Friday, October 14, 2011

Delightfully Dark

Dark Eden by Patrick Carman

* Read this ARC via 
Once Upon a Twilight Book Tours
* Book will be released November 1, 2011

5 out of 5 gnomes

Wow, this book is crazy, in the best possible way.  This has got to be the best twist ending that I've read in quite awhile.  All the pieces are there when you look back but at the time I had no idea it was going to end like it did.  

This book had me thinking that I knew how everything was going to happen but just like Will in the story I was in for some big surprises.  The notes at the end do make a lot of sense and they'll help the reader put some of the pieces together.  

The story is all told from Will's point of view.  The way all the details are doled out makes you see everything through his eyes and you don't know it at first but he has some major issues and is not the most reliable narrator.  His phobia is just about the most crippling one there and you won't find out what it is for awhile.

The story's main theme is severe fear and having people try to get over their fears.  These are the kind of fears that stop these kids, seven in all, from enjoying everyday life.  It feels realistic that the parents of these kids would send them off to be cured because this is the last chance or possibility for most of them.  Their therapy doesn't seem to be working and this program is the only option.

There are some drawings of what they each fear that are included before the chapters.  I read the ARC so I didn't get to see all of the drawings but the ones I did really make the book stand out.  The story feels very interactive and may speak to the voyeur inside of you as Will watches what happens without anyone knowing.  

Will even falls for one of the other patients.  This adds another sense of intrigue to the book because you wonder if she'll be cured too.  It also adds to the whole paranoid factor as you look closely at all the patients and wonder who can be trusted.

The cure and each of the fears is spooky enough, but even as they are cured one by one, questions still arise of what exactly is done to cure them.  It will leave you wondering what price is worth paying to get rid of all of your fears.  I can't say much more without spoiling the book.

Overall Will and Mrs. Goring are the strongest characters and have and leave quite the impression.  This is the kind of scary book that has a foreboding quality throughout where you know something isn't right but you're just not sure what's wrong.  I highly recommend this book because of the surprising twists and turns throughout and the ending that is so well done.


Check out the website for the book, it's full of creepy goodness - http://enterdarkeden.com/




7 comments:

  1. Hmm... sounds intriguing.
    Thanks for the review.

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  2. @Sullivan Thanks, yeah, it was a surprisingly good book. The ending and the mystery/twists really made it great.

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  3. Great review, Thanks for participating on the ARC tour.

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  4. @TwilightsDance - Thanks, glad you like it :) Happy you had the tour for this one, it was surprisingly awesome.

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