{"id":6464,"date":"2017-03-17T18:28:10","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T01:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allthethingsinbetween.net\/?p=6464"},"modified":"2017-10-18T22:46:39","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T22:46:39","slug":"weekend-pick-me-up-unknown-by-wendy-higgins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2017\/03\/17\/weekend-pick-me-up-unknown-by-wendy-higgins\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Pick Me Up: Unknown by Wendy Higgins"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"Unknown<\/a> by Wendy Higgins<\/a><\/strong>
\n My rating: 5 of 5 stars<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Does this woman ever disappoint?<\/i>
\nTut-tut! Curb your tongue, Negative Nancy. It\u2019s a rhetorical question.<\/p>\n

Wendy Higgins rocks socks and knocks boots once again with this baby. My heart has been stolen in what certainly is another \u2018my book boyfriend is hotter than your book boyfriend\u2019 series.<\/p>\n

Taking a step away from the supernatural Sweet Series, Unknown is a sci-fi story with a kiss of apocalyptic WTH on the side. Suddenly the potato farm region of Nevada is a place where something other than meth labs and tubers flourish. Sing praise with me because it makes hot soldiers and sows the seeds of unrequited love too. Can I get a hallelujah?<\/p>\n

Unknown is told in two parts: \u2018before the end\u2019 and \u2018after the beginning of the end\u2019. The storycrafting of this novel sets the stage for the evolving global events combined with the coming age story of Amber Tate; who has grown up in one world and is being forced to come to terms with the loss of it.<\/p>\n

WH spends the first third of the book building the backstory of the Tates and Fites, two neighbors living far different lives. The childhood years that mold Amber, her brother Tater, and Rylen Fite–her childhood idol\/crush\/heartache are told in snapshot chapters and memories. Many authors struggle to balance storytelling of this nature. The \u2018before\u2019 is written skillfully in Unknown, combining the perfect amount of exposition and rolling flashbacks. When the \u2018after\u2019 comes to the forefront you can feel the tone change from a sense of innocence to a palpable terror. The fracturing of the Tates, Fites, and the known world, internally and externally is exposed with heart wrenching rawness.<\/p>\n

I have hearts in my eyes for the forbidden love angle that blossoms between Rylen and Amber. The boy next door begins to differentiate little-sister-Amber with Amber-with-budding-ta-tas that draw his every other look much to his despair. Suddenly innocent cuddles become more awkward for him. Boys are dirty minded things, ages 15 through 23 year old Rylen is a compass pointing steadily and faithfully to his home: Amber.<\/p>\n

Yea, Rylen-dude take the compass part as any analogy you want. Your something is pointing at her and it\u2019s there for a reason. You can\u2019t cross your stars to avoid the girl you love, numbskull<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The story comes to the \u2018present\u2019 when Earth is attacked, now humans must engage with an \u2018unknown\u2019 enemy. The unknown future is what sears the safety of the Tates and Fites, flinging them into a fight to protect one another. Although the book is narrated by Amber, Rylen\u2019s loneliness and feelings of isolation are poignantly conveyed through his letters and brief visits home while he is serving with Tater in the military. He\u2019s broken by his experiences in battle, his light in the dark is Amber.<\/p>\n

Life can be a real bitch throwing all sorts of crap at people when they are already being tested. There is no starting over fresh when you share the history that has created you. WH makes her characters grow up the hard way through consequences of the choices they must make.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often difficult for an author to traverse a notable span of time combined with large cast of characters in a cohesive and well paced story. WH melds the white trash origins of the Fites with the happy familyhood of the Tates with precision pulling the characters into a compatible unit. She does an exceptional job of transitioning the childhood of Amber, her brother, and Rylen into adulthood. Families have a special dynamic that affects everyone under their umbrella, The Tate and Fite families are no exception and the story becomes a living document of the three generations as they grow.<\/p>\n

