The Taking audiobook

So upon reading this book, my initial reaction went something like this:As in I couldn't articulate, look I'm a novice to YA science fiction particularly when it comes to aliens. But I have watched many movies, I absolutely love watching anything of the extraterrestrial kind. That being said, although I'm a novice, I do feel that this book was very light science fiction, it really appealed to me because first and foremost this book is a romance, it's a coming of age story. A book about a young girl having to survive when everyone has deserted her except for this one boy, who goes by the name of Tyler.☆☆☆WARNING HERE BE INSTA-LOVE☆☆☆Begone all ye non believers lol! The book is set at a fast pace, it's gripping and yes the word love is thrown around. Thing is I've never had a problem with insta-love as long as the author can sell it to me. I'm a romantic at heart, and I do believe in an attraction or connection so intense that the couple "instantly" falls in love. So What's It About? Well in a nutshell it's about this:and this:Not so much about the latter though, but you get my meaning. Kyra who's a soft-ball champion, has a fight with her dad while on her way home from a game. Her Dad stops the car at her her request, they're in a remote area, Kyra jumps out the car and begins to run. All of a sudden there's a flash of blinding light and the story begins.From then onwards the book is literally a fast-paced exciting adventure. We have secret agents, an unknown government organisation and a sweet, romantic love story. Didn't you ever wish you had super powers when you were younger? Imagined all the cool stuff you could do with them, and the best way you could show them off? Because what would be the point if you couldn't show them off?The Taking by Kimberly Derting fed that craving of mine. It was an absolute pleasure to read, funny, exciting, held my attention. If you're not to picky and looking for a fun YA sci-fi read, then I highly recommend this book. And the ending was one of those cliffy's you love to hate, leaves you wanting more but incredibly satisfying!The look on my face when I finished reading!My Favourite Quotes1. I bet I could implode, disintergrate into ash on this very spot where I was perched in my hospital gown on the edge of the bed, and no one would even notice.2. And I had been dead in a way. For five long years everyone had mourned me. They'd let me go and "moved on," and everything had changed.And now I was back. A corpse with a second chance.

My second time reading this in preparation for 'The Replaced' and I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH OH MANFirst read - All of my reviews are spoiler free (unless stated otherwise) so you can go ahead and read my review!THIS WAS SO INTRIGUING! I honestly couldn't put it down! It follows Kyra, a 16 year old girl who wakes up behind a dumpster and finds that five years have passed and yet she hasn't aged a day. All she remembers is seeing a flash of light before finding herself somehow in the same clothes, with the same bruises she had the day she disappeared, even though five whole years have gone by. DOESN'T THAT INTRIGUE YOU? COZ IT SHOULD. IT'S AN EXCELLENT CONCEPT. OKAY, ENOUGH WITH THE CAPS LOCK. OKAY. Wow. This was absolutely excellent! The thing I'm seeing most in people's reviews is that they didn't like the instalove. BUT... If you were in Kyra's shoes and had come home to realise everyone thought you were dead for five years and your old boyfriends brother is helping you figure it all out, wouldn't you want to cling to someone who reminds you of the past? You wouldn't want to go through this alone, and you would have probably done the exact same thing Kyra did. You've just got to put things into perspective here. Her situation is far from normal. So instalove is allowed to happen, in my opinion. I really don't want to say much, except that the writing was beautiful and the story was so unique and gripping that it will keep you up all night just wanting to know how the heck this whole situation happened. Such an excellent start to an amazing new trilogy!

THIS BOOK WAS SO FREAKING AMAZING AND EVERYONE ON EARTH NEEDS TO READ IT NOW OKAY?!

