A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies
A Beautiful Dark
Jocelyn Davies
Release: September 27th, 2011
Pages: 400 (hardcover)Publisher: HarperTeenSource: Netgalley
On the night of Skye's seventeenth birthday, she meets two enigmatic strangers. Complete opposites--like fire and ice--Asher is dark and wild, while Devin is fair and aloof. Their sudden appearance sends Skye's life into a tailspin. She has no idea what they want, or why they seem to follow her every move--only that their presence coincides with a flurry of strange events. Soon she begins to doubt not just the identity of the two boys, but also the truth about her own past.
In the dead of a bitingly cold Colorado winter, Skye finds herself coming to terms with the impossible secret....read more at Goodreads.
Mini-Thoughts: For a story that hints so heavily at something supernatural, A Beautiful Dark spends more time meandering along as a contemporary until the reveal finally takes place later in the story. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing - time is allowed to dive into Skye's character, giving readers a chance to know her and her life. Relationships between her and two mysterious boys, Devin and Asher, have time to form and grow. Despite any issues I had with the overall story, A Beautiful Dark is an undeniably addictive and overall enjoyable book to read.
Highlights: Skye is a very good narrator, and incredibly easy to connect with. She's a realistic character with friends, an actual life, and hobbies. I really enjoyed the mythology of the story as well, it was very fascinating.
Lowlights: The revelations could have came earlier, and I really disliked the cliffhanger1. Asher and Devin were, essentially, stalking Skye - and that's not attractive. Skye herself seemed a little wishy-washy at times, she changed her mind about certain things quite a bit. The plot was fairly predictable and clichéd, with only a few genuinely surprising moments.Rating: 
1 The story cuts off in the middle of the climax of the plot. The ending to this novel needed a resolution - and there was absolutely none. I was honestly shocked that it ended where it did.
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Hi! Nice review. I love hearing about new titles. But I do dislike cliffhangers....that is unless the next one's already out. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI agree Lea, I would have liked some of the revelations to happen way sooner as well. I think it was like page 150ish at the campfire when we even started to get a hint of what was going on with Asher and Devin, before that it was a lot of love triangle formation things. Once it got going though I enjoyed it, so I'm interested to see what happens with book 2, especially after that ending. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteI think I'll like this one, but maybe I'll wait until the sequel's out so the cliffhanger doesn't drive me crazy! Great review.
ReplyDeletehmmm, so i assume that there's going to be sequel with an ending like that?
ReplyDeleteI have a thing with clichéd stories. I like them in some books, but in other books I totally hate it. I know, weird! But it's true. I do like the sound of this book and yes, the cover is awesome too. Thankfully the characters are great, and she's realistic? That's a very good thing. Shocked with the ending? I should wait for book 2. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, Lea!
ReplyDeleteLove your footnote. So fun.
Yes, I really really dislike cliffhangers too. And the one is this book doesn't sound fun at all. I'll probably put this book on the back burner until the next one comes out... either way, I know I won't be in a real rush to read it because the stalker thing doesn't appeal to me at all.
Thanks for sharing your honest thoughts.
I liked the overall premise of this one, but it fell short for me, too. I thought the ending was bland, and it didn't feel all that fresh. I appreciate your honest review, Lea :)
ReplyDeleteThis book started off really slow for me, but once it picked up I really enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteThat cliffhanger was crazy though. I can't believe that it ended the way it did.