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Unearthed #2
Undying
Trapped aboard the Undying's ancient spaceship and reeling from what they've learned there, scavenger Mia and academic Jules are plunged into a desperate race to warn their home planet of the danger humanity's greed has unleashed. From the mountains of Spain to the streets of Prague, the sequel to Unearthed is a white-knuckle ride that will send readers hurtling back to earth, and leave them breathless until the last page.
The earth's fate rests in Mia and Jules's hands in the epic conclusion to New York Times best-selling authors Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner's tomb-raiding sci-fi duology.
The earth's fate rests in Mia and Jules's hands in the epic conclusion to New York Times best-selling authors Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner's tomb-raiding sci-fi duology.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published November 28, 2018
About the author
Amie Kaufman
33 books12.5k followersAmie Kaufman is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of young adult fiction. Her multi-award winning work is slated for publication in over 30 countries, and is in development for film and TV. Raised in Australia and occasionally Ireland, Amie has degrees in history, literature, law and conflict resolution. She lives in Melbourne with her husband and daughter, their rescue dog, and an extremely large personal library. She is the host of the podcasts Amie Kaufman on Writing, and Pub Dates.
You can sign up for her newsletter to see what she's working on, hear when she releases a new book, and be automatically entered for giveaways: https://amiekaufman.substack.com/
You can sign up for her newsletter to see what she's working on, hear when she releases a new book, and be automatically entered for giveaways: https://amiekaufman.substack.com/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 495 reviews
June 17, 2019
This sequel had none of the puzzle solving and tomb raiding excitement of the first book. The plot was mainly about getting answers and travelling from point A to point B. I do not remember much of what happened other than the info reveal, which I quite liked! So, it's a slower pace but I thought it was a great concept and a good message about being caretakers of our planet.
Audiobook review: Same narrators as the first book. Separately they are each great, but together, they weren't on the same page for character voices and accents.
Audiobook review: Same narrators as the first book. Separately they are each great, but together, they weren't on the same page for character voices and accents.
April 17, 2019
What a let down of a sequel. The first book Unearthed was a fun and interesting read, Sci-Fi Lite and not overly young adult-ish. This book is the opposite and could have just been condensed into a couple chapters, added to the end of the first book. This is very much Young Adult fiction and not very much science fiction. It's a teen action and romance story with a space ship thrown in. Shouldn't even be classified as science fiction. If you're a young adult aficionado, you will probably enjoy this more than I did. It's written well.... but teen romance? Blek. I stayed with the book only because I wanted to know the story about who the Undying are, but that was a let down too. Oh well, not all books can be 5 stars. If they were, we wouldn't appreciate them. Onto the next book!
July 3, 2019
1.) Unearthed ★★★.5
2.) Undying ★★★★
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Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy!
I enjoyed this more than the first book! Non-stop action, a lovely romance & a quest to save the Earth from being annihilated by aliens. Such fun!
2.) Undying ★★★★
-----------------------------------------------
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy!
I enjoyed this more than the first book! Non-stop action, a lovely romance & a quest to save the Earth from being annihilated by aliens. Such fun!
January 10, 2022
#1) Unearthed ★★★☆☆
➸ Trigger warnings for .
▷ Representation: Jules (mc) BIPOC; Neal (sc) & Dex (sc) BIPOC & achillean.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
January 30, 2019
After the bombshell of the ending of Unearthed, and all the resulting questions, there was no doubt that I was going to read this second and last instalment.
Once more the narrative is divided between Jules and Mia, this time trying to save Earth from the Undying’s invasion. Although I really enjoyed all the puzzles in the first book, as well as our main two protagonists, I felt this novel was better, even with the few obvious aspects. Yes, it is ‘younger’ in tone than Illuminae and not as brilliant (in fairness, it is going to be very hard to top that trilogy), but it still a good and entertaining read, and I liked the way the authors brought it all together. Let’s face it, I shall be reading anything these two publish :O)
Once more the narrative is divided between Jules and Mia, this time trying to save Earth from the Undying’s invasion. Although I really enjoyed all the puzzles in the first book, as well as our main two protagonists, I felt this novel was better, even with the few obvious aspects. Yes, it is ‘younger’ in tone than Illuminae and not as brilliant (in fairness, it is going to be very hard to top that trilogy), but it still a good and entertaining read, and I liked the way the authors brought it all together. Let’s face it, I shall be reading anything these two publish :O)
Want to read
May 26, 20185/25/18
Love the cover! Serious sci-fi feels and still on the theme with the previous cover. This is the consistency I need.
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2/22/18
Okay, so I tried to find this book on Amazon and Bookdepository but nothing came up. Tried to check Amie's website and it just says this book will be out 2018. Like, I need more concrete news on this!
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I literally just finished Unearthed and I need this sequel now! I did not realize it was a duology, but at least I know the story won't drag on.
Sidenote: Is this really coming out in December? I'm not complaining but I'm a bit surprised since the first book just came out in January.
Love the cover! Serious sci-fi feels and still on the theme with the previous cover. This is the consistency I need.
---
2/22/18
Okay, so I tried to find this book on Amazon and Bookdepository but nothing came up. Tried to check Amie's website and it just says this book will be out 2018. Like, I need more concrete news on this!
---
I literally just finished Unearthed and I need this sequel now! I did not realize it was a duology, but at least I know the story won't drag on.
Sidenote: Is this really coming out in December? I'm not complaining but I'm a bit surprised since the first book just came out in January.
