The Unwanted (Black Water Tales #2) – Jean Nicole Rivers

In the remote, eastern European town of Borslav there is St. Sebastian orphanage, a place where people discard their unwanted children. For the American, Blaire Baker, it’s the perfect place to volunteer her services. Paired with a cheerful volunteer nurse, Blaire is enthusiastic about the possibilities, but is quickly discouraged when she encounters the nefarious nature of the staff and the deplorable conditions of the facility and the children.

Upon arrival, one of the children informs Blaire, “There’s something in the basement.” It isn’t long before strange things begin happening, including Blaire’s flashbacks of the accident that killed her parents. The children soon suffer injuries that Blaire, first, fears may be the deeds of the callous workers but she soon thinks the abuse may originate from a source that is less than human, something unwanted.

The unwanted is coming but in order for Blaire to fight it, she must dig into St. Sebastian and herself in search of truth. Blaire wants nothing more than to help the children, but when discovers the tragedy that happened in the basement and learns that the same evil forces are still at work, it will be Blaire who needs help…There’s something in the basement.

Rating: ★★★★,5

"I received digital copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review"

The Unwanted is a sequel, however it can be read as a stand alone story.

Two American volunteers Blaire and Travis, a teacher, and a nurse arrive at St. Sebastian orphanage full of desire to help the unwanted children. Blaire is our main character who is looking for a purpose in her life. Orphaned at a small age, never accepted, needed only for her money and marked with one sentence: “You can’t escape the curse” she wants to run away from her past. On a train to Borslav Blaire meets Travis, her companion who is easy-going and funny but looking for some closure in his life.

I never was an avid reader of horror books but this one. OMG I still have chills. Author skips between first POV and third POV so easily that at some point you don’t know what’s real and what’s not. Author is not playing with her character’s minds but with ours too. Really messed up. The plot and world building is so brilliant that the reader feels as though they really are in St. Sebastian. You can see that we have both male and female protagonists but if you’re looking for a love story let me just stop you right there. Even the author made that perfectly clear. This book is not about a love story, and that moment when love saves everyone. No, this is about mystery, thriller, messed up minds and one message – you don’t have to be afraid of ghosts. The livings are the ones who can hurt you. And the end. Again, OMG I didn’t see that coming but I guess you really can’t escape the curse.

I have only two complaints about the book. First, it’s a bit slow paced in the beginning but somewhere around the middle of the book everything changes. And the other one that’s bugging me is the language. As a non-native English speaker from a small country in Europe I understand the language barrier. But, in the book there is no such thing. Two Americans arrive at small East European village and communicate with everyone perfectly, including children who are all different age and never really had proper classes. So I have to ask myself do Blair and Travis speak this language that is probably something similar to Russian and Ukrainian or really everyone in Borslav speak English which is a bit hard for me to believe.

But all in all this book gave me chills and scared me really good. Thank God I was reading this book during the daylight in my apartment. But I had to lock myself with all locks and I was so nervous and edgy that every strange sound made me jump. 

If you like this type of book you definitely need to read The Unwanted and even if you’re not a fan you should read it. All of us need this type of book from time to time.

XOXO

Seraphina