The Dark World by Cara Lynn Shultz

Published by Harlequin on 2014-06-01
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
Size: 304
Format: eARC
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PJV Rating:

Paige Kelly is used to weird—in fact, she probably corners the market on weird, considering that her best friend, Dottie, has been dead since the 1950s. But when a fire demon attacks Paige in detention, she has to admit that things have gotten out of her league. Luckily, the cute new boy in school, Logan Bradley, is a practiced demonslayer—and he isn't fazed by Paige's propensity to chat with the dead. Suddenly, Paige is smack in the middle of a centuries-old battle between warlocks and demons, learning to fight with a magic sword so that she can defend herself. And if she makes one wrong move, she'll be pulled into the Dark World, an alternate version of our world that's overrun by demons—and she might never make it home.

PJV Quickie: THE DARK WORLD by Cara Lynn Shultz was a fascinating idea and combined compelling characters with a well-written delivery, but unfortunately it was a little too juvenile for me. I did enjoy reading it and will read on in the series, but its simplified storyline left me with a lackluster feeling that this book could be so much more.

Review: THE DARK WORLD follows the story of Paige Kelly an outcast who’s only friend is the ghost of a girl who haunts the school she attends (I kept thinking Moaning Myrtle) and the meet in the bathroom to talk. This has gained her the reputation of talking to herself, resulting in the nickname Bellevue Kelly and even her parents doubt her sanity.

The only person that has even shown an interest toward her, is the new guy, Logan Bradley.

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THE GIVER will be in theaters everywhere August 15th.  

SYNOPSIS:
The haunting story of THE GIVER centers on Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a young man who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Yet as he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), who is the sole keeper of all the community’s memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of his community’s secret past. With this newfound power of knowledge, he realizes that the stakes are higher than imagined – a matter of life and death for himself and those he loves most. At extreme odds, Jonas knows that he must escape their world to protect them all – a challenge that no one has ever succeeded at before. THE GIVER is based on Lois Lowry’s beloved young adult novel of the same name, which was the winner the 1994 Newbery Medal and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

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Expiration Day by William Campbell Powell was a surprise. The novel is touching and embraces the scifi theme, much like you would find in classic scifi literature, in a YA setting. Reminiscent of some great English SciFi writers, like Stephen Baxter or Arthur C. Clarke that strive to write a message within the futuristic scope. The topic is "What Makes Us Human." Which isn't original in the sense of scifi, other great novelists have tackled this topic, especially with androids as the main characters, but Powell put this within a touching family setting. This setting connects the reader to the characters, which doesn't happen often in a large plot scifi novel.

And I just have to mention that the diary narration also made this a wonderful read. It just brought that connection together. Finally, the last few pages made this novel. It is a must read. Don't pass it up. If you like Scifi, adult Scifi - not the "retellings of fairy tales in a scifi setting kind of scifi" - and if you like precocious Young Adult characters. Read this book.

Progress report:  I'm reading The Knife of Never Letting Go: I am listening to this as an audiobook. I think I'm on chapter 13. I was sorely tempted to DNF this book, but with my 2+-hour run today, I gave it more of a chance than I might have otherwise, and I am curious enough to stick with it for a while longer. I'm cheesed to hear that it ends on a cliffhanger, though. Darn trilogies.

Why was I tempted to DNF?  The language, for one--the faux-hick narrative voice of nearly-13 Todd, with his ruddin' use of "ruddin'" used the way the British use "bloody."  His constant use of the word "betwixt" or "'twixt" (I'm going by ear and not sure which I am hearing.)  His endlessly repeating, droning on, dithering....  Garrrr!

But now he's received an inkling that just about everything he's been told is wrong.  And I'm curious about learning the truth.  Even though I really hate this world Todd lives in.  And it seems that his society came about because they traveled from another planet, and somehow they had the nerve to classify the planet's inhabitants as "aliens"?  Is this meant to be a subtle commentary on colonialism?

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review