January 27, 2019
3.5 stars rounded up
I actually liked this conclusion to Unearthed better than the first book. Sure the explanations involved a bit of hand-wavium, but the story was pretty good and overall I enjoyed it.
I actually liked this conclusion to Unearthed better than the first book. Sure the explanations involved a bit of hand-wavium, but the story was pretty good and overall I enjoyed it.
February 7, 2020
some what of a satisfying ending to this duo logy, but i'm really sad that is now over.
Plot: The second one picks up right after the events of the first book and we see Mia and Jules hiding out on the undying spacecraft not being able to do anything as they are stuck were they are. The stakes are definitely higher in this one than they were in the previous book and i loved seeing how much the two characters have grown from the first book and in such a short amount of time. going from being on that ship to going back to earth it was a crazy journey to start with to save no only their futures but the entire worlds futures along with it.
Did this one lack the puzzle and looking through old places? hell yeah it did because that's what i loved about the first book and it really was something that was missing in it. As i said the stakes are higher in this book because they are literally trying to save earth but the puzzles is something that i really wanted to see in this one too.
The two main leads in the series are two characters you can really get behind and love from the get go and that was the same for me, i love these two main characters because you get the humour, the good and the bad and everything else in between. Not only did i enjoy the main characters Amelia and Jules i also in enjoyed the diverse range of characters in the book that really fleshed out the story as a whole. The new addition characters were all really well written and i think they all added something more to the story as a whole which was great.
The action and fast paced story was still here in this book as well with much high stakes but it still kept that humour, romance and adventure it had in the first book, However the ending to me felt a little flat towards the end and that was really disappointing because with how things i thought were going to go with Jules they didn't turn out that way. In all honesty i would't have minded Jules dying in this one because it would have added not only that much needed closure for this series but for me also with how i thought this book was going to end.
I'm still left wondering how he survived his gun shot? and where did he get shot for that matter because i'm not sure if i just missed it or not but i don't think there was no indication on where he got shot to my knowledge. I would have liked a little explanation on the authors part on how he even survived because it changed to Amelia going to his fathers house and he was just there alive with little to no explanation.
Overall i found this second book to be a slight underwhelming conclusion for this series which is sad because for me the first book went so well and ended so well to start a strong finisher for this series and i was left a little disappointed. There are a few things i would have changed to make sure this series would have left that much needed impact i feel this second book could have given me
Plot: The second one picks up right after the events of the first book and we see Mia and Jules hiding out on the undying spacecraft not being able to do anything as they are stuck were they are. The stakes are definitely higher in this one than they were in the previous book and i loved seeing how much the two characters have grown from the first book and in such a short amount of time. going from being on that ship to going back to earth it was a crazy journey to start with to save no only their futures but the entire worlds futures along with it.
Did this one lack the puzzle and looking through old places? hell yeah it did because that's what i loved about the first book and it really was something that was missing in it. As i said the stakes are higher in this book because they are literally trying to save earth but the puzzles is something that i really wanted to see in this one too.
The two main leads in the series are two characters you can really get behind and love from the get go and that was the same for me, i love these two main characters because you get the humour, the good and the bad and everything else in between. Not only did i enjoy the main characters Amelia and Jules i also in enjoyed the diverse range of characters in the book that really fleshed out the story as a whole. The new addition characters were all really well written and i think they all added something more to the story as a whole which was great.
The action and fast paced story was still here in this book as well with much high stakes but it still kept that humour, romance and adventure it had in the first book, However the ending to me felt a little flat towards the end and that was really disappointing because with how things i thought were going to go with Jules they didn't turn out that way. In all honesty i would't have minded Jules dying in this one because it would have added not only that much needed closure for this series but for me also with how i thought this book was going to end.
I'm still left wondering how he survived his gun shot? and where did he get shot for that matter because i'm not sure if i just missed it or not but i don't think there was no indication on where he got shot to my knowledge. I would have liked a little explanation on the authors part on how he even survived because it changed to Amelia going to his fathers house and he was just there alive with little to no explanation.
Overall i found this second book to be a slight underwhelming conclusion for this series which is sad because for me the first book went so well and ended so well to start a strong finisher for this series and i was left a little disappointed. There are a few things i would have changed to make sure this series would have left that much needed impact i feel this second book could have given me
January 6, 2019
Undying is part two of the Unearthed duology, and finishes the series in epic style.
Yes, this is YA, so there's a certain amount of making googly eyes while the world burns going on. But it's handled better than in many series, and even called out by one of the new characters we get to meet, so I'll forgive it. And definite bonus points for not trying to stretch this into a trilogy.
I did miss the archaeology and the puzzles from the first book - that was a lot of what really ticked my boxes when reading it. This time around, we're on the Undying spaceship, and the archaeology is completely set aside. However, it's still one of the smartest pieces of YA fiction I've read - I may not read much of it any more, but in the early 2010's I was reading all I could get - and I'd happily see my children read this. The overall message is one more adults could use, let alone our youth, most of whom seem to get it already.
So in the end, while I missed the Indiana-Jones-in-space that Unearthed brought us, this was still an entertaining, satisfying follow-up, and a great end to a better duology.
Yes, this is YA, so there's a certain amount of making googly eyes while the world burns going on. But it's handled better than in many series, and even called out by one of the new characters we get to meet, so I'll forgive it. And definite bonus points for not trying to stretch this into a trilogy.
