The taking by Kimberly Derting

It was supposed to be a night of celebration, but it turned into a nightmare instead.  When Kyra's dad offered to drive her to the team celebration after the big game, she knew that it was going to be time for a talk she didn't want to hear - think about your future, think about a different college, don't plan everything around your boyfriend Austin.  Demanding to be let out of the car seemed like such a harmless thing, until the bright light comes swarming around her and then the darkness closes in.  When Kyra wakes up the next morning she stumbles home only to find a stranger in her house, and when she turns to her boyfriend she discovers that more than a night has passed - she has lost five years of her life.  

Everything is different, her boyfriend and best friend have moved on with their lives and left her behind, her parents are no longer together, and Austin's l;little brother Tyler is suddenly the same age as Kyra and sets her heart racing in a way that her boyfriend's little brother really shouldn't.  Things are confusing enough, but on top of the personal dramas Kyra also has to deal with her dads alien conspiracy theories and a federal agent who seems to have a very unhealthy interest in her case - unhealthy for Kyra that is.  Caught between the mother who wants her to be what she was, the father who seems desperate to prove his alien abduction theories, and the need to be herself Kyra is walking a knife edge of hope and despair.  The more she discovers the more she realises that her life is no longer her own - and she is running out of time.

The taking was one of those out of the blue books, an amazing read that I was not expecting and one that I didn't want to put down once I picked it up.  Kyra is the perfect point of view for this wild ride, through her we experience every discovery, every shock, and every moment of hope and despair.  It is clear from the beginning that something has happened to Kyra, but there are teasing hints of what it might be, what it might have been - hints that last until you are so buried in the action and the mystery that it feels a little like you have been sideswiped by the truth.  This is not your "typical" alien abduction story, there are layers to the story and the aliens when they "arrive" are not the little green or grey men you might have been expecting.  The strength of the story lies in the fact that you are reading a story about a young women who has essentially been taken out of time and returned to a very changed world, a young woman who is trying to uncover the secrets around her and the feelings she has for her boyfriends younger brother - oh, and by the way there are some aliens involved.

There is a definite feeling that there is going to be a sequel - although personally I think it is a little sneaky to have a series without sign posting it on the first book!  Characters and world building are what make great books and excellent reads, a world peopled with characters that make you loose yourself in their story and suspend belief.  I had no problems leaving my world behind to join Kyra and her world, and while the main character her is a girl this is one of those great books that easily appeals to both the boys and the girls.  There is plenty to like her and I hope that there is a sequel soon so we can see what happens to Kyra and her world.

If you like this book then try:

• The last girl by Michael Adams
• The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen
• The darkest minds by Alexandra Bracken
• Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza
• The hunt by Andrew Fukuda
• When we wake by Karen Healey
• The lab by Jack Heath
• The rules by Stacvey Kade
• Adaptation by Melinda Lo
• Proxy by Alex London
• In the after by Demitria Lunetta
• The 100 by Kass Morgan
• Arrival by Chris Morphew
• Revived by Cat Patrick
• Altered by Jennifer Rush
• Inside out by Maria V. Snyder
• Reboot by Amy Tintera
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
• Stung by Bethany Wiggins
• What's left of me by Kat Zhang

Reviewed by Brilla