My review of Undone

Undone by Cat Clarke
Release Date: January 31, 2013
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Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend. Not exactly ideal, but she's learning to live with it. 

Then the unspeakable happens. Kai is outed online ... and he kills himself. 

Jem knows nothing she can say or do will bring him back. But she wants to know who was responsible. And she wants to take them down.

Undone is a touching and thoughtful novel that follows a troubled girl with a vendetta that may not only hurt those around her, but also herself. I enjoyed this immensely and could not stop reading!

Undone is about a girl called Jem who was in love with her best friend, Kai, who she loved even when he admitted that he was gay. When Kai kills himself because of a video shared online that not only invaded his privacy, but also shared his sexuality in the worst way possible; Jem is in ruins. But when Jem's sister comes round with twelve letters from Kai before he killed himself, instructing her to open one on the exact same day every month for a year to help her get past his death. Kai warns her, in his letters, to not try to figure who posted out the video, but Jem has a mind of her own and she's about to get revenge. No matter what.

After reading Cat Clarke's Entangled, I was left unimpressed by the story and the characters. I always knew that I'd pick up one of her books at a later date so when Undone came along I couldn't resist. And now that I've finished it, I don't regret my decision at all because this was a really good read. 

I enjoyed the story and a few of the characters, but what I REALLY loved were the letters from Kai that he left for Jem to open each month. They not only offered Jem some much-needed comfort, but they also introduce us to the character of Kai. Well, not introduce, but they allow us to learn more about his character and his bond with Jem. In each letter, I fell for the boy a little more and wished  throughout that he was MY friend. He was just that awesome.

Now, there are many things that I enjoyed, but what really gets to me is Jem. I found her personality and her revenge plan all a little bit pathetic. During the book, three names are posted through her letterbox and she knows that those three people are responsible for her best friend's death so those are the people she decides to get revenge on. One of the boys from the list, Lucas, actually becomes her boyfriend and I loved him! But the only reason why Jem was with him was to get revenge and that disgusted me because Lucas deserved so much better. 

I also felt that her revenge tac-tics were terrible. To be honest, if Jem was just a reasonable girl with some common sense then most of the story wouldn't have happened and everything would have run a lot smoother. However, apart from the annoying protagonist, I think Clarke did a wonderful job with creating the story and making it as engaging as possible. I wish it had ended differently though. The ending broke me.

How much did this book make me cry? Answer: A LOT. Once I started crying (which wasn't really that far in), anything that was remotely sad just set me off. I know, I am completely pathetic, but the story and characters were just so... SAD! Get your tissues ready.

Undone is a captivating novel that will hold your attention until the very last page. I am looking forward to more from Cat Clarke!

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