What lies beneath
Daniel Morning seems perfect -- handsome, charismatic, intelligent. But living up to everyone's expectations has cost him the... read full description
reviews
Oct 21, 2008
Cristian Cnca
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Book review
The book that i finished was Unleashed. Which is about a teen who has a bright future ahead of him. His name is Daniel morning who is the shooting star of his school is tired of being directed by his parents who tell him that theyu want him to get a better life.In his senior of highschool he has to work harder than anyone else but all trhe work he putup with. Are now over because he got accepted to Cornell an ivy league school but he is not all proud , he had to cheat to g More...
The book that i finished was Unleashed. Which is about a teen who has a bright future ahead of him. His name is Daniel morning who is the shooting star of his school is tired of being directed by his parents who tell him that theyu want him to get a better life.In his senior of highschool he has to work harder than anyone else but all trhe work he putup with. Are now over because he got accepted to Cornell an ivy league school but he is not all proud , he had to cheat to g More...
May 12, 2010
Jerry
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Personally, I was not offended by the fowl language or the casual marijuana use. Maybe its because I have worked with college freshman (in a southern city similar to Birmingham) for nearly 7 years and understand that this is common for many 18 year olds. In fact, I think Reisz understated the use of fowl language and sexual innuendos. In the author's defense, he was trying to paint a realistic picture of the world these young adults grew up in. He wanted us to understand that they were trapped
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May 07, 2009
Brooke
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You know the kids in school, the outcasts. They're the kids who wear dark clothes and combat boots. They don't quite fit in, and everyone in school treats them like they are trash or don't exist. At least that's how it was when I was in high school. If you weren't a popular star football player or cheerleader you were on the outside looking in. That's what Misty and her pack are, the outcasts. They protect each other from the "hand lickers," and stand up for each other when they are in
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Feb 16, 2011
Vixenne
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Overall, Unleashed was a much better book than I thought it would be. This isn't a book for the Twi-hard crowd (thank goodness).Unlike most readers, I wasn't put off by all the drinking, drug use and sexuality the characters engaged in. Let's be honest here, teens are doing these things. If anything this kind of moral ambiguity and grittiness makes the book and the characters feel far more real. Interestingly Unleashed doesn't take place in some hip, cosmopolitan city, but in Birmingham, Ala
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Jul 14, 2010
Damaris (GoodChoiceReading)
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This book was a good read. I read some other reviews where everyone was complaining that it definitely does not fall under YA novel and I can see why after reading it. I really enjoyed it, but there were some parts that left me wondering what if I had a 15 year old reading this book? But then I remembered how in this day and age teenagers talk and act the way Misty and Daniel did in the book. It's sad, but it is happening.
I think that is what I liked about the book the most. It felt More...
I think that is what I liked about the book the most. It felt More...
May 14, 2010
Orrin
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I met Kristopher Reisz before I ever read any of his books (he said something about writing stories about "mushroom gods" on his website, and I was hooked). When I heard that Unleashed was being re-released by the publisher I thought it was high time I read it again.
On the surface it's your typical guy-meets-werewolf story, but there's a lot more going on underneath than you'd expect and the book has guts and brains and heart to spare, along with one of the coolest werewolf More...
On the surface it's your typical guy-meets-werewolf story, but there's a lot more going on underneath than you'd expect and the book has guts and brains and heart to spare, along with one of the coolest werewolf More...
Jun 21, 2010
Savannah (Books With Bite)
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This book took me a while to read mostly because it disturbed me. By that I mean, it has waayy to much drugs, sex, and foul language for a YA book. While the plot and writing was good, it was not my cup of tea.
Everybody knows Daniel Morning is a star. He always has been. What they don't know is how restless he feels, how he hates always living up to other people's expectations. The urge to break free is beginning to gnaw at his insides.
Then Daniel meets Misty. She's smoky More...
Everybody knows Daniel Morning is a star. He always has been. What they don't know is how restless he feels, how he hates always living up to other people's expectations. The urge to break free is beginning to gnaw at his insides.
Then Daniel meets Misty. She's smoky More...
Jan 25, 2009
Kris
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Recommended for high school and up. A couple of the characters have "hushed, fumbling, giggling sex" on page 7, and later in the book. Drug use is rampant, along with liberal use of the f-word. Drug use, in fact, is what motivates the characters. A certain "magic mushroom" allows them to shift into wolves and as a pack, they set out to mark their territory (spray cans of paint clutched in their jaws), and as they lose their human inhibitions, they carry out further damage
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May 29, 2009
Kristen
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Misty and Daniel are definitely from opposite ends of the social hierarchy--Daniel is the best you can be in a deadbeat town on his way to an Ivy Tower while Misty is destined to live in the same town forever. The two form an unconventional pair and they know it. But there's something in Daniel that craves adventure--and Misty can give it to him.
