Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

When her mother was murdered, Lila was taken away from the only home she has ever known and was forced to leave behind her brother Jack and her brothers bestfriend Alex.  Years later she runs away from her dreary home in London after she uses her secret ability to stop a mugging near her home, and she runs to her older brother Jack who stayed in America to finish college.  It seems like a breath of fresh air to be back in the US, although it is surprisingly hard to breath whenever she is around Alex, but that may have more to do with the crush she has had on him forever more than anything else.

Lila was hoping to be able to stay with Jack and Alex, but they are being awfully secretive about what they do, and her father is adament that she will return home to her life in London.  When Lila stumbles across someone who seems to know a lot about Jack, it doesn't seem that big a deal - until she discovers even more about the secret work that Jack, Alex, and the rest of the Unit do.  Suddenly the mugging is a distant memory, because there are other things to worry about now - and Lila has to run, and keep running if she wants to stay ahead of the people after her.

Hunting Lila was an interesting read for me, one of those books where I loved the idea and the world building, but the writing style of the author bugged me.  Let me just say that I got it really quickly that Alex was Lila's dream guy, that she was really in love with him and that he had the perfect body - I really didn't need all the reminders, you don't have to hit your audience over the head Alderson to get your message across.  There were also moments where I got completely jarred out of the story for the simple reason that throughout the book the mother is referred to as "mum" but this is a teenager who grew up in the States and so did her brother and his best friend - they would have been using "mom" instead - it may seem like a little niggle but it didn't ring true for the characters (although it would have if the book was set in the UK).

This is the first book in the series, and I hope that the sequel keeps up the pace and the mystery - especially with some of the plot twists towards the end of the book.  It is too late to plead for more accurate language, but hopefully there are more "mom" language usage, and less "mum" language usage.  Alderson shows great promise for a new voice in the action/thriller genre for teens, and Hunting Lila sits nicely with the emerging trend of writing books combining elements of the supernatural with military conspiracies.

If you like this book then try:

Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson

Altered by Jennifer Rush

Fated by Sarah Alderson

When we wake by Karen Healey

Adaptation by Melinda Lo

Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Eve by Anna Carey

Slated by Teri Terry

Sister assassin (Mind games) by Kiersten White

Reviewed by Brilla