What: A Beautiful Dark
When: September 27th, 2011
Where: HarperTeen
Why: Recommended
How: For Review (BEA)
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.
So for A Beautiful Dark, I'm going to separate my review into the good and the bad, just to make things a bit easier on my poor soul.
So the good things! I loved the plot. The idea behind the Guardians and the Rebels was fascinating and I wish we would've gotten a closer look at each side when Skye was trying to decide which one to go too! The writing was definitely fast-paced and entertaining and I never got bored throughout the novel, which shows excellent pacing! All of the side-characters (with the exception of Ellie because..urgh) were funny and sweet, especially her two best friends and Ian. Poor Ian, i'd accept his coffee anytime.
And now we get onto the bad things which mainly just concerns that darn love triangle. So expected. Pretty much it's divided like this:
Skye: girl who doesn't know what she was; totally confused but still pretty funny.
And that's not the problem, because while I was reading it, I liked Skye! But then came the love triangles, and it's just so...done. You guys know my love/hate relationship with love triangles. I don't want them to never exist ever again. I think when done well, they are fabulous. But when it's just the same old thing again and again. I get a bit tired of it! And I think we've all seen this one before:
Asher: arrogant asshole (because honestly, that whole excuse with Ellie? Not acceptable) bad boy with a "heart of gold". pompous, loud, overpowering.
Devin: quiet, distant, shy. just a nice guy! although i did like this characters, because I liked watching his struggle between following the rules and following his heart.
But yeah, that? My major problem with the book. But hey, maybe you'll love it! I know plenty of people who completely adore this book. Who knows: maybe Personal Demons just spoiled all over Light/Dark love triangles for me. Darn.
Overall, a great plot and story, just with an over-used love triangle!
Happy Reading!