I did miss the archaeology and the puzzles from the first book - that was a lot of what really ticked my boxes when reading it. This time around, we're on the Undying spaceship, and the archaeology is completely set aside. However, it's still one of the smartest pieces of YA fiction I've read - I may not read much of it any more, but in the early 2010's I was reading all I could get - and I'd happily see my children read this. The overall message is one more adults could use, let alone our youth, most of whom seem to get it already.
So in the end, while I missed the Indiana-Jones-in-space that Unearthed brought us, this was still an entertaining, satisfying follow-up, and a great end to a better duology.
Shelved as 'tbr-highly-interested'
May 26, 2018Love the cover! Way better than the first one, but still consistent with the theme.
February 6, 2019
THEY RECAPPED BOOK 1 AT THE START BLESS THANK YOU SO MUCH I LITERALLY FORGOT EVERYTHING THAT HAD HAPPENED ILYSM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the rest of the book was also AMAAAAAAAAAAZING!!!!
Jules and Mia are so idiotic and precious i love
But srsly, what a ship!!!
And the plot is just awesome as well, just in general the everything about this book yassssssssssss
So much twistiness and I thought I had it all figured out and I didn't so wOW
I just felt like it was missing something?? Idk why exactly this didn't feel like a full 5 star read but I just wasn't vibing it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (But it was definitely SO CLOSE!!)
And the twist was also ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I mean there were a lot, but that one was just underwhelming.
BUT PLEASE AMIE KAUFMAN AND MEAGAN SPOONER COLLAB AGAIN AND GIVE ME ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL SERIES PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE ILYSM
And the rest of the book was also AMAAAAAAAAAAZING!!!!
Jules and Mia are so idiotic and precious i love
But srsly, what a ship!!!
And the plot is just awesome as well, just in general the everything about this book yassssssssssss
So much twistiness and I thought I had it all figured out and I didn't so wOW
I just felt like it was missing something?? Idk why exactly this didn't feel like a full 5 star read but I just wasn't vibing it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (But it was definitely SO CLOSE!!)
And the twist was also ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I mean there were a lot, but that one was just underwhelming.
BUT PLEASE AMIE KAUFMAN AND MEAGAN SPOONER COLLAB AGAIN AND GIVE ME ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL SERIES PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE ILYSM
Shelved as 'dnf'
March 19, 2019Book one was the awesome space archaeology adventure of my dreams, book two is basically a contemporary teenage romance across Europe. THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR HOW DO WE GO BACK
December 14, 2018
This review originally appears on Happy Indulgence Books! Check it out for more reviews.
I really enjoyed the sequel to Unearthed, especially seeing what lies in the fate of Jules and Mia at the end of the last book. It was interesting seeing them come back to Earth and navigate the competing agendas of the Undying and the politics on Earth. There's definitely a lot less romance here, I still liked Jules and Mia together (and also separately) and there was also a sense of urgency like from the first book.
It was kind of missing the excitement and novelty of the first book with solving all the alien messages though, and everything kind of felt ho hum with a pleasant ending to the duology.
Read the full review here.
I really enjoyed the sequel to Unearthed, especially seeing what lies in the fate of Jules and Mia at the end of the last book. It was interesting seeing them come back to Earth and navigate the competing agendas of the Undying and the politics on Earth. There's definitely a lot less romance here, I still liked Jules and Mia together (and also separately) and there was also a sense of urgency like from the first book.
It was kind of missing the excitement and novelty of the first book with solving all the alien messages though, and everything kind of felt ho hum with a pleasant ending to the duology.
Read the full review here.
December 16, 2018
Undying is a spectacular sequel.
August 7, 2020
Undying felt like an entirely different story than the Alien Davinci Code from Unearthed. Unearthed
was a mess but it was fun. This book lacked that. 😔
was a mess but it was fun. This book lacked that. 😔
August 4, 2019
I had so much fun with this duology. It was action packed, self-aware and intriguing, with a few surprising plot twists here and there that actually managed to catch me off guard, which I loved. The characters were fab, the romance was sweet and at no point did the plot lose my attention. I very much picked this duology up on a whim but I'm so glad I did.
Audiobook: 3.5/5* Whilst the narrators were great individually and told the story brilliantly, unfortunately when it came to character voices:accents, it became a little jarring, with each narrator seeming to decide on different voice styles for various characters.
Audiobook: 3.5/5* Whilst the narrators were great individually and told the story brilliantly, unfortunately when it came to character voices:accents, it became a little jarring, with each narrator seeming to decide on different voice styles for various characters.
December 4, 2018
4.5 Stars!
I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review!
While I still loved Undying, it was just missing a tiny smidgen of the awesomeness that was Unearthed (Massive props to the quick recap at the front of Undying. That was an actual life saver!).
But first, can I just say, that I didn't actually realise it was the conclusion? Or maybe I was just pretending to not notice because I didn't want another series to finish.
I love love love Mia and Jules. They are so well written that all I wanted to do was be closer to them.
I would also 117% be okay with getting a paper cut from rubbing the book on my face if that was the way to be closest to them.
They both had such vivid personalities. Seriously, they are so well formed that I could always tell whose perspective I was reading from - even if the handy chapter headers suddenly decided to disappear.
Undying didn't have as much puzzle-solving as Unearthed. Which was okay because I suppose there was the more pressing issue of the human race facing it's impending doom on Earth. But I still missed it, just a teeny tiny bit. But they made up for it with all the action and turny twists and all the wonderful things you hope for in a book.
