My Rating
★★★★★ - You have bewitched me, body and soul. (More Info)
About the Book
Eliyana can’t bear to look at her own reflection. But what if that were only one Reflection—one world? What if another world exists where her blemish could become her strength?
Eliyana is used to the shadows. With a birthmark covering half her face, she just hopes to graduate high school unscathed. That is, until Joshua hops a fence and changes her perspective. No one, aside from her mother, has ever treated her like he does: normal. Maybe even beautiful. Because of Joshua, Eliyana finally begins to believe she could be loved.
But one night her mother doesn’t come home, and that’s when everything gets weird. Now Joshua is her new, and rather reluctant, legal Guardian. Add a hooded stalker and a Central Park battle to the mix and you’ve gone from weird to otherworldly.
Eliyana soon finds herself in a world much larger and more complicated than she’s ever known. A world enslaved by a powerful and vile man. And Eliyana holds the answer to defeating him. How can an ordinary girl, a blemished girl, become a savior when she can’t even save herself?
My Thoughts
As some of you may know, over the past couple of months I have been a part of the judging process for the INSPYs. Reading and analyzing the 5 books on the short list. WELL, the winners were announced last week which means I FINALLY get to share my thoughts with YOU on all of these books! I decided it only appropriate to start with the WINNER in the Young Adult Literature category...Unblemished!
As my brain tries to untangle itself from this crazy mess this book put it into, I will TRY to express my true emotions for this book.
First off, I love LOVE Sara Ella's style. Written solely in first person and easy to follow her train of thought. I know that first person narratives can be an immediate turnoff for some people, but this one was done really well. (Reading is my SuperPower can attest to that). It was also helpful having MANY references to modern day movies, songs, etc. making this the perfect book as an introduction to fantasy. It gives you a taste without drowning you. There is a lot of new terminology and locations, but very easy to follow along. A couple of the names were pretty similar and I got a little confused at the beginning, but I caught on and got it sorted pretty easily.
As Eliyana searches for beauty and love she encounters so much more along the way. I really loved this theme. There were so many allegorical references to God's love, God's plan for us. I love how Sara wove the faith in. The Verity and the Void, the Light and the Dark, the Truth and Lies. #BookHangover at its finest right here. Clean and I felt it is very appropriate for young adults. I can NOT wait to read Unraveling now! (side note: I did in fact read Unblemished first, even though I post my review for Unravelling weeks ago.)
One thing that I could have done without, was the love triangle. Yes...you heard me right! I know that love triangles and Young Adult fiction goes hand in hand...But it would be nice to have a little break from that. In the end it was "needed"...but I still could have done without it.
**SPOILER ALERT**
I love allegories. They have the ability to reach so many people and work on their hearts no matter what they believe or where they are in life. One aspect of the allegory in this book was in Joshua's love for El. It mirrors (oops....I know I would do that) God's love for us. Unconditional, unphased by outward appearance, He loves with all of his heart and soul.
**End Spoiler**
If you are a fan of YA Fiction, Fantasy, or allegories...Or all of the above...You really should give Unblemished a try! It didn't win an INSPY for nothing...
I purchased and read my own ebook copy of Unblemished from Amazon. However, I was provided with a complimentary hardback copy from the publishers through The INSPY Award. I was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
About the Author
Sara Ella is the author of Unblemished and Unravelling, books one and two of the Unblemished Trilogy. Once upon a time, Sara dreamed she would marry a prince and live in a castle, and she did work for Disney! Now she spends her days throwing living room dance parties for her two princesses and conquering realms of her own imaginings. She believes “Happily Ever After is Never Far Away.”
More Books by Sara Ella on Bookworm Mama
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Many thanks to Canva for providing an AMAZING program for me to design all these beautiful graphics. Book covers, publisher/tour logos, and author pictures not owned by me. All other graphics created by Bookworm Mama with public domain photos on Canva.