*I received and e-copy ARC of this book from Edelweiss in return for an honest review. Thank you to Harper Collins and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read this story early*It is very hard for me to put my thoughts into words....I highly enjoyed reading this book, it was fun and definitely hard to put down!!The book starts off with the main character Kyra disappearing for 5 years after winning her softball game. Everyone assumed she had been kidnapped or died since she was gone for so long and they moved on with their lives.Well.. Kyra comes back. Oddly enough, she doesn't look a day older than 16, she's wearing the same thing she wore when she disappeared, and she doesn't remember where she has been for the last 5 years..This is such a wonderful and interesting premise, but the way it was developed was a little weird for me. I feel like most of the book reads like contemporary or realistic fiction, then the last part of the book we finally get some exciting supernatural answers.I don't want to give away too many details because not knowing what is going on is the fun of this book! Overall, I really liked it and I loved the supernatural twist. The writing style is easy to read and it was very entertaining. The characters were also fun!My more detailed thoughts:Essentially, when Kyra returns, she has to deal with her broken family and love life. I got wrapped up in her story which does involve a lot of romance and a fun love interest. At the same time, I had to take a step back and think, woahhh... what is going on, this girl still doesn't remember or know what happened to her over the past 5 years. It almost seemed like she didn't even care and was just focused on this guy for majority of the story. It was definitely entertaining and fun, but I knew the whole time something was wrong and there was some sort of supernatural stuff going on. I wanted to know more about what happened to her and why she doesn't remember. However, we do get those answers towards the end, which I am happy about. I just wish that part of the story line began developing sooner. I do recommend this book, and I am super excited for the sequels!This book would be good for fans of The Lorien Legacies series by Pittacus Lore and the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout!

I haven't picked up a Kimberly Derting book since I read her THE BODY FINDER series (which I loved, loved). Not only was this book every bit as good as her debut series, but it's forcing me to realize my mistake in not buying THE PLEDGE trilogy. Reading THE TAKING was like watching a new series you totally fall for, and realizing there's another five series already out, ready to be downloaded. You know that feeling? It's epic. And so is Derting's storytelling. If you need me, I'll be nose-deep in book 2.

An Electronic Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss for review. Quotes have been pulled from an ARC and may be subject to change.Kyra has it all, a wonderful loving family, a boyfriend whom she knows all her life, and a best friend by her side. On the night after her softball game, she gets into a fight with her father and the next thing she knows she's behind a garbage  dump. She finds out that five years has passed by and people believe she was kidnapped. With no memory whatsoever she i stills the help of her boyfriend's little brother Tyler to help her. What she finds can't be real right? And the ramblings of her father may not be delusional after all.Started off slow but I guess it was a way to kick-start the romance. It was fairly predictable that it would start off with her abduction. But what surprised me was her super powers. They were all so cool and I loved reading about it. I won't spoil it for you, but it did kind of sound fun. The middle really started to pick up and I was finally invested in the story when she tries to figure out why she can do the things that she can do. The pacing is definitely a nail biter because I love these books where someone is being chased. It always brings me to the edge of my seat. Sure the romance was quick, but I ignored that in favour of the mystery surrounding the fireflies. I needed to know what they were!As for the characters, we have Kyra and her being the main character we're privy into her mindset. Having no memories can be alarming, and tough on everyone. Imagine waking up and you believe it was just yesterday where your whole life was normal only to be living in the present where everything is wrong. It was hard on her, but I believed she acted so much like a bratty teenager. Especially towards her family. There was no need to be mean or rude at all! Then there's Austin. Who I believed to be a selfish jerk because he talked only about himself and didn't even care about what Kyra was going through. They were friends for years, yet he gave up on her?! That's not love. On the other hand, I pretty much loved Tyler. Sure he could be cocky and downright annoying, but he also had a sweet side. He is adorable and loves books and is truly kind to Kyra and treats her well. All those beautiful chalk drawings were so cute! I couldn't help but smile during those parts. All the other secondary characters played a pivotal roll and I liked them as well. Even the NSA agents. They reminded me of Mr. Smith from The Matrix movies lolThere's just something about Kimberly writing that I can't help but love. If you like your chase scenes, with super powers and a whole lot of romance thrown in, pick this one up! 

Ahh I loved this book!! it's the perfect mashup of scifi, paranormal, and contemp. I don't want to give away any spoilers, because there's a fun secret about what's really the cause of Kyra's disappearance. But what a fun, fast-paced read, with plenty of emotion and lots of questions. I loved the relationship between Kyra and Tyler...it was adorable and believable! And the concept for this book is so fun! :) The cover fits it perfectly---there's a hint about everything in the cover, one you'll only understand once you've read the book!

BY FAR THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ SO FAR THIS YEAR!The writing was great, the characters were relatable, flawed, yet funny. And there was non-stop action. I have no idea why this book doesn't have higher ratings because I honestly felt like I was watching an epic 13 episode television series in my head. I NEED BOOK 2 NOW!

Words I have none!!! This book is everything!! Simply amazing!!!

