Thursday, August 18, 2011

Review: A Beautiful Dark

A BEAUTIFUL DARK
Jocelyn Davies
Paranormal Young Adult
391 pages
HarperTeen
Available September 27th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY
It hasn't been an easy seventeen years for Skye. She lost her parents in a car crash when she was younger and was taken in by her Aunt Jo. As nice as her Aunt Jo is, her job keeps her away for days and weeks at a time, leaving Skye alone to fend for herself. She's got good friends though and is striving to maintain her stellar grades to get into a great college, hoping to carve out a new life for herself on her own.

On the night of her seventeenth birthday, Skye meets both Asher and Devin when they get into a public fight at the coffee shop where her party's being thrown. As it turns out, both boys are new transfers to her high school and seem more than innocently interested in her and her whereabouts, making her wonder if there's more to them than their pretty faces.

Two boys suddenly taking a keen interest in her is odd enough, but more and more strange things begin happening right around her birthday. The boiler at the coffee shop exploded that night she met the boys. She makes the thermostat in her house rise off the charts and break. And on her school's ski trip, she gets caught in an avalanche only to be saved by Asher and healed by Devin. They seem to know a lot about her, and when they finally explain to her their purpose and her role in all the odd occurrences, she's not sure she can handle her new importance. But the boys need her to choose a side and the time she has to make her decision is rapidly running out.

MY THOUGHTS
A Beautiful Dark slowly eases us into a battle of light versus dark but successfully blends the sides together to a degree where a separation between the two becomes nearly indecipherable, and we struggle along with Skye to determine who falls on which side of the line and where the line itself is even drawn. Like Skye, we are clueless as to the fight between the Order and the Rebellion, fledgling newcomers together to Ms. Davies's world of the supernatural as we try to make sense of the cryptic messages spewing from two attractively mysterious young men. We find ourselves drawn easily into the story, hungry for more history and more intriguing intricacies we know are purposefully being held just out of our reach, and we find our patience tested as Skye's is, waiting and wanting desperately for a little crystal clear illumination.

Though we are thankful for Skye's ignorance with regard to her heritage so we need not feel alone in our own, Skye herself plants a few blockades in our path when we try to connect to her. When confronted with tiny pieces of the truth (something that doesn't happen until 150 pages in), she slips into a somewhat tiresome cycle of acceptance and denial. She often decides to allow Asher and Devin to try to teach her what they know only to get frustrated and resort to ignoring them and the changes taking place in the vain hope they'll magically disappear. She also waffles in her attraction to both boys when neither of them seems overly worthy of her attention, making us question her judgment and wonder what she's seeing that we simply aren't.

Both Asher and Devin have moments where we feel we're on the brink of understanding their appeal and our hearts begin to warm to them, only to have one or the other blow shockingly cold and snuff out the small spark that was beginning to ignite our affection. They both claim to have feelings for Skye despite the rules and regulations of their mission warning them against it, but the sincerity of their claims is continually called into question through one gesture or another as they both advance and retreat in a dizzying romantic duel. There is no doubt potential in both of them, but in this first installment they seem to be nothing but smoke and mirrors when we desperately need someone to let us see behind the curtain and touch something tangible.

Additionally, barely any information is revealed to us about the two factions battling for Skye's allegiance for the first several hundred pages, and then toward the end we witness revelation after revelation in rapid succession, culminating in a cliffhanger that has us blinking stupidly in disbelief that it's over. While we wish information could have been distributed a little more evenly throughout the story, the conclusion is undeniably action-packed and surprising, brilliantly turning us into bait squirming on a hook before we even realize it's happening, and we become more involved at that moment than we have been at any point previously. That hook finds it's way under our skin quickly, content to be a permanent reminder for us to pick up book two with the lingering hope we'll be brought into the fold if we just keep reading.

Rating: 3/5

37 comments:

  1. Dang, I'm already so annoyed at these characters just by reading their descriptions. They seem awfully fickle. It's a shame but I think I'll be skipping this one. Thanks for the review, Jenny!