Overall, I am a very satisfied potato who will miss these characters dearly.
I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review!
While I still loved Undying, it was just missing a tiny smidgen of the awesomeness that was Unearthed (Massive props to the quick recap at the front of Undying. That was an actual life saver!).
But first, can I just say, that I didn't actually realise it was the conclusion? Or maybe I was just pretending to not notice because I didn't want another series to finish.
I love love love Mia and Jules. They are so well written that all I wanted to do was be closer to them.
I would also 117% be okay with getting a paper cut from rubbing the book on my face if that was the way to be closest to them.
They both had such vivid personalities. Seriously, they are so well formed that I could always tell whose perspective I was reading from - even if the handy chapter headers suddenly decided to disappear.
Undying didn't have as much puzzle-solving as Unearthed. Which was okay because I suppose there was the more pressing issue of the human race facing it's impending doom on Earth. But I still missed it, just a teeny tiny bit. But they made up for it with all the action and turny twists and all the wonderful things you hope for in a book.
Overall, I am a very satisfied potato who will miss these characters dearly.
April 9, 2020
A bit of a lacklustre sequel, but the big reveal was nicely done.
January 24, 2019
“Earth is all we have. It’s all any of us have.”
– Jules' and Mia's relationship is sweet
– Jules and Mia are likeable characters
– Beginning part on Undying ship was interesting
– Bits and pieces of Undying culture are interesting
– Prose is a tedious, spoon-fed mess
– Ending is abrupt; solution mostly "told" six months after
– Undying's history is super predictable
– More "good" guy characters than girls; Mia was really the only one
I don't really have strong feelings about Undying. From the beginning 'til end of the ride, internally I just felt one big shrug: nothing's particularly bad and nothing particularly good. For every "Yeah, they did that part okay," there's a "That wasn't awful, but could've been better."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So.
First and foremost, Undying's got a prose formatting problem. In a book, your prose isn't just your script and dialogue: it's your SFX, your camera work, your editing, your background music. Specific formatting — sentence length, paragraph length, word choice, etc. — convey different moods and actions differently. Undying tries to sell us a "white-knuckle ride that will send readers hurtling back to earth, and leave them breathless until the last page."
Action. Adventure. A race against the clock.
However, we spend too much time with Jules' and Mia's inner thoughts. For every little thing that happens, there's a rambling internal monologue stating the painfully obvious. Jules will sit down and sigh; Mia goes off for a paragraph or two about how he must be sitting down and sighing because he's exhausted because of the thing they just did, which is exhausting and would exhaust anyone, and she's exhausted, too. But then he rests his hand on hers, and it's so nice that, even though he's exhausted, he's taking a second to comfort Mia. They'll exchange a few words, Jules will do something else and Mia will launch into another paragraph explaining his actions.
Ugh.
It's tedious to get through and puts the brain into a coma, which is the opposite of what you want when trying to sell a book that sends readers "hurtling" and leaves them "breathless."
The prose itself varied from some lovely, effortless lines:
"It's raining as the car pulls up, droplets running down the windows and dressing the world beyond in gray."
"He looks down, blood blossoming against his shirt like a rose pinned to his chest."
To some real stinkers:
"... [he] settles himself down in the small armchair, pulling up a book to read on his phone, apparently settling in to read while we sleep."
Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious.
There isn't much new to say on the characters themselves. Jules is still likeable, Mia moves the plot forward, but is rather generic. Most of the growth came in the form of their relationship. Undying offered some sweet moments between them, and some "C'mon, dummy how they feel is pretty obvious!" Their discussions about the future, if they came out of the other side of the Undying invasion, ran the same ways: half were smart, half were eye-roll worthy.
Undying also introduces Neal, Jules' cousin, along with Undying agents Dex and Atlanta into the cast. Dex's role is most complicated and offers the most tension, but the readers see this through the distance of Jules' and Mia's eyes, instead of experiencing it first hand. Neal is largely a crutch, introduced as a way to provide money/papers/shelter for the stranded main duo. Atlanta is a disappointment: if she were a point-of-view character, her complexity might be more accessible to readers, but without a personal glance at her emotions and motives, she's just another threatening girl in a book seemingly full of "good" guys but "questionable" girls and women.
The plot was a straightforward jump from Point A to Point B to Point C (and etc). It was broken up more moment-by-moment rather than surrounding events, with new sections opening with a couple of paragraphs backtracking exactly what was missed via telling over showing fashion. Combined with the wall of redundant prose to get through, it didn't make for a very memorable experience, and when you squint, you can see there were really only a handful of things going on, most of them heavily padded out by internal monologues. Rather disappointing for this sort of story.
Two things stood out: the reveal about the Undying and the ending.
Honestly, the truth about the Undying was predictable, but I did feel vindicated I guessed correctly literally the first time the ship was mentioned way back in Unearthed.
And the ending: how the authors closed the main storyline was disappointing and abrupt. What happened was just for shock value and a cheap way to manipulate emotions; not something like the emotion from the genuine culmination of elements which lead to Jules' speech. I wanted more closure from the plot rather than a cheap attention grab, but in hindsight, there was not more which could happen on the page without skipping around and drawing things out, which is a mark against the plot and execution.
In contrast to Unearthed and Gaia, most of Undying takes place on earth despite beginning on the Undying ship. While the ship was actually interesting, most of the descriptions of earth — Europe, specifically — fell flat. If it weren't for names of cities thrown around, I wouldn't be able to place the various settings.
