Title: A Beautiful Dark (Beautiful Dark #1)
Author: Jocelyn Davies
Publisher: Harper Teen, 2011
Format: Print and Ebook
Genre: Young adult paranormal, fantasy
Synopsis (courtesy of GoodReads)
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, who she can’t help falling for, and Devin, who she can’t stay away from, the consequences of Skye’s choice will reach further than the three of them could ever imagine.
My Review (courtesy of me!):
I loved this book. I loved it. It’s the kind of book I sometimes think to myself “I want something really good to read, the kind of book I really can get into”. Thos books are hard to find sometimes for me, and this one I came across almost accidentally. I went into 2nd and Charles (my favorite used bookstore) searching for a book that wasn’t this one. They didn’t have the one I wanted but then I say this on the shelf and I picked it up and read the back cover:
We were quiet for a few minutes. I leaned my head on his chest and listened to the sound of his breathing.
“You don’t have a heartbeat,” I said.
“Does that bother you?” He asked.
“No.” I thought for a moment. “As long as you can feel things and care about things.”
“It’s wrong to think that you need a heart to love,” he whispered.
I was sold right then. Just my kind of read. I brought the book home and before I opened I told it please be good, please be good. LOL. It didn’t disappoint me at all. I knew about 10 pages in that this book was going to be good. How did I know?
The author has a way of pulling you into the book with her words. She paints a picture, opens a door to the main character, Skye and you just fall right in and you don’t want to stop reading. I read this book in a day. In a matter of hours really. I read through to chapter 20 the night I brought it home, put in on my bedside table and then started reading it again at breakfast. I haven’t had a book I just want to read because I loved in a long time. Sure, I have had books where I HAD to read them, I had to know what was happening. Sure, I wanted to know what was happening here but really, I just like the characters and I enjoyed being around them. (Is that odd? Maybe its because I’m a writer myself and the characters just seem real to me)
Skye is a regular teenage girl, okay, except for the fact that her parents died when she was 6. She goes to high school has a great group of friends and loves to ski. She loves her aunt Jo and doesn’t have any regular teenage drama. There are no mean girls at school to torture her and her friends are actually nice. I liked that. I like Skye. Of course, things don’t stay normal for long (it is a paranormal book after all!) and she handles it pretty well, meaning she takes things like a normal teen would. At times she wants to cry, at times she wants to scream, but that’s normal.
Skye’s best friend Cassie was a real joy to read too. This girl didn’t seem to have any hidden adgenda’s, loved boys, parties and music. I liked her more and more as the book went on.
Asher and Devin… the new boys in town (Aren’t their always new boys in town? Lol). I like the ying and yang they presented. It was fun to try and decide what each one was up to and it was interesting to watch them disagree. It seemed odd that two people who were seemingly from the same place would hate each other so much, but then it all clicked into place. I really loved Asher… course I would. He’s the bad boy… the dark hair and eyes, the protective nature, the flirtatious smile…. Yup love me some of dat. He has his secrets like everyone else I suppose and I am not going to spill them onto this page. If you want to know Asher (and you do) read the book. J
Devin was another great character. His tranquility, his blue eyes and blond hair…I enjoyed reading about him as well, he was also more intense I think that Asher, which if you read the book speaks volumes because technically, Devin is the tranquil one.
Let me address what you are all probably thinking by now: a love triangle. You see the two guys and the girl mentioned above…. I won’t say there isn’t one but it isn’t the same as others where the girl is like “Oh I am so hot and all these guys want me, who shall I choose?” This triangle I didn’t mind at all… maybe because to me (and maybe to you – you will have to form your own opinion) there wasn’t really a triangle. I think I know where the scales are tipped to. I know who I love and to me, it isn’t really about a competition anyway. And to Skye the guy thing was confusing and more of an inconvenience to her life.
The plot of this book I really enjoyed to. Let’s face it – it wasn’t original but I didn’t care. It didn’t need to be because it was told in a fresh way with a fresh eye and original characters. Plus, I will say that some of the paranormal stuff, while familiar was original as well. Let’s just say this book was a new twist on an old classic. And classic’s work.
The book ends on a cliffhanger that left me wanting more and I am disappointed that the second one won’t be out until September because I would love to dive into it right now. I might even go on a hunt to find an ARC…. wonder if netgalley has it…. anyway, if you don’t like cliffhanger endings be prepared cause this has one. I liked it. It did its job to make me want more!
I will be 100% sure to read the next in this series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you are a fan of paranormal, romance and fantasy you probably will like this. It’s definitely worth a shot.
So there you have it. My opinion.
I was unsure about this one after I added it to my TBR on GR and immediately got a comment from another reader saying to “skip it.” Yikes! However, this review helped my feelings, and I will definitely be giving it a chance. You had me at the quote. Swoon. Thanks so much, Cambria!
Thanksnfor rwading my review Michele!! Everyone likes different books and reads but I really loved this book, it had me from the first page and so far its on my favorite reads so far this year. If you decide to give it a chance let me know how u like it!