The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe
4/5 stars
Bantam, 2013
352 pages
YA Historical Paranormal
Scheduled to release April 2
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I confess I was mostly seduced by this book's gorgeous cover (even if it does seem to fall in the trap of dead looking girl in pretty dress-what can I say, I'm pretty predictable). Plus there are the gorgeous purple accents. Then I saw reference to WWI, boarding school, and something about dragons so I was hooked.
There are three main characters here who are kind of but not completely in a love triangle. One is Lora, orphan girl who discovers she can transform into a dragon when she is sent to a boarding school after being evacuated from London. Once there she meets Jesse who introduces her to her true self as well as the lord's son Armand (nicknamed Mandy which kept throwing me). These two boys also have mysterious heritage. As Lora battles mean girls within, danger without threatens the people at the school and its environs.
I had read some mixed reviews so I opened it a bit apprehensively. Happily I was quite swept away. I would describe the writing as a bit on the flowery side and not to the taste of everyone but I felt that it served the story well due to its historical setting. Most of the story is focused on Lora but there are random shifts in perspective throughout. Apparently this is a YA spinoff of her adult series beginning with The Smoke Thief. That bodes well for me as it means I have a further universe to explore.
My favorite element would have to be the way the Great War was woven into the story. I also love the glimpses of a longer history that I believe would please fans of The Smoke Thief. These traces as well as my deep love for boarding school settings helped pull me through. I think I liked this book well enough to check out the second which I believe is due for release later this year (yay for a short wait!)
Have you read the adult series? Are you a sucker for dragon books as well?
Other Opinions:
Good Books and Good Wine
In which Ems reviews books
Read, Rinse, Repeat
The Eclectic Reader
Ever since I read Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, I have been interested in more dragon books. Wonderful review! I would keep thinking of girl with a boy refered to as Mandy too.
ReplyDeleteWell I definitely think Seraphina is better but it didn't stop me from craving other dragon books so I'm glad this one was available.
DeleteI've seen this book around and I admit that the cover is beautiful and I am often pulled in by beautiful covers. I honestly, though, didn't know what this one was about. I LOVE dragon books, and this one sounds really interesting. I don't mind flowery language - I like it sometimes - and I think it is neat that this is a spinoff of an adult series. And mixed reviews are something that I always love because I am always curious to find out for myself how I feel about a book. I'll for sure be watching for this one, admittedly because of the mention of dragons more than anything. Great review and thanks for putting this one on my radar more than it was.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy it if you check it out! I can tell it won't be for everyone but I really enjoyed myself.
DeleteI have not read any of these books, but that's cool it's a spin-off from the adult series! I do like boarding school books. I don't know if this one would be interesting to me or not, though. I have a friend that LOVES dragon books though, so that's a plus for her!
ReplyDeleteI hope your friend likes this one if she gives it a try-I wish there had been more dragon stuff but it is the first book so it's still setting stuff up.
DeleteI had no idea this one had dragons in it!!! I like that cover, too. For some reason, I've just been looking past this one.
ReplyDeleteI kind of wish a dragon was on the cover but that would probably have been too obvious. Since that's the big selling point to me, I made sure to mention it.
DeleteYay! I am so happy that you enjoyed this one. It was the first book that I've read with dragons in it in quite a while. I can't wait to start the next one. Wonderful review.
ReplyDeleteJenea @ Books Live Forever
I'm really looking forward to the next one too-I just requested it on NG so fingers crossed I get approved.
DeleteI read this one last year (they pushed the release WAY back) and before there were any reviews or anything. I didn't know what it was about and I was completely BLOWN AWAY! I absolutely fell in love with it. I bought the first book in the adult series and now I just got re-excited to get busy reading it!
ReplyDeleteI was so bummed I missed downloading it originally so I was thrilled to get a second chance. I wonder what changes were made in the interim (because there must have been some changes, right?) Looking forward to your review if you write one about the changes.
DeleteI love the cover, but I thought it was an adult romance book in the beginning. I haven't read a book about dragons in a while, but this might be the one to change that!
ReplyDeleteMel@thedailyprophecy.
I think the cover is a bit misleading, which is why I wanted to mention the dragon element.
DeleteNot sub a dragon person but glad you loved this!
ReplyDeleteSorry commenting on my phone so typos abound!
DeleteI don't think I've read a dragon book quite like this one, which is probably part of the reason I enjoyed it.
DeleteI really loved this one, it was a bit flowery and it really surprised me that I enjoyed it so much because I didn't think it would.
ReplyDeleteKristin @ Young Adult Book Haven
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one too-it doesn't seem like the kind of thing I'd normally like.
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