Book Shelf: Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

17-year-old Lila has two secrets she's prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she's been in love with her brother's best friend, Alex, since forever. Or thereabouts.After a mugging on the streets of South London goes horribly wrong and exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust - her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they've found them. Trying to uncover the truth of why her mother was killed, and the real remit of The Unit, Lila becomes a pawn in a dangerous game. Struggling to keep her secrets in a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone - there are others out there just like her - people with special powers -and her mother's killer is one of them....

Blurb from Goodreads.....


Review:

Sarah Alderson’s debut novel is one that caught me from the very first page, sucking me in and refusing to let me go. Not that I minded, mind you. I began planning on reading a few pages, but the first chapter caught me and soon those few pages turned into a chapter and then one more chapter and one more after that and before I knew it, I was finished. It would have taken a miracle to pry the book from my fingers at that point. This is without a doubt one of my fave books I’ve read this year!
This book sucked me in and I was engrossed in the tale, devouring it in one sitting and then feeling distraught when I realised it was over and there were no more pages left to turn.
The writing in this book is brilliant and the plot unique. It’s got such a nice pace and the book flows along, and yet is exciting and captivating too. The rich details, action and swoon worthy romance kept me entertained, and the exciting twists and turns kept me on my toes. Just when I thought I knew where everything was heading, it all changed and suddenly all my conclusions went out the window.

So much of this book’s appeal is the characters within it. Hunting Lila is packed full of great characters that you are drawn to and love. They’re quirky and vibrant, from our plucky heroine to her brother and his best friend to the vast array of Unit members, and bad guys. Every one of these characters stands up and demands attention and makes this story so great.
Lila was such a joy to read about—she really was. I loved her. She’s such a strong individual despite her age and has great morals. She’s normal and easy to relate to and you can’t help by adore her. Lila was stubborn, rebellious and very reckless. She didn’t always make the best choices, but it was hard to fault her on them, when you could see the purpose and emotions behind them. She had a knack for going against what her brother wanted and for getting into sticky situations. She fought for what she wanted and demanded answers, not sitting in the background and letting everyone else do the work.

The military aspect seemed to fit so well with this book and it shone through with both Lila’s brother Zack and Alex. The relationship Lila had with her brother was fantastic. It was such a realistic one, with he being all protective and her being her stereotypical little sister. It was very sweet.
As for Lila’s romance interest, let me just pick my tongue up off the floor.....Obviously, I’m trying not to give away too many spoilers, but Alex has to be my ultimate fantasy. I don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed about a soldier on a motorcycle and Alex will definitely be taking centre stage in those dreams from now on. I thoroughly enjoyed the friendship Alex shared with Zack and I think he’s a brilliant character. He was strong, brave and oh, so sexy. He was strong as an individual and could stand easily on his own. He was very natural in everything that he was and nothing seemed forced. I liked watching his relationship with Lila change and seeing him subtly fight his feelings for her as the novel progressed. It was interesting seeing Alex come to terms with everything he learnt and I liked that he didn’t let the things he’d been told, and essentially believed, cloud his judgement and feelings for Lila. He saw her for who she was; abilities or not.

The relationship between Lila and Alex was so beautiful. They’d grown up together and they had such history. He’d always been a part of her life; by her side through the hard times and the good and it was understandable by Lila loved him so. Plus, he was gorgeous, inside and out. It was wonderful to see how much he cared about her and how tender he could be. Lila was awkward and uneasy around him and I found this to be very believable. I loved watching this change; seeing her jealous and seeing him worried about her. It was so adorable. Theirs has got to be one of the best romances I’ve seen in a long time. To me it felt real and believable, and their pasts together gave it much more authenticity.

There’s so much excitement in this book and so many big revelations for the characters, especially towards the end. This book held me all the way to the end and the ending itself left me gasping and wanting more. Hunting Lila is a fun, exciting, thrilling read that once you start you won’t want to stop!

Rating: ***** stars
Source: ARC from Simon & Schuster (Thanks a bunch guys!)
Format: Paperback
AU Release Date: September 2011
Expected AU Price: $16.99
Recommend: Yes!
Recommend borrow or buy: Buy!
Cover: This cover is stunning! I love it--it's so simple, and yet when you have the book in your hands you can't help but what to keep staring at it!
Read sequel/continue with series: Yes! The moment the sequel is out!