Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson
Simon and Schuster, 2011.
Full of genres such as crime, thriller, mystery and paranormal all
wrapped up into one book and put into the young-adult fiction
category; words that fill your head and keep you wanting to know
what happens next is how I would describe this book. Lila has two
secrets to take to her grave, the first one is her ability and the
other is the love she feels for Alex, her brother's best friend.
Lila's mother was brutally murdered when she was only 12 years old.
Her father, filled with grief, dragged Lila with him all the way to
London. They left her brother to live with his best friend Alex in
the United States (for Lila this was not by choice). While away from
her brother and Alex, with whom she's been in love for as long as
she can remember, Lila discovers that she possesses a unique talent.
She is able to keep her ability secret until one day, in a dark
London alley, two teenagers try to mug her and she uses it to defend
herself. Not knowing what to do, Lila gets on the first plane to
California, where she hopes to find safety with her brother, and of
course, with Alex. But her brother and Alex aren't exactly normal 22
year olds. They are both US Marines, working for the highly-trained,
top-secret 'Unit.' As soon as their enemies find out that Lila is
Jack's sister, she finds herself in even more danger than before.
In my opinion Lila being obsessed with one boy through the whole
book didn't bother me as much as it usually would. Perhaps it was
because the whole thing was spiced up with so much well-written
action. Perhaps it was because Alex truly is her soul-mate. Perhaps
I don't even care about the reason. As a character, Lila is
instantly likeable. I wouldn't say that she's too bright, but she's
not annoyingly stupid either. I ended up caring about all the
characters. Even some I never expected to.
This is one of those stories where all the houses are nice, all the
characters are pretty, and true love really does conquer all, but it
also packs a few surprises and smartly written dialogues. I can only
hope there's a sequel that's just as good. Sarah got my full
attention on this book. She achieved full potential when it comes to
writing a book. Her message was loud and clear. I would recommend
this book to anyone and everyone; it's definitely on my top ten
favourite books of all time.
This book made an amazing impression to me, it was a little bit of
everything thrown into one book and I will not forget it in a hurry,
with loveable characters, amazing detail and a love that between two
people will last forever. I am definitely looking forward to a
sequel I want to know what happens next, wait - I don't just want to
know, I need to know.
Aleisha Leane (Student)