This book had some pacing issues and some editing issues. It started out so slow, and spent way to long in the before before any action happened. The premise and plot felt derivative of books YA alien books that came before. The author did manage to make the aliens feel creepy and mysterious. But around the halfway make the pacing started to feel erratic and many elements felt like they were rushed and didn’t have satisfying pay off. Overall it wouldn’t be a bad introduction to YA alien invasion books, but if you’ve already read a few this can seem redundant and not as well executed.

Firstly, I should admit to being a little older than Untaken's 'Young Adult' target audience. Nevertheless, I found this book hard to put down. The sci-fi element switched effortlessly from eerie anticipation to action-movie intensity, keeping me on the edge of my seat. But what really kept me interested was the characters. The children are sympathetic and believable, and through their eyes a story about alien invasion also becomes a story about issues all young people can relate to -about loneliness and loss, and about finding your own place in the world.