REVIEW: Unwept (The Nightbirds #1)

Unwept (The Nightbirds, #1)

Unwept by Tracy Hickman

Gamin, Maine, is a remote seaside town where everyone seems to know Ellis Harkington better than she knows herself—but she doesn’t remember any of them.

Unknown events have robbed Ellis of her memory. Concerned individuals, who purport to be her friends and loved ones, insist that she simply needs to recuperate, that her memories may return in time, but refuse to divulge what has brought her to this state. For her own sake, so they say.

Ellis finds herself adrift in a town of ominous mysteries, cryptic hints, and disturbingly familiar strangers. The Nightbirds, a clique of fashionable young men and women, claim her as one of their own, but who among them can she truly trust? And what of the phantom suitor who visits her in her dreams? Is he a memory, a figment of her imagination, or a living nightmare beyond rational explanation?

Only her lost past hold the answers she seeks—if she can uncover its secrets before she fall prey to an unearthly killer.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a dark tale of morbid curiosities with gas lamps and steam engines set in a sleepy seaside town of mysterious circumstance. It grabbed me on the first page and kept me interested throughout. The story picks up near the end to a dizzying pace. It gets a little confusing to tell the difference between waking moments and nightmarish discoveries, but the cliffhanger leaves you begging for more. If you like steampunk-ish fairy tales with a twist of gore, this is definitely the series for you. I will be on the lookout for The Nightbirds #2 to find out what happens to Ellis.
  
*I received this copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review, and opinions are mine alone.