Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Review: Darkness Before Dawn

DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN
J.A. London
Paranormal Young Adult
342 pages
HarperTeen
Available May 29th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
This electrifying new trilogy blends the best of paranormal and dystopian storytelling in a world where the war is over. And the vampires won.

Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters....

Darkness Before Dawn is a fresh new story with captivating characters, unexpected plot twists, a fascinating setting, and a compelling voice. Written under the name J. A. London by a talented mother-son team, the trilogy is perfect for fans of True Blood and the House of Night and Morganville Vampires series.


MY THOUGHTS
Darkness Before Dawn starts out with a dark promise, the implied brutal violence and the last words of a faceless couple suggesting our heroine is unsuspectingly unusual setting a tone that sends whispers traveling down our spines as we prepare ourselves to unravel the mysteries of this vampire world. That dark promise doesn’t entirely come to fruition over the course of the story however, and we’re left at the end fully dressed in the super-sleuth gear we draped ourselves in at the story’s onset with little to show for all our eager anticipation. The secret surrounding Valentine’s interest in Dawn is mentioned occasionally in passing but never discussed in any detail, and thus we can’t help but feel as though we were sent a save the date to ratchet up our enthusiasm for the coming pages, but the formal invitation explaining the who, when, where and how got lost in the mail.

Dawn is a young woman the first several pages predispose us to liking, our interest in what makes her special causing us to be particularly attuned to her, eyes scanning the pages for clues we can collect and store for closer examination later. Our scrutiny eventually decreases in intensity as Dawn doesn’t seem to exhibit any traits that cause our hypersensitive radars to ping, seeming to be a fairly straightforward girl placed in an extraordinarily difficult situation. She’s perfectly likable and admirably stands her ground in the face of an almost one-thousand year-old ruling vampire, but she often doesn’t stand that same ground with regard to her friends, allowing them to push her into doing things she knows are dangerous with only the smallest of protests to show her objection.

In addition, the romance is something a little different than the synopsis suggests, as Dawn already has a boyfriend when we meet her; someone she stays with throughout the book even when Victor comes into play. Thus we have a bit of a love triangle situation with Dawn waffling between the safety of a human boyfriend and the danger of a vampire one, but luckily for us the triangle is not overly dramatic, and while she makes some poor decisions in her emotional struggle, it’s certainly not the teenage soap opera it so easily could have been. Victor, by nature of his grittier and more violent history as a born vampire and son of an Old Family patriarch, is the more intriguing of the two, the closet door to all his skeletons only cracked open the barest inch in this first installment, and we can’t help but look forward to the time when it’s open far enough that we’re able to see the outlines of each individual bone he’s got locked up tight.

For those readers who love paranormal young adult fiction and vampires in particular, Darkness Before Dawn will most likely be an easily devoured read that doesn’t necessarily cause jaws to drop with its fresh take, but that has strong entertainment value nonetheless. For those for whom the vampire genre may be wearing a little thin, this tale will likely be a touch disappointing as nothing new is brought to the table, and the vampire mythology itself is not fully developed enough to set it apart from many of its contemporaries. On a whole though, this first installment does show potential, and it certainly ends in a way that will inspire readers to pick up the next book.

Rating: 3.5/5

34 comments:

  1. Part of me feels like I've read one too many vampire books and part of me feels like "Oooh! Vampire! Bring it on!" I never seem to tire of these toothsome creatures.

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  2. As I fall in the latter group and am now holding vampire books up to The Immortal Rules standard, I doubt I'd enjoy this. I'm sure there are a lot of vampire lovers that will love this one, just not me. But great review. I loved the way you described how we would search for something to grasp for to make us really like Dawn but don't find it. Disappointing as I like my characters to be well developed! Great review.

    Heather

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  3. I truly was hoping for more awesome than mediocre... I don't know but the synopsis sounds awesome and .. the cover? OMG... and I just love Vampires so I am a little dssiapointed it hearing mind blowing awesomens about this book! Still, need to read it and just hope I love it more..

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  4. I actually felt like I had read too many vampire books lately, but then I picked up The Immortal Rules and I think my love for vampires has finally come back. The premise to this sounds really interesting, it's just a shame it's a little deceiving. Thanks for the honest review I think it's a book I will give a shot. Also the cover may play an important part in that! ;)

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  5. Aww, I was crossing my fingers that this would be more of a five star read, but I guess at least I know now not to go in with mega high expectations haha, lest I be disappointed! :') There are so many vampire books out there that sometimes it's hard to constantly bring something new to the table. But I'm still really excited to read this one! Part because that's one of my fave covers of the year, and part because I'll always love vampires no matter what! ;)

    Thanks for the awesome honest review, Jenny! :) <3

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  6. Great review, Jenny! At least I now know what to expect when I read this book :)

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  7. I added this one to my wish list almost purely because of the cover --so pretty! It sounds like an okay read, but nothing something I have to rush out and buy asap!

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  8. LOL- Ive never even seen this one before.....Ive only read two vamp books this year and Im being picky...I dont want to burn my vamp palette out.....but of course your review was awesome :D

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  9. Oh I see a book in Missie's future!

    I mean Vampires, entertaining read, YA---yep this is right up her alley!

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  10. A lovely review as always. I'm torn between my love of paranormal and my belief I should try something different, i.e- not vampires. Thank you for introducing me to a new potential read.

