Today I’m going to be reviewing Kimberly Derting’s The Taking trilogy.

The Taking by: Kimberly Derting: The first novel in The Taking trilogy. Sixteen year old Kyra lives a normal life, or well she think she does, until one day she just vanishes out of nowhere. One minute she’s there, the next gone. Five years later she returns, finding herself out of place in the town she grew up in. The fact in the matter is everyone has moved on, and she’s still sixteen. It’s a very captivating read about alien abductions, a topic that is popular, but isn’t the most popular. The characters were all very round and thought out characters that the reader came to grow on, the plotline was solid, even though at points it was confusing what was going on, it all made sense in the end. The bad thing is that it sucks that readers have to wait until the next novel comes out!

The Replaced by: Kimberly Derting: The second novel in The Taking trilogy. After being abducted or “taken” by aliens, her boyfriend Tyler is taken. All Kyra wants to do is save him, but that can be hard when you’re wanted. After being returned, Kyra has come back different, she has new abilities, for example night vision. This makes her wanted. The whole novel is pretty much about survival, and running away from the bad guys, but also trying to figure out who is on your side, because it’s a very fine line. This novel wasn’t as gripping and exciting as the first novel was. This novel did have some good plotlines, but for the most part, the novel fell flat with suspense, and intrigue. The epilogue gave hints as what is to come for the final novel, and that makes it sound promising. The characters were kind of bland and nothing about them made them exciting to read about. Even the fact that Kyra was changing, that just fell flat too. Hopefully the last novel is just like the first.

The Countdown by: Kimberly Derting: The third and final novel in the Taking trilogy. Kyra has been abducted, returned, and captured again; this time around she feels pains which are a signal that the aliens are coming, and the countdown is on. Former enemies know things that can help, and the whole truth is finally laid out on the table. This concluding novel took the reader through a whirlwind of plots; characters don’t feel like they’ve really developed from the first novel. This trilogy started off so strong with fast-paced plots that left the reader wanting more because it was so thrilling, but as it continued started to go down-hill. This novel primarily dealt with the romantic plotline of Kyra and Tyler, which felt like it took away from the actual plot. The mystery, and suspense that was in the first novel was gone, and plots got predictable, and unoriginal. The writing felt a little lazy, which is so disappointing because it could have been so good.