"UNMARKED: The Legion Book 2," by Kami Garcia, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $18, 382 pages (f) (ages 14 and up)
Kennedy Waters was a normal girl until a ghost killed her mom and she found out that she might be the fifth member of a secret order known as the Legion of the Black Dove. Now, after accidentally unleashing a powerful demon, Kennedy watches as the world falls apart around her — and will continue to do so unless she and the Legion members can find a way to stop it.
The first book in Kami Garcia’s Legion series, “Unbreakable,” was like “Twilight” meets “Ghostbusters.”
“Unmarked” takes things in a slightly different direction, focusing more on demons, secret societies and conspiracy theories than haunted houses and vengeance spirits.
But the blend of young adult tropes and a spooky horror-movie atmosphere that made the first book as entertaining as it was is still intact here and, in some ways, is actually improved upon — right up until a very disappointing cliffhanger ending that leaves a little too much unresolved.
That said, fans of “Unbreakable” or Garcia’s Beautiful Creatures books, which she co-wrote with Margaret Stohl, will find a lot to enjoy. The plot is full of twists and turns that make the nearly 400 pages breeze by, and Garcia does a good job creating strongly differentiated characters. In particular, a couple of new ones that pop up in the second half of the book keep the action from getting stale.
In terms of writing, there isn’t a ton of depth. It’s still entertaining, though, and a good read for anyone who likes a mix of action, horror and romance.
While Garcia does a good job getting readers back up to speed with past events, this isn’t really a series where it’s advisable to jump in without having read the first book. Too much hinges on details from “Unbreakable."
“Unmarked” features one instance of mild profanity. There is also imagery throughout that, although not graphic, might be scary for readers younger than the recommended age.
Jeff Peterson is a native of Utah Valley and studied humanities and history at Brigham Young University. Along with the Deseret News, he also contributes to the film discussion website FilmInquiry.com.