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  11. Alison - I'm the same way! Even though this one didn't wow me with it's vampire lore, I still blew threw it in no time:)

    Heather - I just kept waiting for that one thing that would jump out and be all "LOOK HOW AWESOME I AM" and it never happened. Maybe in the next book:)

    Danny - Definitely read it! Then email me and let me know what you think:)

    Jasprit - I adored The Immortal Rules too, it was brilliant. This one I just kept reading hoping Dawn would start to jump out at me with whatever made her special but that wasn't the case:(

    Mimi - I love vampires too, so while I was a bit disappointed in this one, I still enjoyed reading it.

    Kara - Thanks, glad I could prepare you:):)

    Leanna - Right? It's like the cover for Fallen and I adore it:)

    Tina - If you have a vampire quota for the year, maybe wait on this one:) It was entertaining, but it didn't blow me away.

    Felicia - hahahaha me too! Missie and I just never tire of the vampires.

    Kris - Thank you! If you love paranormal you'll probably enjoy this one even if it doesn't go on your shelf of favorites:)

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  12. "The House of Night" reference made my eye twitch. Not completely sold on this one especially because it seems that a lot of things aren't fully developed up to this point. I think I'll wait around to see how book 2 fairs. Otherwise, I'm gonna take a pass.

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  13. I haven't read too many vampire books lately. This one does sound interesting. Thanks for the great review!

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  14. Hmmm... I AM a tad tired of vamps... AND love triangles... But you've totally got me intrigued to find out why our heroine is so unique... :D

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  15. Well, your first thrilling lines got me excited but then to find out the mystery really doesn't pan out is a bummer. I am one of those who is definitely tired of the whole vampire trend and since this doesn't have anything new to offer, I might just have to pass, even though I am a bit intrigued. Thanks for the honest run down, Jenny.

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  16. It sounds a teeny bit like The Immortal Rules but without the OOMPH and WOW factor. I'm glad you reviewed this because I have read a review or two that had me wanting to know a bit more about it. Maybe I will watch for this at the library in the future.

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  17. Rummanah - I've read the House of Night series, and I don't think they're anything like this one aside from the fact that both have vampires:)

    Jennifer - I'm a vampire girl, I read anything and everything that features them!

    Ashley - I was really intrigued too, and then super bummed when I never found out why. Maybe that will happen in the next book.

    Heidi - You're welcome, hope it helped:) It might be a good one to read once the second book is out.

    Candace - That's an apt description. I liked all the elements, I just wanted more from them:)

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  18. Darkness Before Dawn sounds great! And i also thnk Dawn will be a great character! I love vampires! Eventhough i have read a great amount of vampires i still think this is going to be a good read.

    Great review! =D

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  19. I haven't heard too much about Darkness Before Dawn but I'm a fan of vampires so will have to keep an eye out for this one.

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  20. hm, I've been a little excited to read this one, but I'm in the category of tired of vampires and would like to see something new. great review, though! definitely still interesting to me. :)

    Ashelynn @ gypsy book reviews.

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  21. Hmmmm... I honestly don't know which camp to put myself in, Jenny. I'm always been of the mindset that I love everything vampire, but lately every vamp books I've read has left me a little less enchanted, even ones that were big hits among non vamp lovers, like The Hunt and The Immortal Rules. Maybe I need a vampcation? LMAO!

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  22. Oh :/ The oh comes from it sounded so good and then you mention things that makes me think I would get disappointed in a lot of places

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  23. I fell in love with this plot. I liked how different the book felt all together. Well it did at least for me. Thanks for the review Jenny!

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  24. I've heard very little about Darkness Before Dawn, so I'm really grateful for your review. The book seems a bit average, honestly, which is unfortunate. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts! :)

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  25. Thanks for the honest review! I am trying to take a break from vampire reads, so I may skip this one, although I am intrigued since it is paranormal ... I'm such a sucker for that genre! I must say I really like the cover though- reminds me of the Fallen series.

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  26. I do like something new, but can deal with something old (aka same story) when I just want some entertainment. I'm hoping the next one will bring more to the table. Perhaps it will. I still may only library book it.

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  27. Hm! I'm still not sure what to think about this one. One one hand I'm super curious and on the other, I'm a bit "meh" about the whole book! Maybe I'm finally getting a bit sick of the vamps *gaps* But I'm definitely intrigued! I think it's a book I'll be keeping an eye out for more reviews from before deciding what to do. Great review, Jenny!

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  28. I have to echo what Rebecca said above, in that I'm not quite sure what to think of this one yet either. I'm afraid that the whole love triangle thing might annoy me. Still, I am kind of intrigued by the idea.

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  29. This book sounds pretty good but I'm not sure if I'll read it because I'm looking for new takes on vampires .. Thanks for the honest review Jenny :)

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  30. Bummer. I was pretty excited about this one - oh the beautiful covers that keep tempting me only to crush my hopes! - but the MC sounds rather ordinary and you know I'm not a fan of love triangles. I don't mind that so much in contemporaries but I'd like more in my paranormal books. I'll probably give this one a try because I was looking forward to it but I'm in no hurry now.

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  31. Hmm, I don't think I'd be a fan of this one. I tend to be a bit critical of vampire books (except for Vampire Academy, which is awesome).

    Nice review!

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  32. Aw, too bad about this one because I had been really looking forward to it. Not that I think I would hate it or anything if I were to read it, I just think that there are other vampire stories that I still need to read that I might enjoy more. And I've pretty much had enough of love triangles - even relatively tame ones - so I'm pretty sure that would annoy me. Still - gotta love that cover! Great review, Jenny!

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  33. Hum...not sure about this one. Vamps still are kind of meh to me (except the ones I already know and Julie Kagawa's) and this one doesn't seem to be all that different than the others. Still, I can see my girls liking it.

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  34. I still like vampire stories and glad to see they are making a comeback. Lovely cover on this one! Great review :)

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