Book Review: The Revealed by Jessica Hickam

The Revealed
Author:  Jessica Hickam
Publisher:  SparkPress, 314 pages
Expected Publication Date:  June 17, 2014
*ARC received from publisher via NetGalley

From Goodreads:
Lily Atwood lives in what used to be called Washington, D.C. Her father is one of the most powerful men in the world, having been a vital part of rebuilding and reuniting humanity after the war that killed over five billion people. Now he’s running to be one of its leaders.

But in the rediscovered peace on Earth, a new enemy has risen. They call themselves the Revealed – a powerful underground organization that has been kidnapping 18 year olds across the globe without reservation. No one knows why they are kidnapping these teens, but it’s clear something is different about these people. They can set fires with a snap of their fingers and create a wind strong enough to barrel over a tree with a flick of their wrist. No one has been able to stop them, and they have targeted Lily as their next victim.

But Lily has waited too long to break free from her father’s shadow to let some rebel organization just ruin everything. Not without a fight.

Review:
This book was fast-paced with an interesting premise, but I did have some issues with it.  Over the last five years 18 year olds have disappeared, taken by The Revealed.  Lily lives a privileged life, but she's basically a prisoner in her house because she's been targeted by The Revealed.  She's not allowed to go to school and she's counting down the days until she turns 19 when she'll be safe.  But somehow The Revealed keep leaving her threatening notes, in her house, so she knows there's no way to stop them and she's just waiting to be taken.  The set-up was fascinating, but I did have unanswered questions about the world.  Apparently there was a war, a lot of people died, and everyone lives on the east coast, with the west a wasteland.  At one point, nuclear war is mentioned, but that's it.  We're not told where bombs were dropped, who the enemy is, etc.  

I liked Lily, for the most part.  She's always been in the shadow of her father, getting a lot of attention because of who he is, which she doesn't enjoy.  She's unsure of herself and who she wants to be.  She grows and changes throughout the novel, becoming stronger.  

The romance…way too fast and underdeveloped.  They barely spend any time together, but he's all Lily can think about.  And what is his story?  It's never explained.  He was pretty awful to her in high school and he never tells her why and suddenly he cares about her.  What?

Finally, The Revealed.  Once that part of the story becomes the focus, the book seemed really rushed and some of it didn't make sense to me. Lily didn't seem to care about what they did to her, without her permission.  And the mission, with no one really in charge.  Finally, why wouldn't they try to explain themselves to the public?  

Overall, I enjoyed the book, it was fun read, but I did have some issues with certain aspects of it.

Posted by:  Pam