A thrilling and romantic read that was full of secrets, The Taking was a fantastic YA paranormal romance. I really enjoyed reading this brilliant book. Loved it!Kyra was a good heroine. She was put in a rather difficult situation. She disappeared for 5 years, though she doesn't remember having been gone, and wakes up to a vastly different life. But she dealt with it as best she could and stood strong despite everything that was thrown at her. My one problem with her, though, is that she could be a bit bratty and somewhat selfish and kind of petulant. I understood that her life had changed drastically and she wanted it all to be as it was, but she acted really immature and wasn't understanding that 5 years was a long time and her loved ones had moved on. So, that was a bother. Regardless, I still really liked her. Overall, I thought she was a great heroine.Tyler was so adorable. He was so sweet and wonderful and I totally loved him. He'd had a crush on Kyra 5 years ago, but, obviously, she was older than him and, since he was only 12 years old, that wasn't going to work. But, after 5 years, that crush didn't go away and, now that it could go somewhere, it deepened into something much more meaningful. He was just so sweet to Kyra. I could go on and on about how wonderful he was, but I'll just say that I adored him and move on.The romance was very sweet. I thought it was especially adorable with Tyler's situation and how he finally had a chance to be with the girl he crushed on for so long. I thought they were really sweet together and, after that ending, I really hope they can end up with a happy ending.The plot was fast paced and I was hooked the entire way through. There were tons of thrills and secrets that had me on the edge of my seat. I really liked the idea of aliens taking people and altering them as some kind of experiment. But, I wish there had been more explanation as to why they were doing that and how. I wasn't really bothered by it, though, because I assume we'll get more of that explanation later in the series. I really enjoyed the story and that ending has me itching to get my hands on book 2. So much changed for the characters and I'm dying to see how it works out for them.The Taking was a brilliant YA paranormal romance. It had thrills and secrets and an ending that left me wanting more. I totally loved it! Lovers of YA romance, this is a book you don't want to miss.*I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: The Taking is a pulse-racing, action packed story of a girl who doesn’t know what to believe. A stunning book and something I will definitely check out the sequel for!Opening Sentence: We killed them.The Review:Kyla is an ordinary girl, with ordinary parents and an ordinary life. She’s madly in love with her boyfriend, Austin, and she just won the championships for her softball team by her amazing pitching skills. Her father wants her to get a scholarship through softball, and go to a good college. All Kyla wants is to settle down with Austin and be at the same school as him — a school that isn’t nearly to her dad’s standards. But one day after Kyla and her father are fighting, a sudden bright flash of light illuminates everything and she wakes up, five years later, people saying she’s been missing for five years when really she just was knocked out or something for a few seconds — her whole life has fallen apart by now. Austin is dating her best friend, Cat. Her dad is drinking and spouting crackpot theories about aliens abducting her. Kyla’s mom remarried and has a new child. Everyone has aged but she looks the same as five years ago. Basically, she’s left in the ashes of what used to be her life. But Tyler, Austin’s brother, is always there to support her. He’s the only one she can trust, with the strange powers she seems to be gaining and agents from the NSA tracking her every move…Wow! Wow, wow, wow. I started this at about 4, took a 3 hour break for family movie night at 5, and then finished at 9. The first part was okay, and the chapters kept me hooked, but it wasn’t very exciting until you reach halfway. Then you are constantly gasping and praying and hoping and your feelings are set on fire.Kyla’s feelings of not belonging are so wonderfully illustrated. Always there is a constant undercurrent of how everything has changed. The Husband, her mom’s new child, her father’s smell of liquor on his breath, everything reminds her of the life she lost. Though the plotline could have proved very confusing, information is given to you in a crystal clear way.Tyler is a perfect guy — determined, cheesy, but believing and loyal. Austin had been a talker, but Tyler is a listener. Austin had forgotten Kyla for Cat, but Tyler still remembers his crush from five years ago. I think Kyla and Tyler’s relationship moved a slightest bit fast, but the pacing of the book as a whole was fine, and so it didn’t matter much to me. I loved Tyler, and while I appreciated Austin at the beginning, his interactions with Kyra after she is returned prove he is a first class jerk.I am so excited for the second book, I can’t even tell you. Again, the farther half of this book was basically perfection. The first half, good, but the second just had me enthralled. If the whole book had me as engaged as the second part, it would be an a thousand star review. Sadly, I’m only giving it four stars because part one would be three and part two six, so I’m averaging it out. Everyone who loves science fiction should check this out as soon as it is released. You. Will. Not. Regret. It.The Taking is an engaging, exciting, pulse-racing novel. If you can’t get through part one, fight through it (although part one is not bad at all, just not as good as the second). This is such a unique novel. The cover isn’t very exciting, but the content is great. Pacing is wonderful, romance is fabulous, story was told so well. Go now and pre-order it, okay? Okay. Happy reading!Notable Scene:But I stopped, unable to speak or think or breathe the moment I saw it……them.So very many of them.It was like looking at a constellation.A radiant, sparkling, living constellation.“Oh my god…” I covered my mouth with both hands and gasped between my fingers. Tears blurred the lights, blending and distorting them until they were one giant mass in my eyes. “They’re so . . . so beautiful.”Simon looked at me, confused. He lowered the knife and let go of his sleeve as he turned to see what I had. To know what I knew.That we’d been in the wrong place all along.“Fireflies.” He breathed.FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of The Taking. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review