I recommend this book for readers aged 15 and up because there are sex scenes in here. I recommend this book because I enjoyed reading it More...
I recommend this book for readers aged 15 and up because there are sex scenes in here. I recommend this book because I enjoyed reading it More...
Dec 27, 2010
Karen
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I loved this book! I can't even tell you in detail what it was that I loved, but I just loved it...
After I read the first 100 pages, I posted on Goodreads that there wasn't any drama or action, and there wasn't. But it seemed that after that things started happening.
This book was about a senior named Daniel who was the star athlete, academic, popular kid-just all around shining star-and it is also about a senior named Misty, who is the complete opposite. She doesn't care More...
After I read the first 100 pages, I posted on Goodreads that there wasn't any drama or action, and there wasn't. But it seemed that after that things started happening.
This book was about a senior named Daniel who was the star athlete, academic, popular kid-just all around shining star-and it is also about a senior named Misty, who is the complete opposite. She doesn't care More...
Jun 18, 2008
Harry
rated it:
As a debut post to my specialized in reviewing blog, I am going to report my impressions from “Unleashed” by Kristopher Reisz. But first I want to brag that this is a personal copy sent straight from the author himself, the very first I have ever received without winning a giveaway. So I don’t feel like a virgin in that area anymore and after the squealing was ticked on my to-do-list I set out to read it.
I was a bit skeptical with whether I am truly going to enjoy it or not since the More...
I was a bit skeptical with whether I am truly going to enjoy it or not since the More...
May 12, 2008
Jennifer
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Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com
Daniel Morning has a beautiful girlfriend, an early acceptance to Cornell, and the world at his fingertips. So why does he feel so trapped?
When he gets to know Misty and her friends, he realizes how much freedom lies beyond the rules and restrictions set down by his parents and teachers. Misty's group is a pack in the most literal sense of the word. At night they eat a mushroom sacred to the god of decay, and shape-shift into wol More...
Daniel Morning has a beautiful girlfriend, an early acceptance to Cornell, and the world at his fingertips. So why does he feel so trapped?
When he gets to know Misty and her friends, he realizes how much freedom lies beyond the rules and restrictions set down by his parents and teachers. Misty's group is a pack in the most literal sense of the word. At night they eat a mushroom sacred to the god of decay, and shape-shift into wol More...
Mar 29, 2008
Karin
rated it:
Daniel’s doesn’t feel in control of his life. He is a senior in high school and seems to have everything going for him. He just received word from Cornell that he has been accepted and everyone is excited - except him. Daniel knows he doesn’t deserve the early acceptance into Cornell. He feels like a cheater.
Daniels parents found a doctor that agreed to diagnose Daniel as ADHD which allowed him more time for his SATs. He has never felt comfortable with this decision, but his pa More...
Daniels parents found a doctor that agreed to diagnose Daniel as ADHD which allowed him more time for his SATs. He has never felt comfortable with this decision, but his pa More...
Feb 28, 2008
Emily
rated it:
I think that Reisz has the potential to be a great writer.
Tripping to Somewhere was one of those books that’s flawed in ways that make it, for me, more exciting and more interesting than a lot of books that are technically better constructed. So I was half-excited when I saw Unleashed on the processing shelf - I didn’t even know he had a new book coming out. And a werewolf book at that!
Misty is a poor, biracial girl who has discovered the one ray of light in her dead-end More...
Tripping to Somewhere was one of those books that’s flawed in ways that make it, for me, more exciting and more interesting than a lot of books that are technically better constructed. So I was half-excited when I saw Unleashed on the processing shelf - I didn’t even know he had a new book coming out. And a werewolf book at that!
Misty is a poor, biracial girl who has discovered the one ray of light in her dead-end More...
Jun 23, 2009
Julie
rated it: 
I got to page 53 before I couldn't read anymore. Maybe it's because I am still in middle school or something, but I thought the constant swearing was WAY to much. and, we hardly got anywhere interesting in the first 50 pages, so why bother?
And, do non-Mormon teenagers actually act like that? because I don't know any older seinors who do constant swearing, (I don't think there was a single page that didn't swear at least twice!)
Don't read this peoples. ever.
And, do non-Mormon teenagers actually act like that? because I don't know any older seinors who do constant swearing, (I don't think there was a single page that didn't swear at least twice!)
Don't read this peoples. ever.
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Jun 14, 2009
Janaye
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So... while I enjoyed reading this book there were several things I felt were overdone and didn't really have a place.
Glorifying drug use obviously... I didn't really understand the whole thing surrounding it. If it was meant to make the characters more trashy and pathetic then it worked.
While I think it captured the "normal" high school teen in the sex crazed department there were few times when the sexual references did anything for the book.
