Monday, July 7, 2014

Monday, July 7, 2014 - , , No comments

Darkness

Rating: 4 Stars
Author: Erin Eveland
Version: NetGalley eBook
Goodreads:
One Girl. One Boy. And the Masters of Darkness. See the Shadow Creatures. They are everywhere. But you can't run from the shadows or the Masters who control them.

Catherine has been born with a supernatural power called Darkness. The Masters of Darkness have found her and it's just a matter of time before someone claims her.

An Interactive Novel
A QR Code starts the beginning of each chapter connecting the reader to specific art or music that ties into the mood and setting of the novel. Using the quick response code in print and eBook formatting, Darkness incorporates visual and sound to heighten the reading experience.

Review:
I was browsing through some NetGalley titles and saw this book called Darkness that just called to me. The cover looked interesting - yes, I do partially judge a book by it’s cover, that’s why they’re there - and the plot summary had enough hook for me to take the bait. 

It seems that lately that I’ve been reading books whose protagonists are suffering through everyday life: Eleanor from Eleanor and Park, Avery from Steel Lily, Liesel from The Book Theif, and now Catherine from Darkness. I swear I’m not actively searching for these stories like a sadist, but it’s just a general observation I’ve noted. Anyways, back to the review: 

I can’t say I really enjoyed following Catherine’s story, because she was living under such terrible conditions and it seemed that everyone was literally out to get her (minus two people). Even her mother, an extreme alcoholic, wanted absolutely nothing to do with her, besides the welfare check she was receiving for “child support”. I mean honestly, she slapped her six year old daughter across the face for calling her “mommy”. Also, despite Catherine’s story being extremely depressing, it was also very frustrating. It seemed that every time someone tried to help her, she would fight to remain in whatever crappy situation she wanted to escape from 50 pages ago. I can recall at least two instances with different characters where she could/should have “escaped” the situation, but remained. For example, Nathan is a character she spends many pages fantasizing about, but when the opportunity to runaway with him appears, she decides to stay with her abusive mother instead (for his sake). Nevertheless, Catherine’s struggles are a major factor in why she is who she is - a child born of Darkness. Another minor qualm I had with the book was that some scenes came across as overly descriptive and I found myself either skimming or thinking “just get to the point.” Yet, despite what I’ve mentioned above, the story was extremely well written and I really did enjoy it, overall.

As for the plot, I found it to be extremely unique and I really liked it's creepiness/darkness (if you will). Furthermore, the peculiar rules and abilities of the Masters of Darkness, coupled with the mystery behind Catherine's fate, kept me wanting to read more and fueled my desire to finish the book.

I just realized I had forgotten to mention the interactive capabilities of this novel. I downloaded a scanner app from iTunes - one that was highly rated - but was unable to get it to scan the code on my Kindle screen. I don't know if the fault was mine or the app's, but either way I was unable to experience what sounds like a really cool concept.

Would I recommend Darkness? Yes, yes I would. Especially to those who like reading well written, dark-fantasy material. 

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