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A review by what_ella_reads
Unblemished by Sara Ella
5.0
I have seen the "Unblemished," trilogy book constantly on bookstagram over the past three or 4 years. Everyone seemed to have pretty positive opinions about this book, so I added it to my tbr awhile ago.
I have read a few books recently that were hyped about on Instagram, that didn't meet all my expectations. Because of that I felt a little reserved when I first started reading it.
My reservations went away in no time.I became enthralled by the story before I was half way through!
I really liked the characters. There was a good mix of characters, with varying personalities. Eliyana is a girl I relate to a lot. I struggle feeling confident about my looks and I, too, often wonder if I matter to people. It was encouraging to see Eliyana's confidence grow as she started fighting for those she cares about.
I am also a fan of the relationships in this book. I like how close El and her mom. We need to see more healthy, familial relationships in ya books.
I am not the biggest fan of love triangles, but I have to admit that the love triangle in this one. I am currently team Ky, but I am interested to see how Joshua's role plays out in the next two books as well.
As for the plot, I liked it. There were enough action scenes and twists to keep my attention. There were also enough sweet and sad moments to keep me emotionally invested in the story.
There were only two things I didn't like about this book. The first things I didn't like was that there were some lines, usually about the bad guys, that seemed forced and cliched. Eliyana's inner dialogues often seemed immature for someone who turns 18 at the end of the book. I do realize that this is a YA book and I am in my 20s, so I am not the exact target audience. These moments probably would not have bothered me if this book had been around when I was in high school.
The only other thing that kept me from fully enjoying this book was that I am still kinda confused about certain details of the powers El and her loved ones have. Like most fantasy books, there are a lot of elements to this story. The first book in a fantasy series can be a bit overwhelming because the author is working to establish the set of characters, the rules of the magic or powers, and the large scale setting. The issues with world building are usually less obvious in the second book, which I think will be the case with this series.
Despite my two issues with this book, I am going to still give it a high rating. Any problems I had with it are outweighed by the fact that I devoured this book quickly and kept wanting to reach for it, even when I had other things to do.
My rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (rounded up to 5).
I have read a few books recently that were hyped about on Instagram, that didn't meet all my expectations. Because of that I felt a little reserved when I first started reading it.
My reservations went away in no time.I became enthralled by the story before I was half way through!
I really liked the characters. There was a good mix of characters, with varying personalities. Eliyana is a girl I relate to a lot. I struggle feeling confident about my looks and I, too, often wonder if I matter to people. It was encouraging to see Eliyana's confidence grow as she started fighting for those she cares about.
I am also a fan of the relationships in this book. I like how close El and her mom. We need to see more healthy, familial relationships in ya books.
I am not the biggest fan of love triangles, but I have to admit that the love triangle in this one. I am currently team Ky, but I am interested to see how Joshua's role plays out in the next two books as well.
As for the plot, I liked it. There were enough action scenes and twists to keep my attention. There were also enough sweet and sad moments to keep me emotionally invested in the story.
There were only two things I didn't like about this book. The first things I didn't like was that there were some lines, usually about the bad guys, that seemed forced and cliched. Eliyana's inner dialogues often seemed immature for someone who turns 18 at the end of the book. I do realize that this is a YA book and I am in my 20s, so I am not the exact target audience. These moments probably would not have bothered me if this book had been around when I was in high school.
The only other thing that kept me from fully enjoying this book was that I am still kinda confused about certain details of the powers El and her loved ones have. Like most fantasy books, there are a lot of elements to this story. The first book in a fantasy series can be a bit overwhelming because the author is working to establish the set of characters, the rules of the magic or powers, and the large scale setting. The issues with world building are usually less obvious in the second book, which I think will be the case with this series.
Despite my two issues with this book, I am going to still give it a high rating. Any problems I had with it are outweighed by the fact that I devoured this book quickly and kept wanting to reach for it, even when I had other things to do.
My rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (rounded up to 5).