The on More...
Glorifying drug use obviously... I didn't really understand the whole thing surrounding it. If it was meant to make the characters more trashy and pathetic then it worked.
While I think it captured the "normal" high school teen in the sex crazed department there were few times when the sexual references did anything for the book.
The on More...
Dec 14, 2010
Emily
rated it:
This story suprised me by turing out ok. It started out terrible-- Misty is a blatant cliche, the *bad* girl, and has very little depth. But then I started liking Daniel Morning and empathise with him, and then the stakes started getting higher, and the characters have to make sacrifices... the build to the climax is great, but the result a let down. At least I actually finished it. Beware: drugs, sex, and swearing. Lots of 'em. Enough to make the story a little distasteful and ghetto.
Apr 06, 2009
Rachel
rated it:
I liked it. It was just weird...And if you're thinking about it, be warned that there's a lot of cussing and drug use.
Unleashed is about a "pack" of kids who can turn into wolves when they perform a certain ritual. Daniel Morning joins them, leaving his old life of a "shooting star" behind, but still sort of keeping it...
Unleashed is about a "pack" of kids who can turn into wolves when they perform a certain ritual. Daniel Morning joins them, leaving his old life of a "shooting star" behind, but still sort of keeping it...
Mar 17, 2009
Immortal
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I'd never heard of this book but grabbed it at Borders and read almost the whole thing there while my kids were at a party! Its engaging and easily to follow from the first paragraph and held my interest til I had to go buy it and (share it on www.immortalfiction.com !)
May 15, 2008
Kate
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Finally, a really good teen werewolf book! I can't remember how I found out about this, but I was dying to read it after I read all the reviews that talked about how gritty it was. And it is (largely due to the language), but the story was about more than changing into wolves and having superpowers--it was about finding your voice rather than being a "hand-licker" or someone who tries to please other people. I think the last book I read that had this kind of gritty atmosphere was Ci
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Jun 01, 2011
Sasha
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 13, 2009
Krista (One Love) (Critical)
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I really enjoyed this book. It captured me from the first page. It's definitely written for older teens, which I didn't mind, though some probably might make a big deal of the concept of 'mushrooms' turning people into wolves.
I can't say that I related to or liked any of the characters, but I still enjoyed the book based mostly on the plot. There certainly was character development, and Daniel does grow through the book very nicely, which I liked--because he wasn't very nice at firs More...
I can't say that I related to or liked any of the characters, but I still enjoyed the book based mostly on the plot. There certainly was character development, and Daniel does grow through the book very nicely, which I liked--because he wasn't very nice at firs More...
Feb 16, 2010
Enysa
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i am still reading, and i chose this book for my project in class, so far i am in love with this book, misty is a fiesty girl like me!
Aug 07, 2010
Priya
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
May 11, 2010
Nozomi
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I love the mushroom take on how they became werewolves. I'm also glad that it was accurate, at least slightly. Amanita muscaria or fly agaric is actually detoxified when it's boiled, just in case ignorant readers try it for themselves. Nah, you guys are going to want psilocybin mushrooms instead.
However, the original take on the werewolf myth was the only interesting part of this book. I couldn't relate or connect with any of the characters at all; in fact, I just disagreed with most More...
However, the original take on the werewolf myth was the only interesting part of this book. I couldn't relate or connect with any of the characters at all; in fact, I just disagreed with most More...
Oct 31, 2010
Linda
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This book was a little slow for me. It's about an upper class high school student who is intrigued with a girl that isn't as fortunate as he. He is a top student that has been excepted at Cornell College, she is just getting through school. He's popular and obeys the rules, she's not noticed and only has a few friends.But she is not afraid to follow her feeling. Daniel is so fascinated when she goes against a teacher and leaves the rules and leaves class to save a dog that had been hit by a car
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Jan 06, 2011
Abernathy
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Love this twisted werewolf love story. I hope it gets made into a movie.
Oct 19, 2011
chucklesthescot
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I totally hated the characters from page one.To enjoy a book I have to like or engage with or have sympathy for the main characters so when you get so called heroes like this bunch of morons,I know it's going to be a disaster.I hate 'heroes' that are basically the kind of arses that hang about the streets of my town inflicting misery on everyone.Don't ask me dear author to love and root for drugged up,obnoxious vandals and criminals with a chip on their shoulder.I don't want to see them on my st
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Jan 09, 2012
Kimberly
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I found this book to be incredibly strange. Motivated by drug use, a group of teens decide to eat mushrooms they find growing in an abandoned factory area. These mushrooms allow them to temporarily turn into wolves, until the effect wears off and they must eat more mushrooms. In addition to the addictive nature of the drug, the teens become reclusive and violent - although this is described as just finally finding themselves. This is a title that I picked up due to good reviews, and wound up
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