Review: The Sparrows of Unity by Sen Jayaprakasam

The Sparrows of Unity by Sen Jayaprakasam was an interesting book to say the least. The first chapter was very interesting and grabbed my attention right away. I wanted to keep reading it, and was instantly hooked. Each chapter was titled with the character's name who was going to be telling that section of the story. I understand the need to change the point of view in a story like this but it is still a little jarring, so the titles helped a lot amd was considerate of the author. It says that this is only the first in the series and I hope the following books offer more explanation and detals.

The book opers with Lacy meeting her father who is Current in jail. She has believed her father to be a murderer her whole life and that her and her mother have been running from what he did. Now she is visiting him because of a message she found in her mother's journal that she read after her mother died in a car crash. Before he mysteriously disappears her father tells Lucy the truth about him and her mother.

Lucy ends up warking with Rit, Si, and Anna after they all see one of their teachers attacked and killed. The four teens all follow clues to race acros Britain  while trying to stay one step ahead of the attackers, who are now trying to kidnap them. Along the journey they discover it is the Unity who are follawing them and trying to prevent them from reaching the other Sparrows. The four teens believe that once they get to the end of the Sparow's Path they will be safe from the Unity. Once they reach the end they can't help but to wonder if they just accidentally lead the Unity to the Sparrow's safe-house?

What I liked best was the basic idea of two groups who wanted to better the world. The idea that they were going to make the world better by eliminating racism, homophobia, and other foms of prejudice was interesting because this is not usually the goal of such groups in books. I liked that people were indirectly trying to make things better for everyone. It also helps that the puzzles where interesting and well thought out. What I didn't like was the fact that I kept questioning exactly how the Unity was planning on achieving their goal (at least I think it was the Unity). It talked about using fear and scare tactics but other than that it wasn't well explained. The ending was also very confusing with so many people either pretending or thinking that they were something they actually were not.

The target readers for this book would be teens and young adults. Anyone older may still enjoy this book for a quick read but it lacks the depth that I believe many adults would probably enjoy in a book. However, the following books in the series may make up for that and as a whole hold the attention of adults as well. I rate this book 2 out of 4. I found it to be a little dull frequently, with the teens just avoiding capture. Also it got very confusing towards the end and started to lose me. While the first chapter did get me hooked it did not last. After finishing the book I am still unsure as to the belonged to which group.