Book Review: Unbreakable

Unbreakable (The Legion #1)

By: Kami Garcia

Published By: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: October 1, 2013

Page Count: 320

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound

Source: Purchased by Reviewer

Audience: Young Adult - Paranormal

I had to read this one once I saw in the blurb that it was billed as Supernatural meets The Da Vinci Code. While I enjoyed reading The Da Vinci Code, I adore Supernatural. I was a little nervous that Garcia would lean heavily on Sam and Dean when I realized two of her main characters, Lukas and Jared, were brothers. Luckily, Garcia avoided that pitfall and truly gave her boys personalities all their own. I did like that this novel is an action-packed paranormal showdown; that element truly speaks to the essence of the tv show, Supernatural.

Garcia's Legion is a group that intrigued me. The group began hundreds of years ago in an attempt to combat demons. However, a tiny mistake, allows a major demon to break slightly free. The demon cannot manifest and hurt humans directly, but her can influence vengeance spirits to do his dirty work for him. The modern Legion exists to protect the world from these spirits. At any given time, there are only five members of The Legion. Upon their death, they choose a successor. Many of the current members choose their successor early and begin training them to take over. A tragic evening throws the main character, Kennedy, into this paranormal world she never knew existed.

I loved the plot of this one and the various creepy settings. There were moments that I got chills and other moments when I had to take a break because my imagination was running wild. This is certainly an amazing read for the chilly, dark fall nights. 

Furthermore, I also enjoyed all of the characters in The Legion. Priest was probably my favorite. I was in awe of his intelligence and inventions. It was also interesting to watch him gain confidence as the story moved forward. I can't wait to spend more time with him and the others in the future novels.

My main complaint with this one is some of the things about Kennedy just didn't make sense. I'm hoping these lurking issues will be resolved in future books. I don't want to discuss them since it would spoil the novel, but I am curious to see if others feel this way about Kennedy. I also felt like her romance was a bit rushed.

Garcia's first novel on her own is something special. In fact, I enjoyed this one more than the Beautiful Creatures series. I think The Legion series has a tremendous amount of potential. I want more.

One Last Gripe: I am not convinced that Kennedy's mother was truly a part of everything. There just doesn't seem to be a ton of evidence to support this fact.

My Favorite Thing About This Book: The plot - I loved the creepy settings and stories

First Sentence: As my bare feet sank into the wet earth, I tried not to think about the dead bodies buried beneath me.

Favorite Character: Priest

Least Favorite Character: The Kid with the Sledgehammer - he freaked me out

Summary:

Supernatural meets The Da Vinci Code in this action-packed paranormal thriller, the first book in a new series from New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia. 

I never believed in ghosts. Until one tried to kill me.

When Kennedy Waters finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn’t know that paranormal forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into Kennedy’s room and destroy a dangerous spirit sent to kill her. The brothers reveal that her mother was part of an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from a vengeful demon — a society whose five members were all murdered on the same night.

Now Kennedy has to take her mother’s place in the Legion if she wants to uncover the truth and stay alive. Along with new Legion members Priest and Alara, the teens race to find the only weapon that might be able to destroy the demon — battling the deadly spirits he controls every step of the way.

Suspense, romance, and the paranormal meet in this chilling urban fantasy, the first book in a new series from Kami Garcia, bestselling coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures novels.