Book Review: The Power of The Dark

Hi readers,

Today I'm reviewing the last book I read in December and the final one of 2016. My mum was given this book by a friend who likes to send her interesting novels. She gave it to me knowing that I was a fan of the author. Robin Jarvis wrote my favorite trilogy - Tales From The Wyrd Museum, which is about three sisters who own a museum of historical objects and some of them have supernatural powers. I've not read anything by Jarvis in awhile so I was excited to read his latest and first in a new series novel.   

The Power Of Dark is a children's book but it's similar to Darren Shan novels in that teens and adults will enjoy it too. The plot is a simple one of good verses evil, but aren't all the best stories themed around that? The story is set in the seaside town of Whitby which is one of my favorite places and famous for being the setting of Bram Stoker's Dracula. There's a lot more to Whitby then just that though. It's the home of the very well known Whitby Abbey, the only place to find Whitby jet stone and one of the oldest fishing and whaling industries in England. There's also a lot of myths and legends involving Whitby. So, it does seem the perfect setting for a book centered around the supernatural.    

The two main characters, Lil and Verne, are best friends growing up in Whitby. Lil's parents own a goth themed shop and Lil makes things to be bought in the shop. Lil's parents believe they are witches, However, Lil doesn't believe that, but she still goes along with it. Verne's parents are into Steampunk and are busy making costumes for the up and coming Goth Weekend. I was nicely surprised and pleased that steampunk got a look in here and actually fits in nicely with the finally events at the end of the book. Also, the Goth Weekend is a real event held in Whitby every year. 

One of the other main characters is actually a witch. Her name is Cherry and she the guardian witch of Whitby, of which there has been a long line of. The witch's job has always been to protect and guard the town and people from the myths and legends that surround Whitby, including the plot one of the novel.

This legend involved another witch called Scaur Annie who fell in love Melchior Pike. Tragically though they couldn't be happy together as Pike was working on magical device called the Nimius which needed the tears of a magical creature which Annie knew about. Annie breaks her witch agreement to get Pike the tears and thus comes to realise that Pike never loved her in the first place. Though it turns out they were both set up by Pike's male servant called Dark who wanted the Nimius for himself.

 Now though, they have all come back in ghost form to complete their missions as the Nimius has been found and they all want it. However, it means that Whitby is about to be torn apart by the supernatural forces and Lil, Verne and Cherry must help to stop it. Which of course they do as most good verse evil stories end.

I really enjoyed the plot and the characters, finding it easy to get into the story. The pacing and dialogue was good too, making you want to read on to the end. My favorite part of the story was when a really bad storm hits Whitby and the cliff top graveyard is torn part and comes crashing down into Lil's house. A skeleton flies into her bedroom and seems to attack her. This is actually Annie trying to posses Lil. It's wonderfully described and though it's scary, it's the kind of moment kids really enjoy reading.

Overall, this is a good book for young people and adults a like. The plot and characters are enjoyable and the supernatural elements have a refreshing edge to them. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series now.

Thanks for reading and see you all next week! 

  

(Image from Goodreads)

Book Review: Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite

Hi readers,

Today we are going to look at one of my all time favorite books and authors. I'm not sure how I first heard about Brite, but I do know that Exquisite Corpse was the first novel I read by her/him -though I did just look it up and Brite does now prefer to be known as a him, so little confusing there, but anyway- Lost Souls was the second book I read. What drew me were the vampires, because they feel far from the main stream ones, which in my mind are the ones before Twilight, but you get what I mean. Also, the way the story is written, because the writing really had its own 'voice' as it were.

The plot of Lost Souls can kinda be divided into two, as firstly there is the story of five vampires and their friendship/relationship. Secondly is the story of Steve, Ghost and Ann, who become tangled up in the vampires due to a few different events. The main setting is New Orleans, though we get to see some of the humans and vampires travelling about early on in the novel. The narrative spends a good amount of time with both sets of characters, who also have developing time and do really start to feel like real people.

I think the real story focus on the character Nothing, who sets out to find his real parents and discovers himself. He meets the vampires who turn him and they help him to achieve is goal. I won't go into too much detail, but there's no dramatic twist about this plot because it is the prologue of the novel. My favorite character happens to be Ghost. For some reason I can really connect with him, because though like all the other characters he has major problems - he can see ghosts and is haunted by visions, which often come true-he is very loyal and kind. He creates brotherly like relationships with his best friend Steve- they are in a band together called Lost Souls? -and some of the other characters.

It isn't just the vampires that makes me love this book so much, its the fact that it feels really gritty and gives a much darker, Gothic, view to New Orleans and life in America. I like how Brite isn't scared to write about topics that people might see as controversial, like homosexual relationships and incest. There is a great level of detail too and it does have that horror genre feel and not the supernatural as most vampire novels are now falling into.

Overall, I would recommend that anyone give Brite ago, even if you don't like vampires or horror, just to experience the refreshing way he writes and goes about controversial topics. I really do wish he had more books out there, because I do love his work.