ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Expected Publication Date: August 13th 2013
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Bantam Dell
Description
It’s 1915, and sixteen-year-old Lora Jones is finishing up her first year as a charity student at Iverson, a prestigious, gothic boarding school on England’s southern coast. While she’s always felt different from everyone around her, now she finally knows why: She is a drákon, a rare, enchanted being with astonishing magical abilities.
As war hits Britain’s shores, and Lora reels from an unimaginable loss, she finds that her powers come with grave and dangerous responsibilities. At the request of Armand Louis, the darkly mysterious boy whose father owns Iverson, Lora will spend her summer at his lavish estate. To help the war effort—and to keep Lora by his side—Armand turns his home into a military hospital, where Lora will serve as a nurse. For Armand is inescapably drawn to her—bound to her by heart-deep secrets and a supernatural connection that runs thicker than blood.
Yet while Lora tries to sort out her own feelings toward Armand, fate offers an unexpected surprise. Lora discovers there is another drákon, a prisoner of war being held in Germany. And that only she, with her newly honed Gifts, will be able to rescue him.
With Armand, Lora will cross enemy lines on an incredible mission—one that could bond her to Armand forever, or irrevocably tear them apart.
Beautifully written, deeply romantic, and filled with daring adventure and magic, The Deepest Night is a mesmerizing novel of the enduring pull of destiny, and the eternal strength of love.
My Opinion
This book was so much better than the first (The Sweetest Dark)! I wasn't sure what was going to happen as the ending from the first didn't really follow a particular storyline that could be continued. It summed everything up really well and seemed final so I was glad to read that although the book picks up from where it left off most of it is about something totally different from the first installment.
The Deepest Night was better written and had a lot more action in it which I loved. It kept me hooked and I couldn't put it down for the solid 3 hour it took me to read. The aspect of the war has been brought into the limelight and even though some of the description did make my stomach feel a little queasy, the author did a great job of entwining the harsh realities among the main plot line to create a believable book.
I liked how Lora morphed into a strong and more independent woman throughout this book and I loved it when she began to throw the etiquette rule book out the window, it was really entertaining to read. As well as this the romance was a lot more subtle in this book which I enjoyed as the two finally grew towards each other. It wasn't the whirlwind romance like with Jesse and it made me connect and engage with the characters more as it didn't seem so abrupt.
This book is written from three points of view, Lora, Armand and Jesse. Although this was one of the things I disliked in the first book it seemed better executed and flowed with more natural breaks in The Deepest Night. I'm still not sure whether we needed Armands POV but I liked how Jesse wasn't written out of the story and we got to hear his thoughts every so often.
There are only two things I can think of that nagged me slightly while reading. This may be me being picky but a few times the author slipped into American English and although it wouldn't bother me for the main narrative when the characters use it in speech it detracted from the realism as people in the time period and setting would not be using the US version. One example of this was referring to the "fall term" and although it is minor it nagged me slightly.
The only other thing I have a slight problem with is that there isn't really a section in the book that explains what the stars are or what they are meant to do. You hear their comments throughout the book but I'm still unsure of what their main purpose is meant to be.
Overall though, The Deepest Night was far better than the first book. It was action packed, hard to put down and fast paced. The writing has developed a lot and flows so much more than in the first book. The romances develop well and makes it easier to fall in love with the characters and sympathise with them as the story moves along. I also love this cover as well!
ARC received in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Expected release: 9th April 2013
ISBN: 9780345531704
Description
“With every fiber of my being, I yearned to be normal. To glide through my days at Iverson without incident. But I’d have to face the fact that my life was about to unfold in a very, very different way than I’d ever envisioned. Normal would become forever out of reach.”
Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she’s far more than what she seems.
England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England’s southern coast. Iverson’s eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny.
Jesse is the school’s groundskeeper—a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she’s only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves.
Filled with lush atmosphere, thrilling romance, and ancient magic, The Sweetest Dark brilliantly captures a rich historical era while unfolding an enchanting love story that defies time.
My Opinion
The main thing that attracted me to this book was the cover, it is absolutely beautiful and now that I have read it I love how the smokey dress effect links in with the plot. I'm not normally a fan of books set in a historical setting but I know quite a bit about the WW1 so for once a book set in this time period intrigued me as there were paranormal elements.
I liked the originality of the story and how the author picked on different paranormal species. As well as this it was one I would have believed to normally be aimed at guys so it was a nice twist to take dragons and turn them into a book girls would love.
The romance in this book was the main thing I liked. It was developed well and consistent throughout, I may have liked a little more passion but it was in keeping with the time period so may have looked slightly odd if the author had. Jesse was definitely my favourite character and I fell in love with his personality. I was a bit colder towards Armand but by the end I had grown to like him too.
As well as this for once I actually liked the fact that Lora is an orphan. Generally if I read anything like this in description it turns me straight off a book as I find them full of cliches and the same stereotypical drama. The Sweetest Dark however did none of this and I thought that Shana Abe did an excellent job of creating an interesting character that doesn't use their past as a way to create sympathy by bringing it up every second. I fell in love with Lora because of her actions and quick wit not because she whined about her past and pitied herself.
There were a few things that I didn't like though. For one, the writing at times was quite jumpy and moved from one scene to the next abruptly with the use of an asterisk rather than the author filling in what happens during the blank moments. I can handle this a few times in a book but sometimes there was only 2/3 paragraphs in between and at times it felt like the author didn't know how to link up sections with detail so resorted to missing it out altogether. As well as this at random points in the book a few letters were used as chapters. Although they are cleared up towards the end and I understood at that point, while reading them they became increasingly annoying as I had no idea who was meant to be reading/writing them, who they were for, or what they signified. This added to the jumpy nature of the book and broke up the flow.
Overall though The Sweetest Dark was an enjoyable read, and I liked how the action picked up towards the end. It's a book that makes you fall in love with the characters and I'm glad I have received the sequel via NetGalley too so I can start it straight away.
3.5
ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
