Review: Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

About the Book:

When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution humanity has been waiting for. The Undying’s advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and their message leads to the planet Gaia, a treasure trove waiting to be explored.

For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an ancient alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study… as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don’t loot everything first. Despite their opposing reasons for smuggling themselves onto the alien planet’s surface, they’re both desperate to uncover the riches hidden in the Undying temples. Beset by rival scavenger gangs, Jules and Mia form a fragile alliance… but both are keeping secrets that make trust nearly impossible.

As they race to decode the ancient messages, Jules and Mia must navigate the traps and trials within the Undying temples and stay one step ahead of the scavvers on their heels. They came to Gaia certain that they had far more to fear from their fellow humans than the ancient beings whose mysteries they’re trying to unravel. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more Jules and Mia start to feel like their presence in the temple is part of a grand design–one that could spell the end of the human race…

My thoughts:

Wow, this is a great YA science fiction and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s set on another world and while there are alien temples and alien suns and not quite enough oxygen meaning characters are forced to use breathers to ensure they have enough oxygen to stay alive… it is also a story of very human issues… greed, criminal behavior and a fight for survival.

It is written with two very different Points Of View. Amelia’s POV and Jules’s POV alternate every chapter but continue the story along in a rapid pace of betrayal, puzzles to solve, lies and secrets exposed while they race to be the first to discover the treasures the “Unending” left behind.

But is it a trap or a test? What they find is completely unexpected. They are being hunted by soldiers and scavvers and only by working together will they survive the obstacle course/maze of bobby traps left behind. Its almost as if the Unending don’t want them to reach the end alive.

A fabulous, well written sci-fi story for young and old alike. It’s a little bit Indiana Jones in space. A fun, fast paced story. There is a book two and I’m gonna have to get it now to see how it ends. 🙂

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