3 out of 4 stars
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Unbalanced by Courtney Shepard is the first book in the Unbalanced Series. This book revolved around the story and journey of four sisters, named Asha, Avia, Ivy, and Mere. Each of them having the unique ability to manipulate a specific element. The siblings were separated at birth to protect them from a secret faith or organization, called the Order -who throughout history, has been hunting and sacrificing sisters born with the same powers to immortal gods, called The Four.
When I first started reading the book, I was immediately hooked with the plot and with how the author delivered the story. Shepard started with a glimpse of the past that was neither too long nor too information-packed. She gave a prelude that successfully covered all the bases needed for the present events to be more coherent and easy-flowing.
Since the four sisters were separated when they were born, each and every one of them has a different background story surrounding their character. Initially, the book revolved around Asha's story but as the plot progressed, we were also given the chance to meet Ivy, Mere, and Avia. I do have to say that their "screen-time", as compared to Asha, was relatively shorter. I am assuming that they, the other sisters, will be introduced in a more in-depth manner in the following book releases of the Unbalanced Series.
As much as I enjoyed reading Unbalanced, I found a few things that I did not like.
First and foremost, I was not completely taken with Asha's character. I sometimes found her as irrational and a bit frustrating. There were instances wherein I had to take a break from reading the book because I did not appreciate the way Asha was acting. But if you look at it in a different perspective, this might be a good thing since a character can affect the reader that much. (Hmmm having mixed feelings
) Second, I sometimes found it hard to keep up during the encounters of the four sisters with the Order and/or The Four. During fight scenes, I usually had to reread certain lines or paragraphs just to understand or fully grasp what was happening.
And lastly, I would like to comment on the romantic part of the book. The sisters, along their journey for survival, meets their so-called “matches”, which was kind of cliché but was not my issue. The thing I did not like about this part of the book was the pace of their relationships. Sometimes their relationship would progress too fast, sometimes it would be too slow, and there were times when it would not progress at all. I found that this aspect lacked consistency, flow, and character.
All in all, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I found that there were certain things about the story that I did not like but I am still looking forward to reading the following releases from the Unbalanced Series. Overall, I found Unbalanced as easy to read and enjoy. It is one of those books that will keep you entertained and push you to continue reading without stopping for quite some time. I would recommend it to readers who love or are interested in fantasy/romance books.
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Unbalanced
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