believe in ghosts xD but yes i am a strong believer in the existence of supernatural beings :)

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  7. i haven't ever had anything happen to make me believe in them, but i still like to think they're real. : )

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