Unearthed (Unearthed #1) by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

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

For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study... as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don't loot everything first. Mia and Jules' different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.

In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race's secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race...

The very first page of this book that had a portion of the decoded Undying Broadcast was so powerfully written that it gave me chills. It was like a message from beyond the grave. I was hooked immediately! It seemed to set the tone for the entire book because it felt so ominous and tense. My best description of this book would be Indiana Jones in space and on crack!
Jules was Indiana Jones if he wasn't very good with women, was naive, and couldn't defend himself. I know that makes him sound lame but he was actually an interesting character. he was an academic first and foremost and a genius in his own right. I think that he saw the best in people and didn't like to believe that they have ulterior motives. He is also so hell bent on clearing his father's name and discovering the truth behind the alien message that all sense of safety flies out of the window. 
Mia was similar in the sense that she was spontaneous and a bit reckless in order to reach her goals. All that she wants is to make sure that her sister is safe and cared for. I admired her determination to free her sister and to help someone in need regardless of them slowing her down. It proved to me that she wasn't as jaded as I initially thought though I wouldn't have blamed her if she was. 
There is a romance in this book but it doesn't overshadow the plot because it is not really a main focus. The characters appear to care for each other but they each have goals they want to accomplish so they don't let those feelings get in the way of accomplishing what they set out to do. The romantic notions are more passing thoughts and feelings rather than them professing their feelings for each other. I appreciated that the authors did this because it showed that they each had a good head on their shoulders and were focused on the task at hand rather than their attraction.
I really enjoyed the story! The pacing was good with enough tense scenes thrown in to make the story flow well and keep my interest. The puzzles that Jules and Mia were faced with were thought provoking and made me wonder why the aliens wanted anyone to find the temples and make their way through them in the first place. I was still guessing the purpose of the alien message until the purpose of the warnings and tests were revealed towards the very end of the book. I have to say that I didn't figure it out until the end which was really exciting for me. I love that I wasn't able to figure it out because then the book would have been too predictable for me. I look forward to the next installment of this series. I wish that I had the next one now because it is going to kill me not knowing what is going to happen next!