A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies
Publisher: HarperTeen (September 27th, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardback: 320 pages
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
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.
Review: I really enjoyed A Beautiful Dark. It is a story with a great legend behind it and terrific characters. First, we meet Skye as she is celebrating her 17th birthday with her friends. Then she sees Asher for the first time and they seem to have an instant connection. Later, inside the party, she sees Asher again but this time he is fighting with another insanely cute boy, Devin. After a strange event during the fight, everyone goes home but Skye can't help but think about the mysterious boys at her party. But, when she goes to school she discovers that she will be seeing a lot of them because they are both new students.
This book definitely has that"good vs evil" vibe but not in the traditional way. Sometimes it's hard to see which side was good and which was evil. That was something I really liked about this book. Skye is smart, athletic, pretty, popular, and people may think that makes her harder to like but it didn't. I sympathized with her situation and struggles after the loss of her parents. Asher was incredible! I really enjoyed the way he interacted with Skye and the care he seemed to have for her. And, we can't forget Devin. Devin was more quiet and reserved but it was still easy to see his passion and devotion to helping Skye.
The plot may have been a little predictable but I still really enjoyed it. Jocelyn brought in a lot of interesting facts about Skye's past and the way it is presented really helps the reader better connect to her character. Sometimes people have a problem with love triangles but I personally love them if they are done correctly and I felt this one was. Jocelyn managed to create 2 guys who may have been different in every way but still manage to steal your heart.
My only real complaint about this book was the ending. I felt it wasn't long enough and readers are really left hanging. I know it's good to have books that leave cliffhangers but this one was a little too much of a cliffhanger and it really took away from what could have been an outstanding ending to this story! Even with that, I will still be anxiously awaiting book 2 so I can see exactly what happened.
A Beautiful Dark brings in just enough mythology, emotion, and heartwrenching moments to hook paranormal fans. A book just as beautiful inside as it is outside.
Find Jocelyn Davies
Website | Goodreads | Twitter
Purchase A Beautiful Dark
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