Representation-wise, there's not much change from the first book. The Undying themselves are sort of homogeneously brown-skinned with no specific ties or coding to actual cultures. Book two does add Neal, Jules' bisexual(?) black/mixed cousin. There's a nice focus on his relationship to Jules and how they're like brothers in a "one child only" world, but he (and his budding romantic relationship) is largely in the background. I also highly question the decision for a certain character to near the end. It amounts to nothing but shock — which is cleared up like two pages later — and with the rising violence in the current climate, there's the potential risk of re-traumatizing readers in what is supposed to be a fun sci-fi/action romp.
At the end of the day, there's not much to say about Undying. If you liked the first book, this is much of the same. If you didn't like the first book or haven't read it, there's nothing outstanding here as a reason to dig into the series. Middle of the road, indeed.
– Jules' and Mia's relationship is sweet
– Jules and Mia are likeable characters
– Beginning part on Undying ship was interesting
– Bits and pieces of Undying culture are interesting
– Prose is a tedious, spoon-fed mess
– Ending is abrupt; solution mostly "told" six months after
– Undying's history is super predictable
– More "good" guy characters than girls; Mia was really the only one
I don't really have strong feelings about Undying. From the beginning 'til end of the ride, internally I just felt one big shrug: nothing's particularly bad and nothing particularly good. For every "Yeah, they did that part okay," there's a "That wasn't awful, but could've been better."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So.
First and foremost, Undying's got a prose formatting problem. In a book, your prose isn't just your script and dialogue: it's your SFX, your camera work, your editing, your background music. Specific formatting — sentence length, paragraph length, word choice, etc. — convey different moods and actions differently. Undying tries to sell us a "white-knuckle ride that will send readers hurtling back to earth, and leave them breathless until the last page."
Action. Adventure. A race against the clock.
However, we spend too much time with Jules' and Mia's inner thoughts. For every little thing that happens, there's a rambling internal monologue stating the painfully obvious. Jules will sit down and sigh; Mia goes off for a paragraph or two about how he must be sitting down and sighing because he's exhausted because of the thing they just did, which is exhausting and would exhaust anyone, and she's exhausted, too. But then he rests his hand on hers, and it's so nice that, even though he's exhausted, he's taking a second to comfort Mia. They'll exchange a few words, Jules will do something else and Mia will launch into another paragraph explaining his actions.
Ugh.
It's tedious to get through and puts the brain into a coma, which is the opposite of what you want when trying to sell a book that sends readers "hurtling" and leaves them "breathless."
The prose itself varied from some lovely, effortless lines:
"It's raining as the car pulls up, droplets running down the windows and dressing the world beyond in gray."
"He looks down, blood blossoming against his shirt like a rose pinned to his chest."
To some real stinkers:
"... [he] settles himself down in the small armchair, pulling up a book to read on his phone, apparently settling in to read while we sleep."
Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious.
There isn't much new to say on the characters themselves. Jules is still likeable, Mia moves the plot forward, but is rather generic. Most of the growth came in the form of their relationship. Undying offered some sweet moments between them, and some "C'mon, dummy how they feel is pretty obvious!" Their discussions about the future, if they came out of the other side of the Undying invasion, ran the same ways: half were smart, half were eye-roll worthy.
Undying also introduces Neal, Jules' cousin, along with Undying agents Dex and Atlanta into the cast. Dex's role is most complicated and offers the most tension, but the readers see this through the distance of Jules' and Mia's eyes, instead of experiencing it first hand. Neal is largely a crutch, introduced as a way to provide money/papers/shelter for the stranded main duo. Atlanta is a disappointment: if she were a point-of-view character, her complexity might be more accessible to readers, but without a personal glance at her emotions and motives, she's just another threatening girl in a book seemingly full of "good" guys but "questionable" girls and women.
The plot was a straightforward jump from Point A to Point B to Point C (and etc). It was broken up more moment-by-moment rather than surrounding events, with new sections opening with a couple of paragraphs backtracking exactly what was missed via telling over showing fashion. Combined with the wall of redundant prose to get through, it didn't make for a very memorable experience, and when you squint, you can see there were really only a handful of things going on, most of them heavily padded out by internal monologues. Rather disappointing for this sort of story.
Two things stood out: the reveal about the Undying and the ending.
Honestly, the truth about the Undying was predictable, but I did feel vindicated I guessed correctly literally the first time the ship was mentioned way back in Unearthed.
And the ending: how the authors closed the main storyline was disappointing and abrupt. What happened was just for shock value and a cheap way to manipulate emotions; not something like the emotion from the genuine culmination of elements which lead to Jules' speech. I wanted more closure from the plot rather than a cheap attention grab, but in hindsight, there was not more which could happen on the page without skipping around and drawing things out, which is a mark against the plot and execution.
In contrast to Unearthed and Gaia, most of Undying takes place on earth despite beginning on the Undying ship. While the ship was actually interesting, most of the descriptions of earth — Europe, specifically — fell flat. If it weren't for names of cities thrown around, I wouldn't be able to place the various settings.
Representation-wise, there's not much change from the first book. The Undying themselves are sort of homogeneously brown-skinned with no specific ties or coding to actual cultures. Book two does add Neal, Jules' bisexual(?) black/mixed cousin. There's a nice focus on his relationship to Jules and how they're like brothers in a "one child only" world, but he (and his budding romantic relationship) is largely in the background. I also highly question the decision for a certain character to near the end. It amounts to nothing but shock — which is cleared up like two pages later — and with the rising violence in the current climate, there's the potential risk of re-traumatizing readers in what is supposed to be a fun sci-fi/action romp.
