Darkness Watching
by Emma L Adams
Release Date: 10th October 2013
Publisher: Curiosity Quills
Genre: Urban fantasy/paranormal
Target Audience: Upper YA/New Adult
Synopsis
Eighteen-year-old Ashlyn is one interview away from her future when she first sees the demons. She thinks she's losing her mind, but the truth is far more frightening: she can see into the Darkworld, the home of spirits– and the darkness is staring back.
Desperate to escape the demons, Ash accepts a place at a university in the small town of Blackstone, in the middle of nowhere - little knowing that it isn't coincidence that led her there but the pull of the Venantium, the sorcerers who maintain the barrier keeping demons from crossing from the Darkworld into our own world.
All-night parties, new friendships and a life without rules or limits are all part of the package of student life - but demons never give up, and their focus on Ash has attracted the attention of every sorcerer in the area. Ash is soon caught between her new life and a group of other students with a connection to the Darkworld, who could offer the answers she's looking for. The demons want something from her, and someone is determined to kill her before she can find out what it is.
In a world where darkness lurks beneath the surface, not everyone is what they appear to be.
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Iva's Review
Darkness Watching is a paranormal story about demons that is suitable for teens and young adults. It is told from the main character's perspective and is fairly well written, with an interesting storyline.
Ashlyn is in her final year of high school when she has her first encounter with demons, but a lack of sleep and the stress allow her to dismiss it, until the encounters come more frequent and one speaks to her. When Ashlyn goes to the little known university at Blackstone, she comes across a group who seems to know who and what she is. Now she must find a way to stay off both the demon and the venantium radar, find out if the nice guy in her flat likes her, and pass her course. Should be easy....
The story is told from Ashlyn's perspective. She is a young girl making the transition from high school to university. She comes over as naive and inexperienced, however she seems to take a lot of abnormalities in her stride.
Minor characters are helpful in that they provide insights and explanations into what is happening within the book. There are a few of these characters I'd like to know more about, and hopefully this is explored in later books.
I felt the characters were a little under developed for an adult reader to enjoy. They all seemed to be living in the moment with no real thoughts to consequences or experiences from the past. There was only surface emotion and I had to be led by the storyline and dialogue to understand how the character was feeling.
The story really comes into its stride during the last quarter of the book but then abruptly stops. I think this will be to its detriment rather than as a selling point to get into the next book as there just wasn't enough of Ashlyn's emotional side to really make her story memorable.
I really wanted to give this story it's best chance, as I really liked the idea and the way the story unfolded, but it never made that transition from being ink and paper to something that played out in my head and my heart.
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| Iva rates Darkness Watching 3 & 1/2 Hearts |
Purchase Links
Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
About the Author
Emma spent her childhood creating imaginary worlds to compensate for a disappointingly average reality, so it was probably inevitable that she ended up writing fantasy and paranormal for young adults. She was born in Birmingham, UK, which she fled at the first opportunity to study English Literature at Lancaster University. In her three years at Lancaster, she hiked up mountains, skydived in Australia, and endured a traumatic episode involving a swarm of bees in the Costa Rican jungle. She also wrote various novels and short stories. These included her first publication, a rather bleak dystopian piece, and a disturbing story about a homicidal duck (which she hopes will never see the light of day).
Now a reluctant graduate, she can usually be found in front of her writing desk, creating weird and wonderful alternative worlds. Her debut novel The Puppet Spell, published in January 2013 by Rowanvale Books, is a fantasy tale for young adults and the young at heart, inspired by her lifelong love of the fantastical, mythology, and video games. Emma also writes supernatural fantasy novels for older teens and adults. Her next book, Darkness Watching, is the first in the upper-YA/New Adult Darkworld series, and was published in October 2013 by Curiosity Quills Press.
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