Monday 9 July 2012

Hunting Lila Review


“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.

After a mugging 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.

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…”


I have to confess that Hunting Lila has been sitting on my shelves for almost a year without being read and honestly, it has a lot to do with the cover.  I don’t think it stands out that well and to me, it looks a lot like an adult book.  Having now read it, I have no idea how the cover correlates to the story and the main character hardly ever wears shoes, let alone heels.  If it weren’t for friends raving about Alex (one of the main characters) I might never have picked this one up and I’d have missed a gem of a story.  I’m astounded by how good the story is and so the old adage ‘never judge a book by its cover’ totally works in this case! 

Everyone knows that I’m not always a huge fan of British books.  It has nothing to do with the writing I hasten to add but when I was 18 I lived in the US for just over a year and my dad says it changed me.  Anyway, this book very quickly changes setting from London to California and I can live with that!   Lila is the main character and I thought she was fantastic.  Her voice had the right amount of snark without going over the top and she was very likeable.  Her ability is something special but she has to keep it a secret from everyone and I do mean EVERYONE, a fact that is killing her (figuratively speaking).  After three years away from Alex, she finally sees him again and nothing has changed from her side.  She’s still in love with him but he just sees her as Jack’s little sister, right? Hmmm....maybe not but how is he going to tell Jack about how he feels?  Hell, come to think of it, how is he going to tell Lila? And what will happen when he realises that the organisation he works for is hunting down people with special abilities just. Like. Lila?

Hang on to your seats as it’s a hell of a ride.  Reading this book is like hanging on for dear life to a dinghy that’s hurtling through the white water rapids.  For reals.  Been there, done that.  There’s non stop action and the tension is insurmountable.  You’ll be dying to know what happens and you know what?  YOU’RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO READ THE BOOK!  I swear it reads like a movie and I understand the film rights have now been sold so fingers crossed we see this up on the big screen some day.  It could even work as a TV series really and I think the CW network is crying out for something like this. 

As a little bugbear (besides the cover), I didn’t like the way “mum” was used throughout the book especially as Lila was born an American and lived there for years before moving to London and then going back to California.  Even the characters who never left the US are saying “mum” instead of “mom” and that really got on my nerves!  I understand it is something to do with the fact that it has a UK edit but still, that little detail bothered me.  Not enough to ruin the story though as I LOVED it and the idea of being in love with your big brother’s best friend your whole life totally floats my boat. 

What can I say about Alex – he’s like the perfect man.  He works for the military (men in uniform anyone?),  he’s good looking and has a hot body (obvs), he LISTENS to Lila and respects her opinion, he can read her like an open book without her saying a word, he has been hellbent on protecting her since childhood and is still doing it, he’s smart, he rides a motorcycle and....the list is endless.   He’s totally swoonworthy that’s for sure and I’m adding him to the literary boyfriends list IMMEDIATELY.  You know what though...I also kind of have a soft spot for Lila’s brother Jack.  He’s also military, smart, protective, good looking and fit but he’s a little bit more hotheaded shall we say.  I’m hoping that we learn a little bit more about Jack in the next book.

So, in conclusion I’m really, really glad I read this book, I totally loved it and I can’t wait to read the sequel which I just happen to have in my hands. Bonus! 

Hunting Lila was published on 5th August, 2011.  The sequel Losing Lila is out on 2nd August, 2012.  To find out more about Sarah Alderson and her books, please click here to visit her website.

4 comments:

  1. Great Review! I've just added this one to my tbr pile. myneuroticbookaffair.blogspot.com

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    1. Awesome, I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by :)

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  2. Adding to my list!

    I am super amused by your judgment of the use of mum. I'm now really curious whether that's the case in the US version...

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    1. Christina, I don't think there is a US version (YET) although you can buy the books on kindle over there.

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