At the end of the day, there's not much to say about Undying. If you liked the first book, this is much of the same. If you didn't like the first book or haven't read it, there's nothing outstanding here as a reason to dig into the series. Middle of the road, indeed.
February 15, 2019
I don't know what it is about this book, but it felt very mediocre. I loved the beginning, but after that it just got repetitive, and extremely predictable.
BTW they recapped the first book at the beginning which was SUCH a good idea. Every sequel should do this!
Update: 26/05
That. Cover. Is. Gorgeous.
At this point, it's just my own fault that I have to wait till 2019. Tbh I should just wait until the whole series is released. I should DEFINITELY not read books right after they are released. It just adds to the agony.
*sigh*
WHYYYYYY
BTW they recapped the first book at the beginning which was SUCH a good idea. Every sequel should do this!
Update: 26/05
That. Cover. Is. Gorgeous.
At this point, it's just my own fault that I have to wait till 2019. Tbh I should just wait until the whole series is released. I should DEFINITELY not read books right after they are released. It just adds to the agony.
*sigh*
WHYYYYYY
December 2, 2019
👽🚀🌍
Herm, herm, what to rate this? It's tough cause I'm so torn! The first half of this book is riveting and I gobbled it up like holiday sweets 🍭🍬 But then our aliens and humans parted ways and the tension and drama kinda took a vacation while we had an extended travel session throughout the middle bit of the book 🚲🚝🚗 I know the traveling was necessary, but it's hard to make that interesting, ya know? So between the holiday hubbub and my interest waning, my progress became quite sluggish. So I'm waffling on a 3.75 🌟 or the original 4 I was feeling in the beginning 😣
Luckily the ending have a shock of pulse back into the story and I was riveted once more. Even had a damp eye moment 😢 So is that enough to bump it back up to 4 stars? I dunno, we'll see.
The big reveal wasn't a surprise at all. I called it at the end of book one, so that was kind of disappointing 😞 But the explanation of how it came to be was fascinating to find out.
This duology is full of excellent characters, both good and bad ones, and I've enjoyed my time with them. The romance is so sweet between Jules & Mia! 😍 I ship them so bloody hard! 🚢 And Neal is super adorable as well, and gets some romance at the end, which again, I was totally on board with shipping 💘 So cute. And our aliens, I loved them even though they were trying to steal the planet. 👽
The Unearthed duology is just such a fun, quirky, high intensity read that I just thoroughly enjoyed! The plot was so well handled and attention-grabbing, the characters fun, the romance perfect! I'm sad that it's over, but I can't wait to see what these two authors come up with next to co-write. Their letter to the readers in the beginning of this one is hilarious, so I love them even more for the added humor.
Other than the slowish travel session (I was also super behind on sleep so that made it tougher) in the middle, this was still an excellent book with a satisfying ending. I highly recommend these for any sci-fi lovers!
Herm, herm, what to rate this? It's tough cause I'm so torn! The first half of this book is riveting and I gobbled it up like holiday sweets 🍭🍬 But then our aliens and humans parted ways and the tension and drama kinda took a vacation while we had an extended travel session throughout the middle bit of the book 🚲🚝🚗 I know the traveling was necessary, but it's hard to make that interesting, ya know? So between the holiday hubbub and my interest waning, my progress became quite sluggish. So I'm waffling on a 3.75 🌟 or the original 4 I was feeling in the beginning 😣
Luckily the ending have a shock of pulse back into the story and I was riveted once more. Even had a damp eye moment 😢 So is that enough to bump it back up to 4 stars? I dunno, we'll see.
The big reveal wasn't a surprise at all. I called it at the end of book one, so that was kind of disappointing 😞 But the explanation of how it came to be was fascinating to find out.
This duology is full of excellent characters, both good and bad ones, and I've enjoyed my time with them. The romance is so sweet between Jules & Mia! 😍 I ship them so bloody hard! 🚢 And Neal is super adorable as well, and gets some romance at the end, which again, I was totally on board with shipping 💘 So cute. And our aliens, I loved them even though they were trying to steal the planet. 👽
The Unearthed duology is just such a fun, quirky, high intensity read that I just thoroughly enjoyed! The plot was so well handled and attention-grabbing, the characters fun, the romance perfect! I'm sad that it's over, but I can't wait to see what these two authors come up with next to co-write. Their letter to the readers in the beginning of this one is hilarious, so I love them even more for the added humor.
Other than the slowish travel session (I was also super behind on sleep so that made it tougher) in the middle, this was still an excellent book with a satisfying ending. I highly recommend these for any sci-fi lovers!
January 29, 2019
A satisfying conclusion to the Unearthed Duology. The story here picks up right where we left off in Unearthed and it is a fast paced race to the finish line. Mia and Jules are really great characters to read about but as much as I hated the romance in the first book, I loved it in this one. I don't know what happened or why. It seemed to really fit the story. Both Mia and Jules had some really emotional character arcs as well. Even though I did find the ending to be a little anti-climatic (and that is all I will say). We were introduced to a couple new characters and they each provided some good fuel for the story and plot. I don't want to say to much more because this is a sequel and a conclusion.
I really enjoyed this series and I think Amie and Meagan are a really great author duo and I am truly excited for what story they decide to give us next.
