READING: Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

Publication date: August 4th,2011
Published by: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Rating: 4,5/5

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...

Hunting Lila was admittedly an enjoyable, unputdownable book. Reading it was like watching a very good action movie: you may snort at some stuff that go down, but inwardly you know you love every minute of it!

I liked everything that went on in Hunting Lila. It had a well thought-out and imaginative plot. You never lose interest, as the story is filled with mystery and suspense till the very end. I liked all the characters, as well. Except for *unnecessary drumroll* Lila! I would have absolutely loved this book and I would have been proud to list it amongst my 2011 faves, had it not been for Lila and her over the top drama queen-ess. You'd think that with everything that has happened to her, I don't know, like her mother dying and her moving out of the country and being separated from her brother, she would be a little bit more…mature and down to earth. But turns out all she thinks about is Alex, Alex, Alex. I know, who can blame her, he's so hot blah blah. And OK, Lila does think about her mother's murder and the mystery that surrounds it once in a while, otherwise she wouldn't go back to her brother to look for answers. When it comes to Alex, though, she can't help but act all needy and like a spoiled little girl, which we assume she is not. "Does Alex want me?" "Does he look at me?" "If he does, what does it mean?" "What does it mean if he doesn't?" "What is this woman doing talking to him? Back off". I mean, it reached the point of obsession at one point and it was not good. Especially, since what I mostly wanted to read about was why her mother was murdered and what secret mission her brother and Alex were working on. Also, showing strength and bad-assness on one hand and turning to jelly whenever you see the guy you like on the other, didn't really register well with me. You can't do both, that's for sure. 

That being said, I will definitely read Losing Lila, book #2, because I want to see what happens next so bad, that I'm willing to turn a blind eye to a 17-year-old's hysterics. 

Well, not so sure about that, we'll see ;)