Adulting is hard<\/b>. Perhaps that should be the short blurb on the back of this book. And since I read Unrest too, I warn you that it’s byline is Adulting gets harder<\/b>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Recommendations Based on This Read:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

For all my Goodreads reviews<\/a>.
\nFor all my Amazon reviews<\/a>\"\".<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unknown by Wendy Higgins My rating: 5 of 5 stars Does this woman ever disappoint? Tut-tut! Curb your tongue, Negative Nancy. It\u2019s a rhetorical question. Wendy Higgins rocks socks and knocks boots once again with this baby. My heart has been stolen in what certainly is another \u2018my book boyfriend is hotter than your book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[2045,2046,2126],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6470,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2017\/03\/19\/cover-reveal-undone-by-wendy-higgins\/","url_meta":{"origin":6464,"position":0},"title":"Cover Reveal: Undone by Wendy Higgins","date":"2017-03-19","format":false,"excerpt":"UNDONE COVER REVEAL\u00a0RELEASED Told from dual points of view, Undone is the upcoming finale for New York Times bestseller, Wendy Higgins\u2019s, apocalyptic romance trilogy. Best friends Remy Haines and Amber Tate are separated with no way to contact one another\u2014no way to know if the other still lives. Remy and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book It"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Undone_HighRes.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5691,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/02\/tongue-wagger-sweet-temptation-by-wendy-higgins\/","url_meta":{"origin":6464,"position":1},"title":"Tongue Wagger: Sweet Temptation by Wendy Higgins","date":"2015-11-02","format":false,"excerpt":"I call this book Kaidan is Sexy because Sweet Temptation does it no justice. It is always interesting to see the other side of stories. In the vein of Jamie McGuire's Walking Disaster,\u00a0or\u00a0Christine Zoldenz's Scars and Songs, Wendy Higgins has given us the guy perspective of her series. Sometimes, like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Sweet Evil Series\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Sweet-Tempt.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6000,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2016\/02\/21\/hashtag-lover-letters-to-kaidan-rowe-from-wendy-higgins\/","url_meta":{"origin":6464,"position":2},"title":"Hashtag: Love Letters - To Kaidan Rowe from Wendy Higgins","date":"2016-02-21","format":false,"excerpt":"My dearest, hottest, Kaidan, From the very moment you walked into my life\u2014before I even knew your name\u2014I knew you were going to change me. And you did. I didn\u2019t need to know where you would take me or what you were going to do to know my life would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Wade-Kaidan.jpg?fit=700%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":981,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/19\/character-qa-holiday-quickie-with-kaidan-rowe\/","url_meta":{"origin":6464,"position":3},"title":"Character Q&A - Holiday Quickie With Kaidan Rowe","date":"2013-12-19","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to get in touch with Kaidan Rowe's publicist, Wendy Higgins, to arrange a very short chit chat with him about how he was spending his holidays this year. I managed not to be the rabid fangirl whilst speaking with the completely babelicious Brit but I may have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Fancy\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/i1074.photobucket.com\/albums\/w418\/Wendy_Higgins\/ImWithTheDrummer.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5634,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/07\/looking-for-books-september-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":6464,"position":4},"title":"Looking for Books; September 2015","date":"2015-09-07","format":false,"excerpt":"These are the books Simona and I are looking to read this month. Check these titles out and let us know what you want to read! September 1 A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell Captain Simona: \u00a0Sucker for retellings, that's what I am! Maybe it's because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book It"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SeptTBR.jpg?fit=788%2C248&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":141,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/01\/on-a-wing-and-a-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":6464,"position":5},"title":"On a Wing and a Prayer","date":"2013-02-01","format":false,"excerpt":"Blame it on severe depression. I spent three weeks in bed and a week after that getting out of bed but not wanting to do anything at all. This is my up and down world. While I was trying to sleep away the world, I was still reading some great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Anna Whitt\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6464"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6560,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6464\/revisions\/6560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}