Unearthed-4/5
Undying-4/5
The Unearthed Duology-8/10
I really enjoyed this series and I think Amie and Meagan are a really great author duo and I am truly excited for what story they decide to give us next.
Unearthed-4/5
Undying-4/5
The Unearthed Duology-8/10
January 11, 2019
****4.0****
Second and final book of Unearthed Duology did not fail me but the first book was the best.
Mia and Jules do solve the puzzles placed by Undying and that leads them to a spaceship. But intervention of IA leads the events to a different direction.But Mia and Jules along with Jules's cousin Neal are determined to save the Earth from Undying.
With good narration, well build characters and world, I had a very good read.
Happy Reading!!!
Second and final book of Unearthed Duology did not fail me but the first book was the best.
Mia and Jules do solve the puzzles placed by Undying and that leads them to a spaceship. But intervention of IA leads the events to a different direction.But Mia and Jules along with Jules's cousin Neal are determined to save the Earth from Undying.
With good narration, well build characters and world, I had a very good read.
Happy Reading!!!
March 31, 2019
3.5 stars. I loved this series , but I think the first book was a lot better than its conclusion. It felt like everything went too fast and the conclusion felt simple and rushed . It had a lot of promise with the premise of it all. While I still liked the ending I kind of feel like it could have been so much better! . Oh well , looking forward to what both of its authors come up with in the near future.
January 4, 2019
Initial Impressions 12/26/18 and review as posted on The Book Addict's Guide 1/4/19: UNEARTHED was one of my favorite books from 2018 so naturally I was dying to read UNDYING! The way UNEARTHED ended was such a killer and I couldn't wait to see what happened next!
UNDYING was quite a solid progression in this series and had some great plot-building and overall concepts that continued building the series, but basically until this review was published, I didn't realize this was the last book and that there were only two. The whole book read like it was going to be the second book in a series and it felt like a good stepping stone. It had some incredibly interesting elements that I was guaranteed to love, and I did, but I almost wished those things that had been revealed as things that had already happened in the past had been a main part of the book, because they were things I love reading about. (That's a complicated sentence but without spoilers, it's a little difficult to word, but you get what I mean.)
I loved the space/other planet element of UNEARTHED and it was part of what made me love the book so much with the added bonus of mysterious alien elements and a treasure hunting feel. UNDYING had a much different feel for me, and it wasn't a bad thing but it didn't have that same special feel that UNEARTHED did. The more I think about it, the more noticeable it feels so that's kind of a bummer. I did still enjoy UNDYING and I liked where the series went, but it didn't feel as magical and as exciting. Mild spoiler (sorry) to say that we make it back to Earth somewhat quickly in the beginning of the book and so that space element is lost and it just wasn't as thrilling for me in that respect. The change of setting gave the book quite a different feel for me.
This is where my review gets extra complicated -- The whole time I was reading this book, I was sure it was the second book in a trilogy. It just sounded and felt like it was and didn't feel like it was leading towards the end. There was so much that was left to happen and I thought this was another one of those series (*cough* Renegades *cough*) that was advertised as two books but was getting stretched into three. That's how not-a-last-book this felt. So as I was reading, I had many "second book" feelings. I was expecting a cliffhanger at the end like the crazy way we were left in UNEARTHED and I was disappointed at the lack of cliffhanger (so I guess thank goodness there wasn't one). There kiiiind of was something that happened that was supposed to be shocking but I also kind of knew it wasn't going to stick? (Another complicated non-spoilery sentence but you'll know what I mean if you've read it.) Especially me thinking it was only the second book, I just didn't feel like it was something that would be permanent so I wasn't too worried about the shocking moment. If I had known better, I would have been a bit more panicked. I also really loved that the other cliffhanger from book one was a reveal about the plot and history and we didn't have that same sort of feel here. There were a lot of reveals within the book that were cool and surprising, but they were also surrounded by action so it didn't have time for it to sink in, at least for me.
I have to say, the blow that this was the last book in the series really affected my love for it. I suppose if I had realized that as I was reading, it would have changed much except for my knowledge while I was reading it, and it may have actually taken away more enjoyment from my reading experience because it really didn't feel like an ending at all. There was so much left to explore and there wasn't enough time in UNDYING to cover it, or rather, the book could have spent more time with the neat reveals instead of holding them for the end if this was how it was all going to conclude. The more I think about UNDYING, the less excited I feel, sadly. It's still quite a solid read and very enjoyable, but I just didn't get that level of excitement or engagement that I was hoping to achieve here.
UNDYING was quite a solid progression in this series and had some great plot-building and overall concepts that continued building the series, but basically until this review was published, I didn't realize this was the last book and that there were only two. The whole book read like it was going to be the second book in a series and it felt like a good stepping stone. It had some incredibly interesting elements that I was guaranteed to love, and I did, but I almost wished those things that had been revealed as things that had already happened in the past had been a main part of the book, because they were things I love reading about. (That's a complicated sentence but without spoilers, it's a little difficult to word, but you get what I mean.)
I loved the space/other planet element of UNEARTHED and it was part of what made me love the book so much with the added bonus of mysterious alien elements and a treasure hunting feel. UNDYING had a much different feel for me, and it wasn't a bad thing but it didn't have that same special feel that UNEARTHED did. The more I think about it, the more noticeable it feels so that's kind of a bummer. I did still enjoy UNDYING and I liked where the series went, but it didn't feel as magical and as exciting. Mild spoiler (sorry) to say that we make it back to Earth somewhat quickly in the beginning of the book and so that space element is lost and it just wasn't as thrilling for me in that respect. The change of setting gave the book quite a different feel for me.
