A Beautiful Dark
Jocelyn Davies
HarperTeen
September 27th 2011
Young Adult | Paranormal
Angel
Angel
Official Blurb -
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 that threatens to shatter her world. Torn between Asher - whom she can't help falling for, and Devin - whom she can't stay away from, the consequences of Skye's choice will reach further than the three of them could ever imagine.
"A Beautiful Dark" is the first book in a captivating trilogy by debut author Jocelyn Davies.
Early opinion:
This book takes the good boy and bad boys to the extreme. There is one girl who has three romantic interests. One "angel" perfect boy, one "demon" bad boy, and one regular Joe. Both the good and bad boys are a sweet eye full so we can negate that factor. Not only that but the good looks act more as a lure. Only the lure is more predatory in nature since there isn't anything but nasty underneath. The pair of them are like a loaf of really wholesome bread infested with weevils and a rotten tomato. I find the good one boring, staid, and dull. The bad one is so bad he is boring and distasteful. He is the typical full of himself romeo jerk. No thank you. I like the regular guy. He is funny and down to earth. I am hoping that Skye can see through the shallow to Devin and Asher's less than desirable interiors. Please, I am begging you don't make me wish I could slap you.
Review:
The best part of the book was the beginning. Which isn't the best complement. The ending is just odd. A large part of the problem for me was that the best characters become inconsequential after the beginning. All the humor and charm left with them. The romantic face off between Asher and Devin is ridiculous. I felt like I was watching them being weighed on a scale the whole time. If one gained or lost advantage something would immediately pop up to change it. Whether it was discrediting or an ace up the sleeve. They were a couple of preforming monkeys. It really made me question Skye's mental condition since she was so willing to be swayed by their pathetic games. Here she has this perfectly awesome guy in Ian but the poor sap will never get a chance. It is mind boggling.
There is one thing I am intrigued at. There is some mention of cinnamon cookies fairly early in the book. The whole scene is written so believably that I am now suffering a craving for some cookie I have never tried. If only I knew how to make them.
After I finished I was trying to figure out what had really transpired and where the story was headed. Honestly, I don't feel like all that much happened. Girl meets two guys and finds out she is otherworldly and curtains close. It felt more like a prequel or prologue material. There isn't much setup for a sequel. We get the idea that she will need healing but other than that nothing. Not a lot to go on if you have a year long wait ahead of you for book two.
For an angel theme book I would rate it as average. Not preachy or textually heavy but with very striking descriptions of their winged forms. The animosity between the two is very heated and the powers they possess are a bit polar opposite. It was a bit funny when they were trying to one up the other with their powers. Only it seemed all they did was negate each other.
This book fell short of my expectation. All the characters with any real depth were marginalized in favor of shallow characters. I think the reason the two boys seem so shallow is that they have a lot of secrets. I don't think I will be following this read up with book two.
Content:
Violence: Mild
This book takes the good boy and bad boys to the extreme. There is one girl who has three romantic interests. One "angel" perfect boy, one "demon" bad boy, and one regular Joe. Both the good and bad boys are a sweet eye full so we can negate that factor. Not only that but the good looks act more as a lure. Only the lure is more predatory in nature since there isn't anything but nasty underneath. The pair of them are like a loaf of really wholesome bread infested with weevils and a rotten tomato. I find the good one boring, staid, and dull. The bad one is so bad he is boring and distasteful. He is the typical full of himself romeo jerk. No thank you. I like the regular guy. He is funny and down to earth. I am hoping that Skye can see through the shallow to Devin and Asher's less than desirable interiors. Please, I am begging you don't make me wish I could slap you.
Review:
The best part of the book was the beginning. Which isn't the best complement. The ending is just odd. A large part of the problem for me was that the best characters become inconsequential after the beginning. All the humor and charm left with them. The romantic face off between Asher and Devin is ridiculous. I felt like I was watching them being weighed on a scale the whole time. If one gained or lost advantage something would immediately pop up to change it. Whether it was discrediting or an ace up the sleeve. They were a couple of preforming monkeys. It really made me question Skye's mental condition since she was so willing to be swayed by their pathetic games. Here she has this perfectly awesome guy in Ian but the poor sap will never get a chance. It is mind boggling.
There is one thing I am intrigued at. There is some mention of cinnamon cookies fairly early in the book. The whole scene is written so believably that I am now suffering a craving for some cookie I have never tried. If only I knew how to make them.
After I finished I was trying to figure out what had really transpired and where the story was headed. Honestly, I don't feel like all that much happened. Girl meets two guys and finds out she is otherworldly and curtains close. It felt more like a prequel or prologue material. There isn't much setup for a sequel. We get the idea that she will need healing but other than that nothing. Not a lot to go on if you have a year long wait ahead of you for book two.
For an angel theme book I would rate it as average. Not preachy or textually heavy but with very striking descriptions of their winged forms. The animosity between the two is very heated and the powers they possess are a bit polar opposite. It was a bit funny when they were trying to one up the other with their powers. Only it seemed all they did was negate each other.
This book fell short of my expectation. All the characters with any real depth were marginalized in favor of shallow characters. I think the reason the two boys seem so shallow is that they have a lot of secrets. I don't think I will be following this read up with book two.
Content:
Violence: Mild
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