4.5/5 stars 
 I've read Kimberly Derting's The Pledge trilogy and really enjoyed it. Knowing that I went ahead and requested The Taking because it has two of my favorite things, memory loss, and mystery. Of course this book is labeled as science fiction, paranormal, aliens.. but I feel it has a very contemporary feel. and I must confess.. I loved it. I feel that Derting can write an amazing contemporary novel and I am hoping she'll do that soon! Anyways back to The Taking, I thought this novel can't be confined to one genre.. it is exactly like The Pledge.. where it has historical and dystopian elements along with political and 100 other! This is why I love Derting's books, they are thoroughly thought out, intricate in the details, and very unique. 
 Kyra wakes up in the back of a gas station mart with no idea how she got there. Turns out she's been missing for five years but without aging a single day. She's still in her softball uniform from the last day she remembers, hair ribbons, dirt stains and all but everyone has moved on.. five years in the future exactly. Austin, her boyfriend, is now at university and clearly moved on and Tyler, his younger brother, is now 17 years old, a year older than her! All this mystery and head scratching was totally addicting. I couldn't put the book down and kept on flipping the pages as quickly as I could. It was really hard seeing how everything has changed in those five years and I really felt bad for Kyra. However the developing friendship between her and Tyler was just so adorable and heartwarming. I love Tyler so much! We all should demand a neighbor/friend/potential more? like him in our lives! I thought this side of the story was written impeccably by Derting. The romance didn't feel forced or overpowering, or too slow, too fast.. it was just perfect (hence my comment about her potentially being an amazing contemporary writer!). 
 The non-contemporary aspect of the novel was subtle at the beginning but prevailed in the second half of the novel and that was when everything went to crap, in the craziness full blown out, everything that could go wrong went wrong sense. I loved it! It was such a thrilling read! And on top of all that, The Taking even made me cry! See what I mean by the author combining and weaving so many different genres in a novel? Towards the end is when we get 10% of our questions answered but don't count on being able to figure out the whole novel because even after finishing it, I still have about 100 questions which is why I am SO SO excited for the sequel and will sell a percentage of my soul if I could get it early! What I am basically saying is this is a time where you need to take my recommendation seriously and go out and BUY the book because you're going to want to re-read it, trust me.