July 12, 2018

Unknown Read-Along: Update #1

So sorry for this being posted a little late. I was having some phone issues earlier this week that required my attention in trying to get it fixed or replaced. So I was dealing with that the past 2 days and didn't get the chance to sit down and write up the post. But good news, I got a replacement phone without a lot of hassle, and I'm here only one day late to post the update! WOO!

Ok guys, so you know this is a reread for me, so this is going to be more analysis and maybe piecing things together I originally didn't see the first time I read through it. So keep that in mind as you read my thoughts. I'll try to avoid anything that could be potentially spoilery. So I'll start with some thoughts I put in my original review of Unknown and then talk about things I understand better now. And then talk about how some of those may affect the view going forward.

Links:

• My Review of Unknown by Wendy Higgins
• The Unknown Read-Along Sign-Up/Info Post

Thoughts I Had My Original Read Through of Unknown Last Year:

• The beginning was a bit slow.
• I was confused as to why the Amusement Parks were bombed first, and why no one took responsibility for the bombings. And then big cities were bombed. Why??
• I wondered why all the Military Bases shut down instead of trying to help the citizens with this mess. 
• I wondered why the DRI acted kinda off compared to how people normally act.
• I wondered why they were also killing or refusing to offer medical help a lot of people, and those that they did, they did certain things to that wasn't needed.
• I also questioned why they let scummy people join the DRI/DRP instead of good upstanding citizens
• I was appalled and shocked at the lesser bombings of hospitals and safe zones when so much had already been bombed!
• I thought Grandpa Tate was pretty smart for his stockpile of food/guns/etc. It might seem crazy, but still smart. 
• I got so annoyed with Rylen's actions when he knew damn well Amber was in love with him. He just made me want to smack him with a stick like a pinata sometimes. But underneath his somewhat crappy actions, he also did some amazing, heart-softening ones as well. 
• I saw Remy as an incredibly naive girl who was way to trusting and wanting everything to fix itself. 
• I was impressed with both Tater and the other military guys for the fact they walked/hitchhiked to Nevada from Georgia (Tater) and Arizona (the other military guys) after everything went down. It's not easy walking to other states while avoiding being caught by people that would easily kill you. 

Some Thoughts and Piecing Together of Things After Rereading:

• The beginning is still obviously slow but I appreciate it more because it really did give us a good background of our characters, their feelings, how they grew up together and how all that influenced them in adulthood. I definitely don't think I appreciated this the first read through. 
• I understand why the Amusement Parks and big cities were hit in the bombings now. I can't say much else or it spoils the rest of the books, but it makes more sense why these places were hit now. I also understand why no one took responsibility for the bombings. This would be a huge spoiler but I definitely understand it now. 
• I also completely understand why the military bases shut down and the military didn't help. Again, explaining more would spoil, but the military bases become bigger parts of the story in books 2 and 3 and the military itself is explained in much better detail as to whats happened. 
• Many of the DRI/DRP weren't exactly human which explains why they didn't act like it, and the scum they let join from the humans were definitely there since they'd just follow people blindly. 
• The whole thing with denying medical care and doing unneeded things to those that they did help, yeah, once you read the next books, you understand they had every intention of weeding out those that could be against them doing that and destroying repopulating the human population with what they were doing to those they did help. 
• Grandpa Tate is still smart and I still respect him for standing up for his family and what was right. 
• I didn't hate Rylen as much for certain things cuz I knew this time in the back of my head he was doing certain things to be a good human being, not because he was that dense in regards to Amber. 
• Remy is still naive, no changing that. I still can't understand how she doesn't see the bad the people in charge are doing. It's not that hard to see. 

Knowing how some of these things actually fit together in the story instead of just wondering is definitely going to improve how I read the story and better understand some of the upcoming events more.