My book for the Demons square was Dark Star. The lead, Audrey, has a superhero mom who goes out at night to fight crime. At least, that's what Audrey thought. In fact, her mom actually battles demons. And Audrey learns this after getting attacked by one.

 

3.5 stars

The plot: 'Burn Bright' picks up where Dark Star ended. Audrey helped save the world with a little help from her superhero mother, Morning Star. All she wants is to find a little bit of normal including some alone time with Leon, her new boyfriend, who is also the Guardian charged with protecting her. But life is never that easy, a new Harrower, Susannah stormed into town with plans to kill all Guardians so that she can discover the identity of the Remnant. Throw in some romantic angst, a BFF in crisis, a startling revelation and let the games begin.


The characters: Audrey and her friends, Gideon and Tink, continue to be well developed, sassy and engaging. There is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Scooby gang quality to the interaction and dialogue that will keep readers of any age entertained. As a villain, Susannah is deliciously evil. I do believe readers will find the other adults continuously frustrating; however, this mirrors real life interacts that many teens face.


Overall evaluation: This is a strong follow up to the series debut. One strength is that the novel fits well within the series but can ultimately be read on its own without the reader losing too much information. The blend of romance, super abilities and the paranormal is refreshing. I would pair this series with that of Sanderson's 'Steelheart'.

I absolutely loved author Bethany Frenette’s novel Dark Start back when I read it last year. It was great, totally awesome. I thought part of that because I love superheroes, comics and all that jazz. Personally, I liked that Dark Star was a novel where main character Audrey Whitticomb’s mother is a superhero. Yeah, Morning Star wasn’t exactly the traditional spandex and outside-underwear type of hero but the Kin part of her made up for it. Burn Bright was everything that I hoped the sequel to Dark Star would be and I love, love, loved it!

Burn Bright takes place two months after the events that took place in Dark Star.After encountering a Harrower using the name Susannah, Audrey discovers that there’s a new, powerful threat in her city. One who is targeting the Kin. Now a new remorseless Guardian has been showing up wherever Susannah is and tries to kill her. Audrey has no idea who this new Guardian is or why Susannah is doing what she’s doing.

Right now Audrey is just trying to get used to her life right now: Tink is having boy and Kin drama, Gideon has been having terrifying nightmares that Audrey can’t explain and her relationship with Leon is beyond confusing. Out of nowhere Audrey suddenly finds herself with a brand new ability that leaves her more powerful than she was and now all she wants to do is fight against Susannah and save her city again. When Audrey does discover what Susannah is after she learns that she’ll need to find the Remnant before Susannah does, but when she does she learn a devastating truth.

In Burn Bright the stakes are raised. Audrey not only finds herself with a lot of people depending on her but she also holds the fate of something she cares for most in her hands (and I can’t say what because spoilers guys). As a character Audrey grows from who she was in Dark Star where she sat in the backseat a bit more than I would have liked my heroine to. In this novel Audrey takes initiative and understands that she’ll need to trust what she knows if she wants to find the Remnant and stop Susannah. While Audrey becomes this big bad badass we also get to see a lot more romance between her and Leon (eeep!).

I had a crush on Leon in Dark Star. I fell in love with him in Burn Bright. He becomes so romantic, attractive and a character that we get to see way more of. Plus he’s also Audrey’s Guardian and his Guardian bond with her slowly starts to *spoiler, spoiler, spoiler*. But the way that Leon cares for Audrey and constantly defends her made my heart melt. The two of them are just so freaking cute together in every scene that they share. Currently my most memorable moment with the two is when they’re kissing when they should be training and are walked in on by Audrey’s Mom. Talk about awkward.

The antagonist in Burn Bright is very different than the threat that was in Dark Star. Personally, I think that Susannah instantly gives off a dangerous and creepy feel right from the get-go. She’s the new Harrower in town who seems like she just wants to watch the world burn (Batman references FTW). Readers will definitely like the new threats introduced in Burn Bright and will enjoy Susannah who is both beauty and beast.

I would recommend the Dark Star novels to readers that are big fans of the supernatural genre, readers who want a series that will keep them reading and hooked and to readers who want a novel that is just plain awesome.