Review: Unworthy by Vanessa Hall

Wow.

*clears throat as endless exclamation marks rocket through my brain*

Um, where to start? How about by first just saying everything about Unworthy deserves 5+ stars. Captivating, original, heart-wrenchingly powerful and poignant, complete with flawed, truly human characters and a plot that figuratively left me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. (Literally in one case.)

Just as incredible as the earlier book in the series, Unknown. In fact, I think I loved this one even more. Yep. The series is only getting more awesome.

Characters

Okay. I fell in love with Evgeny from the first time he came onto the scene. Vanessa Hall did a perfect job writing his character, in my opinion. Just perfect!!! Urgh, I’m trying to figure out how to put my thoughts into cohesive words for this review. What did I think about Evgeny? I loved him. (I mean, even his name. I could go on and on about him.) His depression and the horrible darkness that came along with that… ugh. I couldn’t NOT tear up. So heartbreaking and painful and scary. And powerfully written, as in it felt so realistic and unforced, despite me never having experienced depression like that. The darkness wasn’t shied away from, but it was written in a Biblical light – a redeeming light, something the world needs more of.

And dear Sasha. AHHH. I just wanted to cry at how she was so haunted by her past. Like Evgeny, her character arc was so powerful and poignant. In another author’s hands, she might have become annoying due to her skittishness, but she wasn’t. She was flawed but lovable and her actions all were in character and felt realistic. <333 I loved her.

It made me so happy to see Gabe and Sofia in here… ah, I loved their story in Unknown and seeing them married in here was awesome!

I know I’m forgetting to mention how AMAZING other characters were, but I’ll leave it at that for now. They were all fantastic. (Ooo like Daniil!! Oh I love that guy.)

Plot

Right off the bat, it began with internal conflict. I absolutely LOVED that. In fact, the entire story was hinged on the characters, it wasn’t just a bunch of exciting events happening to characters. You know what I mean? Even though there were gunfights and heart-pounding action at the climax, it meant something to me because of the characters. But anyway, the bottom line is that plot was AH-MA-ZING.

Writing Style

I just adore Vanessa’s writing style. So immersive and vivid – you can see it happening in your mind as a movie. The choice of words was just delightful to read as a fellow writer. 😀 Also, I don’t know exactly what it’s called, but I think it was in 3rd person deep POV? You could hear their voices (well, Evgeny and Sasha’s respectively) through the writing and that just made me feel so connected with the characters. I never found it stale or repetitive. No, it was beautiful. Yeah, that’s it – beautiful is the right word for it. :))

Themes

The theme of being unworthy yet still forgiven through Jesus’s sacrifice was so powerful. This is one of those books that edify you through the struggles of the characters. The truths were expressed so movingly – and to be honest, I didn’t consider it “preachy” (though that certainly wouldn’t be bad if it were!), because every Biblical message was shown through the characters and their glorious “aha” moments!! Hope that makes sense.

All in all, the theme was one of my absolute favorite elements about this book.

Romance

I absolutely LOVED the romance in this book between Evgeny and Sasha. So sweet and sad and a bunch of other things all at once. Her resistance to any relationship (thanks to that backstory) and how she was trying to hold him at arm’s length – and farther, might I add – added a lot of tension and rather agonizing suspense, which just made it all the better. And then, it kinda flipped at the end. Wow, I’m just realizing that… that was so cool. Anyway, this wasn’t any cliche sort of romance. It was so dynamic and unique. And I loved it. Oh wait, I already said that… 😛 ❤

Other Things…

Random, but I appreciated how injuries were written about in Unworthy. Sometimes in fiction, somebody gets hurt and the next day the injury is all but healed – magically, so it seems. Not the case here. There were consequences to trauma and injuries – not only on the physical side but the mental side too (memories, etc.).

Also, the humor! It was so nice to have some funny moments (usually in dialogue) sprinkled throughout.

Spoiler-y Things…

Read these on the Goodreads version of this review!

Overall

Just read it – if you haven’t yet – and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. XD This is definitely a book I want to buy along with Unknown once the physical copies are out, cause I know I’ll be wanting to read it again. It’s SO GOOD.

Now, to wait for the third book in the series. 😉

Disclosure: I received this book (as a review copy) free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.