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  2. Oh no. Frustrating characters and not enough details on the history, I don't think I will be reading this despite the pretty cover. Great honest review Jenny :)

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  3. I just do not know, it will frustrate me the way it was built, and other things too.
    but nice review :)

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  4. I just finished reading this one, Jenny, and I totally agree with your review! I have seen this book getting glowing reviews on Goodreads, but I have to say it just didn't work for me at all! The characters and plot were bland, bland, bland and that romance?!?! Really disappointed with this one!

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  5. Aylee - I just didn't understand her continued denial, there was way too much evidence to the contrary and she still wouldn't accept that what Asher and Devin were saying was true.

    Nic - It does have a beautiful cover doesn't it? The love triangle just didn't quite work for me, I didn't understand why the boys were interested in her or she them.

    Blodeuedd - Thanks:)

    Leanna - The romance was very disappointing, I was just confused because none of them appealed to me so I couldn't get behind their drama. I thought the ending was really interesting though:)

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  6. Too bad this didn't quite work - or at least not that well. I had trouble reading past your summary...mostly because it sounds like the summary for a dozen books I've read before. Too many cliches.

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  7. I kind of agree with Alison, it does sound like it could be maybe a dozen other books. Usually I read them anyway because some author can put a delightful spin in through either a refreshing voice or beautifully written characters etc. I have this book up for review and now I'm feeling a little worried. Will I be irked? Will I still like it despite the flaws? Despite any reservations, I think I'm still kind of excited to read it. There's always something to learn from a new book, usually there's at least one aspect I ENJOY. Great review btw, I really felt like I got a good impression of this story.

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  8. Great Review! I would have to say that it sounds a bit to much like other books that have come out that perhaps hold their story lines a bit more. Sometimes books just don't appeal to the reader :(

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  9. I get upset at books that lag throughout most of the book, slam you at the end with a bunch of action, then leave you with a cliffhanger. I've got a review coming next week where I rant about that very thing...

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  10. Great review and and so glad that I passed on reading this one. I think that I am overkilled on this genra. Love the cover

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  11. I've got this to read from Netgalley. It's too bad to hear that the characters are so frustrating. Thanks for the honest review!

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  12. That review was a perfect way to describe this one...I started reading it and lost interest pretty fast, I doubt Ill finish but hey you never know... :P

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  13. I love the whole controlling your fate. It made me shiver. But I adored the main characters and her strength! Nice review!

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  14. Hmmm, most of the reviews I've read on this one say it's like AMAZING... I'm getting ready to start it soon!! LOL

    I HATE when I'm staring at the book, like WTF? NO WAY it just ENDED.

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  15. Hmmm I think that ending would have ticked me off lol. I may hold off on this one, even though I have read decent to glowing reviews. Thanks for the honest and as always, well written review :)

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  16. Alison - It didn't really bring anything new to the paranormal YA genre until the end and then I got really interested in things:)

    Kris - I agree, I always find something to like about any book even when overall the book doesn't wow me:) There were definitely some positive aspects of this one outside of the characters.

    Felicia - You should skip this one, you're not a huge YA reader anyway and this one didn't blow me away.

    Amanda - I liked that the end was action-packed, but I would have liked some more information earlier on in the story as well:)

    Julie - I love the cover too:)

    Christy - I'll be interested to see what you think!

    Tina - I have a compulsion that makes me have to continue reading:) I just wanted a little more from the characters themselves.

    Savy - The ending impressed me, I didn't see it coming and it's probably enough to make me give book 2 a try:)

    Ashley - It wasn't my favorite but there were some redeeming qualities. The cliffhanger is rather epic though.

    Tara - I was surprised, I kept checking to make sure more pages hadn't magically appeared when I wasn't looking:)

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  17. Ahhh! I posted my comment, but not sure if it went through. Sorry if you are getting this twice. Anyway, I was saying that this book sounded somewhat interesting until you said that the author barely revealed any information regarding the two factions. That would drive me nuts! As a reader, I need more info! I've been reading a lot of books like that lately and I definitely need a break. It's exhausting! ha. Thanks for the great review, Jenny!

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  18. Hmm, I've been wondering about this one! It's a bummer that A Beautiful Dark wasn't all it could have been, but it still sounds fairly enjoyable. I look forward to trying it out. Great review, Jenny! Thanks! :)

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  19. I'd say that the premise of light/dark interests me, but not so much the push/pull of the characters. I think that would get old for me quickly. Perhaps I'll wait for the assessment of book 2 before I jump in. Great review as usual! I love your writing!

