Review : A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : A Darkness Strange and Lovely (Something Strange and Deadly #2)
Author : Susan Dennard
Publication Date : July 23rd 2013
Publisher : Harper Teen
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Following an all-out battle with the walking Dead, the Spirit Hunters have fled Philadelphia, leaving Eleanor alone to cope with the devastating aftermath. But there’s more trouble ahead—the evil necromancer Marcus has returned, and his diabolical advances have Eleanor escaping to Paris to seek the help of Joseph, Jie, and the infuriatingly handsome Daniel once again. When she arrives, however, she finds a whole new darkness lurking in this City of Light. As harrowing events unfold, Eleanor is forced to make a deadly decision that will mean life or death for everyone.


Personal Thoughts

Having loved Something Dark and Deadly, A Darkness Strange and Lovely was one of my most anticipated sequels this year. I was so excited when my copy arrived that I dropped everything I had to read it. Needless to say, I had high hopes for it. While I enjoyed A Darkness Strange and Lovely, there were aspects to it that left me conflicted.

Eleanor was a feisty and headstrong character that I fell in love with in the first book of the series. She was the sort of character who refused to bow down and would do anything to protect her loved ones. She had a spark to her that made her a truly special protagonist in my eyes. In A Darkness Strange and Lovely, my love for her sort of died down a little. She left me conflicted on multiple instances throughout the book with some of her decisions. For one, while I enjoyed Oliver's character, I didn't appreciate how she chose to stand by Oliver, a stranger, rather than the Spirit Hunters, people she has known for some time now. In addition, I didn't like how she held back important information about her life from Joseph, Jie and Daniel, constantly lying to them. You see, that was not the Eleanor I had grown to love in the first book. She undoubtedly still possessed her strong-minded nature, but the sudden change to her personality did cause some frustration for me. Despite that, I do reckon that it wasn't exactly Eleanor who changed, but rather the darkness inside of her that caused her to change, but still I just can't get over the fact that she disregarded everything that happened to her brother and made the decision to indulge in black magic. Hopefully, I'll get back the Eleanor I cherished in the third book of the series. The essential secondary characters didn't appear until more than halfway and I missed the interactions that these characters had with Eleanor in the first book. A Darkness Strange and Lovely also introduced a new secondary character in the form of Oliver. Oliver was a fun character, but there were times I was just confused as to he was a good character or an evil one.

The plot though was really well-done. It was so much better than the first book and I was thoroughly invested in the plot line. The darkness surrounding this book was amplified and I was on the edge throughout the entire book. Despite my frustrations with Eleanor, I thought the plot compensated for that. In addition, the world became more graspable. Through Eleanor's eyes and through Oliver's information, the reader gains a better understanding of the necromancy, the black magic and the dead. There was also a mystery to this book that, although predictable, was tackled beautifully. The element of fear was so prominent that I couldn't stop turning the pages to find out what would happen next. A Darkness Strange and Lovely was a lot more intense and darker than Something Strange and Deadly. Some of the revelations in this book have me really excited for the final book in the trilogy, which is bound to be bad-ass from the sounds of it. While I was completely satisfied with the execution of the plot, I was decidedly left rather underwhelmed by the romance in the book. With the way things ended for Daniel and Eleanor in the first book, I was hoping for more progress in their relationship, but by the end I felt like their relationship had remained standstill throughout the book. When it comes to sequels, I expect some growth from the characters, the plot line and the romance, so that was why I was a tad bit disappointed with the romance. Susan Dennard's writing was still as engrossing as in the first book. Her writing has that ability to completely enrapture you and allow you to become thoroughly invested in the story line.

It might seem like my review is slightly negative and that I didn't like the book, but despite the flaws in A Darkness Strange and Lovely, I did have a good time reading it and I am looking forward to the final book in the trilogy. This was by no means a bad book, but the first book was undoubtedly better, for me personally. Still, I have a strong feeling that the final book will blow me away!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5