Undying

December 1, 2018
In this companion and conclusion to the duology that began with Unearthed (2018), two teenagers discover shocking secrets about Earth's supposedly alien invaders.Leaving huge, flapping holes in their story's internal logic, Kaufman (Elementals: Ice Wolves, 2018, etc.) and Spooner (co-author: Unearthed, 2018, etc.) bring brainy Jules and action-oriented Mia back to Earth and, to give them further opportunities for steamy if chaste snogging, send them on a long road trip from Catalonia to Prague with Jules' flamboyantly gay cousin, Neal. Meanwhile the advance guard of the Undying, all of whom inexplicably look like brown-skinned human teenagers, touches off the invasion by poisoning the water of select cities with a toxin that affects residents: "Like they've...regressed or something, like they're Neanderthals." (A concurrent plan to build portals on the surface for Undying troops to march through just...floats away in the press of events.) In a severely misguided effort to bring clarity to all this, the authors eventually lock the main characters in a room with Dex, an invader with a secret, to unpack the backstory. By the end, the course of true love has run far more smoothly than the storyline. Jules is black and English, and Mia is white and American.A hopeless muddle depressingly light on credible elements or nuanced characters. (Science fiction. 14-18)

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February 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-Jules Addison and Mia Radcliffe, heroes from Unearthed, are unwilling stowaways on the alien spacecraft they were forced to activate in the previous book's conclusion. After discovering that the Undying race-previously thought extinct-are alive with plans to decimate humankind, Jules and Mia must survive on the ship long enough to return to Earth and warn the International Alliance of this new danger. When their arrival and desperate pleas are met with suspicion and outright disbelief, Jules and Mia must rely on themselves to save the world from the invasion. Fast-paced action, danger, and romance fill this overly plotted sci-fi tale. Jules and Mia remain likable, believable teens thrust into situations that slowly erode their hope for the future. A reveal about the true history of the Undying echoes the interesting world-building of the prequel, but otherwise the plot feels overly convenient with constant narrow escapes and more telling than showing. The quick, bow-tied ending wraps so quickly that readers may wonder if they missed something critical along the way. VERDICT Purchase only where Unearthed is very popular.-Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser, St. Paul Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2018
Grades 8-12 If you're fuzzy on everything that went down in Unearthed (2018), Kaufman and Spooner thoughtfully provide a whirlwind synopsis at the start of its sequel, ensuring all readers are on equal footing. This book opens in the cramped walls of an Undying spaceship, where Mia and Jules are hiding while trying to figure out how to warn Earth it's about to be invaded by an alien race thought to be extinct?a race that looks disturbingly human. After biding their time, they sneak aboard an Earth-bound shuttle with a pair of Undying soldiers, who are ready to do their duty and wipe out humankind. Chapter narration alternates between Mia and Jules, giving readers insight into their emotions as they confront danger head-on, attempt to unravel the Undying's plan and motivation, and wrestle with their attraction to each other. The action-packed save-the-world plot is underscored by the protagonists' more relatable concerns about saving their family members, and revelations about the Undying provide a layer of complexity to an otherwise light sf adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)