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  20. It always makes me sad when the cover is the best part of the book, and that is the impression Im getting on this one. I've known character who have fallen into that cycle you described, and it always turns me off. Yeah, sure, people are allowed to change their minds, but it gets tiresome to have to read about it. Plus, not a fan of the cliffies.

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  21. Great review! I have a feeling that the ending is going to hook me in too. While its still frustration that more information wasn't given earlier in the story.

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  22. Hmm I think I'll give this a shot when it is released -- after reading your review, I think I'm okay with the fact that I got declined this from NetGalley.

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  23. Aw, I got this one from NetGalley but haven't started it. I might hold off on it now since I don't like the sound of any of the characters nor do I like that we get revelations being dumped on us near the end. If you hadn't mentioned a cliffhanger, I would have strongly suspected this ended on one based on that info.

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  24. Sounds a bit confusing. I might still read a galley of it but prob wont buy it unless i like it.

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  25. Christina - We really got no information about anything until 150 pages in, then finally some information about why Asher and Devin were there was given to us:)

    Lauren - I still enjoyed it for the most part, the characters were just a bit frustrating at times.

    Melissa - It did get old, at some point you just have to jump in with both feet and see what happens right? I would hold off until book two as well, the cliffhanger is a doozy.

    Missie - It's a tiresome cycle. I can see fluctuating one or two times since everything is changing, but after that you just have to believe and give it everything you've got.

    Jenny - I still poured through it despite the drawbacks, so that's something:)

    Jinny - You should give it a try, I know a lot of people who just loved this one:)

    Zahida - Definitely a massive cliffhanger. I think I actually screamed the word "no" when it ended:)

    Laura - I think it will appeal to younger readers or anyone who loves a love triangle, but I grow tired of them so that's in part why the characters didn't work for me:)

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  26. WTF! Again another book with a beautiful cover and the story in it's pages isn't freaking fantastic. Why?

    'but in this first installment they seem to be nothing but smoke and mirrors when we desperately need someone to let us see behind the curtain and touch something tangible' WOW! this is so beautiful written!

    Awesome review!

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  27. Oh shoot! With frustrating characters, a meaningless love triangle, and lack of background in the story, it definitely doesn't sound like something that I'll read right away. I requested it from Netgalley and now I'm thinking I'll move it lower in my tbr pile. Thanks for an honest and great review, Jenny!

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  28. I have been looking forward to reading this one but I hate heroines that continually go back and forth between acceptance and denial of their situation. SOO frustrating! But it does sound interesting and you have me intrigued so I will read this one soon! =)

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  29. I'm going to give this one a try...hopefully i enjoy and it'll get better in the 2nd book! Thanks for your review! :D

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  30. Aw, sorry you didn't enjoy this one as much as you should have! I was really excited for it, especially because of the pretty cover, but now I'm not so sure. It's coming up on my review pile nonetheless! Thanks for the honest review, Jenny :)

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  31. Nice honest review, Jenny! I definitely agree about the characters, Asher and Devin especially needed some more development. I really liked some of the surprises...except for the cliffhanger ;)

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  32. This one doesn't sound like a fit for me but I'm sure there be those who love it.

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  33. Brilliant review Jenny! Just brilliant! I'll be waiting for the series to be published before I venture into this one. Thanks!

    Heather

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  34. Bummer! This book sounds really frustrating. I'm not a fan of not learning any info until the very end. Add the disconnection of the characters, I most likely will not be picking this one up. Great cover though! :)

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  35. Love the honesty of this review, it's just not a book for me. I just can't wait half-way through a book to really
    'hit' the excitement :(

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  36. Jenny, I'm a little put off because it sounds like a love triangle in the mix. Is there a love triangle waiting to strangle us? Gah! I wasn't so against TLT except I just finished Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead and I want to strangle myself from TLT between Eugiene, Dorian and Kiyo. *takes deep breath* Still, it sounds like a kind of good book with the excitement and story. So many books! :D

    Jen
    In the Closet With a Bibliophile

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  37. This sounds like everything I DON'T want in a book. I think I'll be passing. Thanks for your review!It's been very helpful.

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