By Sara Walsh
2012
483 Pages
Mysterious lights have flickered above Crownsville for as long as Mia can remember. And as far as she’s concerned, that’s about the only interesting thing to happen in her small town.
That is, until Sol arrives. Mia’s not one to fall for just any guy, but she can’t get Sol—or the brilliant tattoo on his back—out of her mind.
Then Mia’s brother goes missing, and Mia’s convinced that Sol knows more than he’s sharing. But getting closer to Sol means reevaluating everything Mia once believed to be true. Because Sol’s not who Mia thought he was—and neither is she.
My thoughts:
Let's talk about the word "assume".
According to Webster the definition of the word assume means to take to or upon oneself.
I assumed many things about this book in the beginning-
Let's start with the first assumption-
The Cover:
Based on the beautiful cover of The Dark Light I thought this book was going to be rated PG(something I would put in the hands of an older teen)-there's a big sexual tone to it. She has the "this man is mine-come near him and I will cut you" stare. If you doubt the seriousness of her look-check out her hand planted firmly on his butt showing full ownership. Yep, I assumed Mia and the tattoo man probably had done/will do/are doing the BIG NASTY. Assumption was wrong-this romance is very G rated. Don't judge a book by it's cover you silly rabbit!
Content:
A lot of book reviews drop the word paranormal when talking about this book. Maybe we all have different definitions of paranormal? To me paranormal has elements of vampires, witches, werewolves, magic, etc. But after looking up the definition of paranormal in Webster's dictionary I found that paranormal means not scientifically explainable. The Dark Light has magic, a parallel universe, shape shifters/changelings, demons, and people with wings. This book sits firmly in the fantasy area for me. But it could technically be considered either/or/maybe both.
The Author:
I have never read anything by Sara Walsh before The Dark Light. After finishing this I can say I was blown away by the fact that I never knew what she was going to throw at me-the story was unpredictable on every level. The plot twists and story surprises kept me turning pages like a maniac.
Here we are tooling around in small town Nebraska, then when you least expect it she drops the reader into Brakaland and doesn't look back.
Her world building was amazing. I wanted to know more, more, more about Brakaland and Bordertown.
I liked that she made the characters real in the sense that they weren't perfect. I admired Mia's strength but at times she annoyed me by running head long into a situation she knew little about. I loved that she was so protective of her little brother but still acted like a seventeen year old that forgets to turn off her headlights and lets her car battery run out.
Don't even get me started on Uncle Pete. Flawed with a capital "F".
Sol's companion Delane is the trusty sidekick who brings the comedy to lighten the mood now and then. He was one of my favorite characters.
Sara Walsh recognizes that in order to connect/identify with a character they need to have some flaws.
At almost 500 pages the story wraps up nicely leaving a small possibility for a sequel(I could definitely hear more about Mia and Sol) but could also be left as a terrific stand alone novel.
If you are looking for great fantasy, romance with a ton of adventure this story is for you.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. I'll be donating it to my local Middle School where it's sure to be a big hit.
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