This is where my review gets extra complicated -- The whole time I was reading this book, I was sure it was the second book in a trilogy. It just sounded and felt like it was and didn't feel like it was leading towards the end. There was so much that was left to happen and I thought this was another one of those series (*cough* Renegades *cough*) that was advertised as two books but was getting stretched into three. That's how not-a-last-book this felt. So as I was reading, I had many "second book" feelings. I was expecting a cliffhanger at the end like the crazy way we were left in UNEARTHED and I was disappointed at the lack of cliffhanger (so I guess thank goodness there wasn't one). There kiiiind of was something that happened that was supposed to be shocking but I also kind of knew it wasn't going to stick? (Another complicated non-spoilery sentence but you'll know what I mean if you've read it.) Especially me thinking it was only the second book, I just didn't feel like it was something that would be permanent so I wasn't too worried about the shocking moment. If I had known better, I would have been a bit more panicked. I also really loved that the other cliffhanger from book one was a reveal about the plot and history and we didn't have that same sort of feel here. There were a lot of reveals within the book that were cool and surprising, but they were also surrounded by action so it didn't have time for it to sink in, at least for me.
I have to say, the blow that this was the last book in the series really affected my love for it. I suppose if I had realized that as I was reading, it would have changed much except for my knowledge while I was reading it, and it may have actually taken away more enjoyment from my reading experience because it really didn't feel like an ending at all. There was so much left to explore and there wasn't enough time in UNDYING to cover it, or rather, the book could have spent more time with the neat reveals instead of holding them for the end if this was how it was all going to conclude. The more I think about UNDYING, the less excited I feel, sadly. It's still quite a solid read and very enjoyable, but I just didn't get that level of excitement or engagement that I was hoping to achieve here.
February 4, 2019
Undying is the final book in the Unearthed duology and gives us a chance to find out what happened to Mia and Jules when they were onboard the alien spaceship headed back to earth. They're the only humans alive who know that the ship is a Trojan horse bringing an army of alien invaders with it but they've got no way of letting anyone know what is going on unless they can get off the ship and back on earth soil.
After escaping on a landing shuttle and picked up by the International Alliance you'd think it would be easy for them to explain what was happening and get some help with the situation. Unfortunately for them nobody is willing to listen to their explanation and the IA doesn't believe that the world is about to be invaded. If the IA won't listen Mia and Jules have no other option but to try and stop the Undying on their own but to do that they're going to need answers that only Jules' father has access to.
I really loved the Indiana Jones feel to the first book which was all about exploring an alien temple on a far distant planet solving puzzles along the way so I have to admit I was a little bit disappointed to be back on earth for the sequel! It made perfect sense though and it was fun to see Jules and Mia thrown into a completely different situation and have to figure out how to evade the authorities long enough to get the answers they needed. Their journey across Europe was fun to follow and we also get to meet some fun new characters in this one so I enjoyed having a larger cast for this story.
There were some shock revelations about the Undying at the end of the previous book that had left me with loads of questions about where they came from and what their plans were. Everything is slowly revealed in this book and there were definitely some twists that I didn't see coming. The story was very cleverly plotted and it was fun trying to unravel all the clues before the big reveal. This really was a great follow up to the first book and a satisfying conclusion to the series.
After escaping on a landing shuttle and picked up by the International Alliance you'd think it would be easy for them to explain what was happening and get some help with the situation. Unfortunately for them nobody is willing to listen to their explanation and the IA doesn't believe that the world is about to be invaded. If the IA won't listen Mia and Jules have no other option but to try and stop the Undying on their own but to do that they're going to need answers that only Jules' father has access to.
I really loved the Indiana Jones feel to the first book which was all about exploring an alien temple on a far distant planet solving puzzles along the way so I have to admit I was a little bit disappointed to be back on earth for the sequel! It made perfect sense though and it was fun to see Jules and Mia thrown into a completely different situation and have to figure out how to evade the authorities long enough to get the answers they needed. Their journey across Europe was fun to follow and we also get to meet some fun new characters in this one so I enjoyed having a larger cast for this story.
There were some shock revelations about the Undying at the end of the previous book that had left me with loads of questions about where they came from and what their plans were. Everything is slowly revealed in this book and there were definitely some twists that I didn't see coming. The story was very cleverly plotted and it was fun trying to unravel all the clues before the big reveal. This really was a great follow up to the first book and a satisfying conclusion to the series.
December 6, 2020
Definitely weaker than the first book (maybe because it took a completely different turn, from Indiana Jones inspired tale to the, I don’t even know - invading aliens and impending doom) but I still enjoyed it!
September 15, 2019
While I didn’t necessarily enjoy this one as much as I did the first, I still think it’s a solid conclusion to Mia and Jules’ story. I feel very strongly that it could have worked even better as one very long book instead of being split in two, and even more strongly that this is definitely built for being a sci-fi film.
I do highly recommend the audio route, by the way. Alex McKenna and Steve West really brought this story to life and made it a more engaging read.
I do highly recommend the audio route, by the way. Alex McKenna and Steve West really brought this story to life and made it a more engaging read.
February 20, 2021
That ending really had me there for a second LOL... This was a great conclusion to this series. FRTC
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