Book Review: Unraveling

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher
Released: 4/24/12
Rating: 5 stars--Go get this and read it now. 

                                                                                              

Synopsis:

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

Review: 

I picked this book up (okay, I downloaded this book to my nook) because I couldn't decide between this and another (which I can't actually remember now) and made my niece pick.
Lemme just say, Thank you, Niece.

Unraveling stars with a bang. The main character, Janelle, get hit by a truck. How's that for a opening scene? Of course, someone rescues her--brings her back to life, and when he does, she sees a bit about him that is just so perfect it's worth flipping back to, just to reread the paragraph a few dozen times.
Janelle has a difficult time. She's the oldest child of a workaholic father and a bi-polar mother, and much of raising her younger brother falls on her shoulders. What really impressed me about Janelle is how strong she is. Even when she wanted--even needed--to be weak and broken, she was strong because her brother needed her, her friends, her mother, anyone.
But that doesn't mean she's perfect. She's strong to a point where she doesn't trust the adults in her life as much as she should. There were a few points in the book I wanted to reach out and slap her and say, 'Give your FBI father and Strutz the info, you idiot!!'
Which is why I think Ben is so perfect. Ben is the bad boy who isn't, the stoner who is really smart (and isn't actually a stoner) the boy who has been almost stalker-ish in his devotion to Janelle, and in the end, the one who allows Janelle the ability to be weak.
Also--the chemistry between them is freakin' hot. Just throwin' that out there.
Norris does a really great job with some difficult theories. Although I did call a few plot twists before they happened, I was kept pleasantly surprised and guessing. And her writing is to die for--Janelle's voice, and the occasionally perfect line that is still repeating in my head.
All around, this book is perfect, and has hit my top ten of 2012. Go get it. Read it. Tell me what you think.