REVIEW #1: UNHINGED BY CHANI LYNN FEENER

TITLE: Unhinged

AUTHOR: Chani Lynn Feener

SERIES: The Underworld Saga, #1

FORMAT: Paperback

DISCLAIMER: None. I bought my own book.

SYNOPSIS: The Underworld is real.

Spencer Perry knew it was a long shot when she started searching for a way into the Underworld, the ancient Greeks resting place for the dead. But three months ago her boyfriend died and now she’ll do anything to get him back, even make a deal with the devil himself. Only, Hades isn’t what she expected, and neither is the proposal he offers. In exchange for Micah’s resurrection, all she has to do is spend every night for the next year down below. From the very first meeting the god makes her feel things she shouldn’t, but she takes the deal anyway, knowing in the end it’ll be worth it. Except, as soon as their bargain begins, strange things start happening. People are being attacked by invisible forces, and all signs point to the God of the Underworld being responsible. Has Spencer inadvertently unleashed hell on earth?

RATING: 4/5 stars

REVIEW: First off, I’d like to start this review off by saying I have never particularly been one to be fascinated by Greek mythology. The entire subject matter has never really gripped at my insides, stimulated my interests, or goaded me to learn more about the different gods and goddesses and how they all intertwined with one another. As a consequence, I went into this book not knowing much about Greek mythology; however,this book explained things really well that you didn’t necessarily need a background in Greek mythology to understand what was going on.

Before going into this book, I knew that it was going to be a retelling of Greek mythology, and despite the fact that I knew nothing about the subject matter, that fact didn’t deter me from reading the book. The synopsis itself was intriguing enough to the point where I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this novel when it was officially re-released on Christmas. Right off the bat, Feener delves into Spencer’s pain and longing to bring her deceased boyfriend back from the dead, not just a ghost who only slipped into her bedroom when she was present. I felt like the plot’s pacing was good. At least for me, it wasn’t too fast or too slow. In fact, the plot really started kicking in within the first chapter during that first Greek mythology lesson, of which I had one of those “ah-ha” moments many people experience when reading.

However, this book was definitely without it’s flaws, which is why I decided to give it four stars out of five. There were times when I felt absolutely annoyed at the characters, especially Spencer and Micah, and though I get they were supposed to be in love and all, which was the entire basis of the plot, their entire relationship throughout the novel just kind of annoyed me. This was especially evident during the parts where Micah was so busy with his father that he didn’t even visit Spencer as much as before, and I for sure at one point thought their relationship was starting to crash and burn and that Micah at some point would decide he didn’t want to return from the Underworld after all because of his father. That to me was the biggest reason why I literally started screaming at Spencer in my mind to go with Hadrian instead because it was evident he liked her too. And at one point when Micah expressed jealousy that Spencer and Hadrian were spending so much time together, that also annoyed me, considering the fact that he was rarely ever around anymore to begin with.

Another thing I found in the book, which is more specific, is during the scene where both Sydney and Spencer lock themselves in Spencer’s bedroom after being chased by a malicious spirit. Right off the bat, Sydney makes a claim that her phone is dead, and afterwords, Spencer does the same, therefore eliminating their chance to call for help. Later on in the scene, however, Spencer fishes her phone back out of her pocket and locates a flashlight app, which she uses to see around the room after the light bulbs break. However, my question is, how was she able to use the flashlight app on her phone in the first place if her phone was supposedly dead? And if it had somehow miraculously charged itself during the entire scene, then why didn’t she use that instant to call for help?

Overall, despite those flaws, I found myself really getting into this book to the point where it was near impossible to put down. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series when it is released.