omg, this gave me such a rush!

It's been five years since Kyra Agnew mysteriously disappeared after a fight with her father. A lot can change in five years - people age, marriages fall apart, new relationships develop - but, when Kyra reappears, there's nothing new about her. Everything, right down to the bruises and dusty softball uniform she was wearing when she disappeared, are exactly the same. For Kyra, it feels like the softball game, kissing her boyfriend, and fighting with her dad happened mere hours before... for the rest of the world, life has moved on. Kyra finds her parents divorced and her boyfriend five years older... and his little brother, Tyler, too. Kyra's life has been taken from her and she's determined to find out how and why. Things have definitely taken a turn for the weird, and her father's conspiracy theories don't sound near as far fetched as they would have five years ago... or, for Kyra, yesterday.I love, love, love this book! Admittedly, I love everything Derting has written, but still. Derting's first series, which begins with THE BODY FINDER, also has a paranormal slant, so to me, she's returning to her roots with THE TAKING. I love her dystopian series - THE PLEDGE - too, but there's something compelling about her paranormal novels. I think it's the fact that her characters are so normal, except for that one element that sets them apart. In THE BODY FINDER, it's the main character's ability to sense the aura of a dead body. In THE TAKING, it's a mysterious, perhaps otherworldly, disappearance that steals five years from the main character's life and leaves her... changed. When you read one of Derting's novels, you can't help but wonder 'what if.' It doesn't hurt that Derting writes romantic leads that leave you a bit breathless and a whole lot in love. In THE TAKING, Kyra finds herself - somewhat inappropriately - drawn to Tyler, who was only twelve when she disappeared. Now Tyler is the same age as Kyra and all to determined to prove he's no longer a little kid. The Tyler/Kyra romance was so wrong it was right. Even though Kyra tries to resist Tyler's charm, I'm not sure any girl could resist someone so determined to sweep her off her feet.If you haven't read a Kimberly Derting book yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? If you have, give yourself a pat on the back, you have impeccable taste.

Huge thank you to the publisher for letting me read an advanced copy of this. I'm writing this honest review to say thank you!Wow. So to be honest I was really scared to read this book. I'd seen a lot of negative reviews and low ratings and I personally haven't been the biggest fan of Derting's latest works (esp. the ending to The Pledge series). Sooooo I went into this with trepidation and was BLOWN AWAY. The first half of this book is so fast-paced and engaging and I couldn't stop reading. The book starts with Kyra and her dad heading home after her softball game. They get into a fight, she gets out of the car, a flash of light and bam, she's waking up behind a dumpster FIVE YEARS LATER only she hasn't aged a bit. And she feels like she's only lost a day. But she's lost five. And in that time she was missed, mourned, and then her family and friends moved on. THIS SUCKS. And I could totally relate to her feelings when she returned. No, I haven't lost time, but I have experienced returning to a familiar place only to find everything different, yet the same. When I first returned to the USA from my first year in Japan IT WAS HARD. Everyone was the same, yet SO different. People had kids, people had gotten married/divorced, friends that I once was super close to I couldn't relate to at all. And yet everyone expected ME to just slid right into their lives. THEY had not changed in their eyes. So while a lot of the reviews I've seen are claiming that Kyra didn't understand her family's feelings, I think that the REVERSE is true. NOBODY seemed to understand that to Kyra, everything was crazy and it was going to take time for her to ADJUST. Her mom was just like 'hi, here's a huge info dump about my life and your new brother, let's go shopping!' and Kyra was like 'wtf....' and just nobody gave her any time to get her wits about her. Well, Tyler did. And this is why I think they became SO close SO fast. Add in the fact that his older brother was her boyfriend, and it just makes sense that she would turn to him. He was the only normal-ish thing in this new life. Sure he wasn't his brother, but he was close enough. And for Tyler, he'd already been in love with Kyra (in a cute little-kid-has-a-crush way), so their relationship worked for me. It made sense. I mean, towards the end it did get a bit too much for the amount of time that had passed, but it didn't bother me THAT much. The only thing that really did get to me was that Kyra didn't seem to care AT ALL about what had happened to her. Which, okay, if I were her I'd probably spend my first few days back wtf-ing about all of the changes, but anytime anyone would try to talk to her about what had happened, she'd just be like 'meh, idk' and leave it at that. I was DYING to find out (part of why I flew through it so fast) and she was just so blah about it! And when her dad was floating his ideas about aliens and she was like OMG YOU'RE CRAZY. DUDE. You were missing FOR FIVE YEARS and you haven't AGED A DAY. I just don't get why she was so un-interested! So I was glad when Simon showed up and we started to get some answers. I STILL WANT MORE ANSWERS. Which I hope we get in the next book. Because AH. THAT ENDING.

