April 30, 2012

Review: Darkness Before Dawn by J.A. London



Darkness before Dawn
By J.A. London
Paperback, 272 pages
Expected publication: May 29th 2012
By HarperTeen

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The war is over. The humans lost. And in the shattered world that arises, the vampires are king. They rule over the remaining walled cities with an iron fist, none more terrifying than Lord Valentine. His concern is with blood and blood alone, and seeing that it is ‘donated’ on time.

It’s Dawn Montgomery’s duty to ensure the safety of her fellow humans within the city, but also to serve as Delegate to Lord Valentine. She is the conduit between the two worlds, the human and vampire, and the youngest to ever do so.

But when Lord Valentine’s son, Victor, steps into her life, everything changes. She assumes he wants her blood, like all vampires. But he’s after more: her heart.

Darkness before Dawn has a great premise. It kept me entertained from the beginning to the end. It was definitely a page-turner. There are some points in the book though, that conflict with some personal beliefs, but I will get into that later. First, let me tell you what I loved about the story.

As I mentioned before, the premise was fantastic. Dawn, who is your main character, lives in a world where vampires have won the war. Humans are confined to live behind a wall where vampires are supposed to stay out of. They stay safe behind their wall as long as they donate blood to the vampires. In Dawns world things are slowly falling apart. Humans are donating less and less, and vampires are crossing over and attacking. It's not as safe as they thought it would be.

The prologue was a great opening and the first four chapters were just non-stop excitement, and from there the story just continues at this pace. When Dawn first meets Victor, she has no idea who he is or what he is. To her he is one of the Night Watchers, humans who are trained to protect inside the wall against vampires. Eventually she finds out that he is Victor Valentine, the son of the vampire who runs things in her town.

Victor to me was swoon worthy and a very strong male character. I loved everything about him. Dawn was also a good character, but I wasn’t quite in love her. She was up and down for me. One minute she was this strong female and the next she got on my nerves.

Now my reason for giving this book 3.5 stars is that on a personal level, I just did not believe that Dawn can be okay in three months with losing both her Father and Mother. I lost my mother three years ago and every now and then I am still a mess. The first year of losing my mother I was in a very dark place. I know people deal with death differently, but I do not buy that in three months you're already okay with it and going out to a party. Not to mention, she also lost her brother. This bothered me a lot. You don't lose your whole family and three months later you've learned to deal with it.

Also, everything that took place in the book happened in like a week or two time frame. So even though I enjoyed it so much, this also bugged me. It just wasn't very believable. I know, something so simple that others can overlook, which is why I say BUY THIS BOOK! My issues with it are personal. It is worth buying and reading. It has a very crazy ending and I cannot wait to read the second part.

It's a good book, very entertaining with a tragic romance, and action packed. It would have been a five star for me if it weren't for the things I listed above. You'll really enjoy it, especially if you like dark Vampire stories.

3.5 out of 5 stars.





13 comments:

  1. I think I would be bothered by the same things. Other than that, this sounds definitely interesting. It sounds a lot like Julie Kagawa's "The Immortal Rules."

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    1. I have to say, they are very different in so many ways, but while I was reading I couldn't help but think of The Immortal Rules so I have to agree. LOL

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  2. This does sound like a great novel!! While you may have had some issues with it, I'm still really intrigued by the premise. Everyone deals with grief differently, so this wouldn't bother me. I'd have a harder time believing the short amount of time in which this takes place.

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    1. That was an issue for me, too. Honestly, I probably should have rated it four stars because the more and more I think about it, I really did enjoy it. I keep replaying the ending in my head and get really excited lol. So maybe I enjoyed it more than I thought LOL. I will definitely be reading part two!

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  3. Too bad you didn't like to more. I've been really excited for this one, but that's entirely because of the cover. Why can I not stop judging them off of covers?!?!

    Thanks for the review. I like to be warned of weird things in advance. :)

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  4. Awww, I was so excited to read this one. I saw the cover and title and was like "Woahhh!!!". I'm still gunna read it though. The whole grief thing might get on my nerves though, but who knows? Thanks for the review!!! :D
    Alyssa

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  5. this sounds so good! the cover is a lot like 'fallen' to me!

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  6. Hmm..I think I understand where you're coming from. Thanks for pointing out where you felt differently about the book. It will give us a heads up when we read it. ;)

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    1. I just know what it was like for me when I lost my mother so it was very hard for me to relate to the main character.

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  7. I hate it when authors portray grief as this pain that hurts for a month or two, sometimes less, and then just becomes a dull throb. I lost my daddy when I was 12 and I am almost 30 and that is still a pain that can bring me to my knees. If an author is going to write about loss, they need to try to come at it from the perspective of an actual loss so they don't lose readers or anger readers that know how it feels. Regardless of this major point loser, though, I do want to read Darkness. I have for a while, even more so after your review. Fast paced and still good gets me every time! Thanks for your great, and HONEST, review!!
    Jaime

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  8. After I read your review, I immediately added this book to my TBR list. Thanks for your amazing review. :)

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