Review: Unraveled by S.X. Bradley

Unraveled
Author: S.X. Bradley
Publisher: Evernight Teen, 2013
Genre: YA Mystery
Buy: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ TBD

Overview

Sixteen year old math whiz, Autumn, spends her days reading about serial killers and dreaming of becoming an FBI Profiler. She never dreams her first case will be so personal. Her world is shattered when she comes home from school and discovers her murdered sister’s body on the living room floor. When the initial evidence points to a burglary gone wrong, Autumn challenges the police’s theory because of the personal nature of the crime. Thinking that finding the killer will bring her family back together, she conducts her own investigation using her affinity for math and forensics, but her plan backfires and her obsession with the case further splinters her family.

When her investigation reveals the killer is someone she knows, Autumn offers herself up as bait and sets a dangerous trap to unmask his true nature and to obtain a confession for her sister’s murder.

Autumn’s world is destroyed when she goes home one afternoon and finds her sister dead. Things turn out for the worse when she becomes the main suspect in the case, and even her parents doubt her innocence. Things at school aren’t much better…well, except for Caedon Keene, who has assigned himself her protector.

Unraveled by S.X. Bradley is a fast-paced mystery with incredible twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Autumn is a very strong and determined girl. She’s gifted and has mad mathematical skills, and I loved how these were incorporated into the story—like her calculating the force of a roundhouse kick, or estimating the height of a suspect. Autumn tries to deal with her sister’s death as best as she can while everyone in her family just falls apart. All Autumn wants is to find her sister’s murder and return to some semblance of normalcy, but this is extremely difficult as every time she uncovers something new it means reliving the pain all over again. Luckily, Autumn can rely on other people like her cousin Eduardo, her kung fu Sifu, Caedon, and her math geek classmates.

Even in the midst of a tragedy there is a bit of romance. Caedon Keene has the whole ‘cute boy next door’ thing going on for him, and that he wants to help Autumn through this dark time just makes him all the more sweet and adorable. He actually understands what she’s going through with the loss of someone so close, and does his best to be there for her. Though Autumn likes him a lot, her own investigation leads her to suspect him. And what comes after literally broke my heart in two.

The murder investigation kept my eyes glued to the page. Though at one point I grew exasperated because one point was being so obviously ignored, but then right after, the point is cleared and I was like “yeah, calm down, she knows what she’s doing.” LOL There were also a couple of ‘holy crap’ moments that had my heard pounding and my brain exploding. It was awesome. After this, I’m definitely interested in reading more YA Mysteries.

Favorite Quotes:

~Eduardo’s true love~ 

Six o’clock on the nose, Eduardo showed up with his daily bag of Taco Bell in one hand and a vase of red roses in the other.
“They’re gorgeous. You shouldn’t have,” I said, taking the crystal vase from him, inhaling the sweet floral smell.
“Dude, they’re not from me. Roses aren’t my style.” He handed me a beef burrito and emptied out the rest of his paper bag. “Now, this is a sign of true love.” He bit into a crispy taco and smile like a kid on Christmas morning.

~Caedon, knight in shining armor~ 

The school bell rang, signaling the afternoon session of classes. He stood up first and offered me his hand. I leaned over to dust the dirt off my pants and let him slip the backpack off my shoulder onto his. “Where to?” he asked in a very taxi driver tone.
“Caedon, seriously. I’ll be okay. You don’t have to do this.”
“I know I don’t, but I want to.” He stood there with that look of determination I’d gotten to know this past summer. Once he got something into his head that was that.
“Fine, but just this once.”