The Taking

By: Kimberly Derting

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert

Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

A flash of white light…and then…nothing.

When 16-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas 'n' Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed…yet she hasn't aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra's old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn't sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin's annoying kid brother, who is now 17 and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra's father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken…and returned.

Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

©2014 Kimberly Derting (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Sci Fi Romance Novel

The premise for the story is quite interesting. The narrator is exceptional. The over-the-top gush of teenage romance ....not so much...it was like listening to a Harlequin romance. Do teen girls really think like Kiera? But I persevered. It is not predictable. There are twists & surprises. It's well worth a listen. And since I'm looking forward to the sequel that comes out at the end of April... I guess I liked it!

Disappearance, return, young love, pursuit & more

A strange disappearance after winning a state championship softball game, her return 5 years later, young love, unknown pursuers, a secret government agency and a grand conspiracy. What’s not to love? The Taking is an enjoyable Audible listen of a story about sixteen year-old Kyra Agnew, the winning state champion softball pitcher is abducted shortly after the game and returned five years later without having aged a day. First having to deal with the changes in her friends and families lives during her absence, Kyra has much bigger problems on the horizon. A secret government agency wants to capture her and she has strange new abilities. What has happened to her? Who has done it to her? Are there any others like her? What will happen next - makes for an enjoyable listen without getting too far out into conspiracy land to make it seem to be within the realm of possibility.

Well written, very appropriate and capable narrator make this an fine production and another great Audible listen. Hopefully, there were be more stories featuring Kyra Agnew .

An Uneven story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It wasn't a complete waste of time. It was a compelling concept. 16 year old Kyra disappears on day. and then reappears 5 years later. While the rest of the world has moved on, Kyra remains 16 years old. Her parents have divorced, her mother's remarried. Her boyfriend is now dating her best friend. His little brother is now 17, and has become quite the stud. The only person who seems SUPER concerned with her disappearance is her father, and he's been labeled as a nut-case. This part of the story seems pretty good. Where, What, How and Why did this happen to Kyra?
Then it gets all convoluted. G-Men, underground space aliens, fellow abductees. The second half of the book just gets too bogged down. .

Would you ever listen to anything by Kimberly Derting again?

Yes

What about Tavia Gilbert’s performance did you like?

Good performance,

Was The Taking worth the listening time?

Yes, good potential, I would even follow the story, just to get some closure.

Any additional comments?

Hope the second book is more focused

Few issues with this story... otherwise okay.

If the main character did not feel the passage of time (5 years) in her disappearance, why does she act like she has to "remember" Tyler? Her "memories" are less than 24 hours old! And how does she fall in love with him so quickly? Basically she falls for another boy in 1 day, after mentioning SEVERAL times she and Austin "had their whole lives planned out". And really, who suffers a trauma like hers and then has a new romance immediately on their mind? Her first encounter with Austin post-disappearance conveniently wraps up their relationship neatly, paving the way for Tyler in a way too contrived way. It really irritated me.

Page Turner!

This author did a great job of developing a story line that was very interesting. Can't wait to read the next 2 books in this trilogy!

Intriguing, if a little meandering and sappy

I liked this story to a point that I could just stop listening. I'm planning on reading the sequels. The plot itself is a good one: girl is taken in a flash of light and returned 5 years later with no memory of any time passing. It was the romance that irked me. Kyra goes from being in love with her boyfriend to falling for his brother very quickly. All while hating her ex for falling for her best friend over the 5 years she had been gone. Flimsy. Even though I ended up liking Tyler's character in the end. I think the narrator saved the book. She is extremely talented.

I like the premise.

I liked this book. the characters are interesting and the idea is great. The problem I had was that, even at 16, you would think Kira would be more world wise than she is. but she grew up pretty fast.

This books is terrible unless you like Twilight

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

There is NOTHING that could make this book be a 5 star rating

What could Kimberly Derting have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Rewrite the whole entire thing. Even if you have a wide latitude when it comes to "suspension of belief," you'll cringe at the wildly two-dimensional characters in a scenario that disregards any sense of reality. I can't stress this enough...this sounded like a good book on paper, but it turns into a stupid teen love story that is horribly written.

"He pressed his hip against mine." Seriously, is Derting's inspiration coming from Danielle Steele? I CAN'T STRESS HOW BAD THIS IS.

Did Tavia Gilbert do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I feel bad that she has to read this dribble. But at the same time, her "man" voice makes you want to double face palm.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Taking?

I would have asked her to take everything after the precipitating incident, put it on an external hard drive and erase the original copy from her computer. Then I would take the hard drive, pour acetone on it and light it on fire. After it was done burning to a charred putty of plastic, I'd scrape it off the ground while it was still hot and mold it into the shape of a dog turd. I would then send it to the MOMA in New York. The museum curator would be blown away with my piece of ironic art. It would be on display for years. And perhaps, considered an all-time classic, which would be the antithesis of what this book is.

Any additional comments?

If you have any semblance of taste, go read a book by Neil Gaiman

Good but unfinished

This is apparently (at least I hope so) going to be a series. The author did a good job of more or less wrapping up the main story of this book while keeping questions open for the sequel. I wish she had tied up a few more loose ends though. I'm not a big fan of having so many open questions at the end of a book regardless of whether it will be a series or not. I was quite impressed by the narration of Tavia Gilbert. I'd not listened to her performances before. She's most definately going on my "good narrator" list. Is this credit worthy? Sure. But I'd wait until at least the next book comes out.

***SPOLIER***** There WILL be a part 2!!

Would you try another book from Kimberly Derting and/or Tavia Gilbert?

Yes I would. I enjoyed the story, and the narration was fine

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Ugh. There were only 20 chapters in the book, and they whole "abduction" thing didn't fully come to light until chapter 13!!! The first 12 chapters was basically a romance story (barf). I wish more of the story was dedicated to the disappearance (and what happened during that time) rather than the budding romance between the main character and her ex-boyfriends' little brother.

What three words best describe Tavia Gilbert’s performance?

Made charcters believable.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

NO

Any additional comments?

By the way the book ended, you could tell there would be a second part. I wish I would've known that before I purchased. I think the author missed that mark on developing a deeper friendship between Simon and Kyra. I just feel like there are too many unaswered question.

The best I've read in a long time!

Finally I found exactly what I have been looking for so many years, I am not kidding.

I loved Kira's story, it must have been awful to come back and everyone has moved on from you.

What I liked best so far in the first book is that it seemed so real as if it had happened in reality.

Ps: Kira is much stronger than you think;)