ARC – Untaken by J.E. Anckorn | Review #10

‘It turns out that a real alien invasion is nothing like the Sci-fi shows fourteen-year-old Gracie loves. Not when it’s your own family who are swallowed whole by those big silver ships. Not if it could be you next.

In her search for her family, Gracie meets Brandon, a high school dropout who would never have been caught dead hanging out with a dork like Gracie before the world ended. Gracie isn’t too crazy about Brandon either, but he has one thing she doesn’t: A plan.

Brandon’s uncle has a cabin up in Maine, and if Gracie and Brandon can survive long enough to get there they can hide out utnil the Space Men pack up their ships and leave.

Until the army guys come to rescue them, says Brandon. Brandon is big into army guys.

Gracie has to admit that Brandon’s Awesome Plan probably would have worked out great if it wasn’t for Jake. They found 5-year-old Jake, laying half-dead under the remains of someone’s ranch house. He’s a good kid, even if he won’t-or can’t- talk. 

But Jake has a secret, and when Gracie finds out what it is, the fragile new life they’ve started to forge looks set to break apart.

When the people you’ve been counting on to put the world back together start hunting you down, alien invaders are the least of your worries.’

Wow. I dont even know what to say. Untaken is one of the first books that has actually legitimately creeped me out in a long time. Like, I dont even know what to say. Okay, lets start off with saying that Untaken is a Sci-fi book. There are aliens, and thats what has me creeped out. The way that Anckorn describes these aliens…. Holy shit. They are. So. Freaking. Creepy. Another thing about Untaken is that I was genuinely as anxious as Gracie was. Anckorn’s writing had this ability to just pull me into the book so well; it was hard to leave the world of Untaken. I’m actually happy that the second part of the book is way more calm than the first part of the story.

I was pleasantly surprised by Untaken, to be honest. Usually when I start a book, I’ll read the synopsis and then write down my predictions. Out of the four predictions I made, only one came true, which is amazing, because I can usually predict quite a few things about a book.

Now the plot of the story takes place over about eleven months. In those eleven months, the main characters, Brandon, Gracie and Jack learn about survival, friendships and sacrifices.

When the trio are just surviving, they’re at their strongest, and they feel everything in raw emotion. Brandon still believes that the army is going to help them.. Gracie is learning new things & keeping the trio together. While Jack is silently observing and learning about the world around him while keeping silent.

In the second part of the book they’ve settled into this place, and honestly, it was great to see that the three of them as friends. They’re all getting along with little to no arguments, and its just.. ugh. Seeing them like that, as a little family, is great. And when I was nearing the end of the story, I was upset. Like, I didn’t want to what happen to happen. But it did, and I think thats what made me like the story as much as I do.

And holy crap, Jake’s point of view? Its amazing. I love Jake’s part of the story, its so eye opening. And so, so refreshing from both Brandon and Gracie.

I rated Untaken 5 stars because of the reasons above, and because THERE IS NO LOVE TRIANGLE. DO YOU HEAR ME??? NO LOVE TRIANGLE.

Thank you to Curiosity Quills Press for allowing me to read this book; via Netgalley! If you’re more interested about this book, you can find Untaken on GoodReads.

Thanks for reading! Until next time,
Adele.