I tend to accentuate the positive whenever I read anything. To start off, the prose was easy enough to slip into and journey with as the story moved along. I enjoyed Ms. Derting's style of storytelling. The pace was pleasant; my pulse was thrumming when suspense peaked and when the romantic lead went about his various attempts to sweep the heroine off her feet.The supernatural/mystery/back-from-abduction element was intriguing. We only know what's revealed to Kyra, our strong-willed heroine. This is the first volume in a trilogy, so I don't doubt that things will be revealed later on, at the pace Ms. Derting has chosen. I like the characters she has woven, and trust that she will expertly flesh out this story and lead her endearing characters to wherever they're meant to be.The romance build-up was savory and sweet. The chemistry leaped off the page. I didn't have an issue with the age gap or that Tyler was 12 when Kyra last saw him. They had both changed by the time they met again after she returned. The two leads also changed as the story and their relationship progressed, moving ever forward as they tried to make the best with what knowledge of the past they had as well as their deep concern for one another. They both care for and are attracted to one another, so what else matters? Tyler was too sweet, with his chalk dedications and book recommendations. They complement each other wonderfully. Tyler's puppy love for Kyra and his pulling out all the stops to make her his was adorable. More than that, he was her crutch; during the turmoil, his loyalty from her never strayed. She was more introspective with him, accepted herself better because he never passed judgment on her.Kyra's preoccupation with time at the start of the story, I feel, highlighted the underlying theme of change. She was gone for five years - half a decade - and in that time, the relationships she left behind changed, as the people within them changed. Such is the impermanence of life, held intact by the only guaranteed constant: change.Kimberly Derting took the alien abduction premise and added her own elements in the form of fireflies as well as Kyra's special abilities. There was also quite a bit of history fleshed out, courtesy of Jett.This was my first time reading Ms. Derting's work. I commend her expertise with crafting a beautiful, heartfelt journey and carving memorable characters. :)I enjoyed this marvelous read (it ended on a cliffhanger, btw), and immensely look forward to the second installment. I'm curious, though - can anyone affirm that film rights to this novel are being negotiated? It would be phenomenal to see this translated to the big screen!

Going into this book, I was not sure if I would really enjoy it. I LOVED IT! I enjoyed the characters and the whole premise.I loved reading about Kyra waking up and trying to put her life back together. I really felt for her and kind of had an issue with her mother. I felt that her mother just expected her to adjust to the life that they had now 5 years later.One of my favorite parts was when Kyra sees Austin for the first time after being back. The emotions that she must have felt were a little over whelming, even for me. I feel like her feelings for Tyler will be able to help her move on from the devastation she felt by her boyfriend and her best friend getting together.The ending was intense. We were left on a bit of a cliffhanger and I cannot wait to see where this series goes next.I highly recommend you pick up this read! It was full of romance, action, drama and keeps you guessing from one chapter to the next. I WILL be purchasing Ms. Derting’s other books in hopes that I will love them just as much!Head to the blog to enter a signed swag giveaway for the book!