Reviews

A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian

jbrooks124's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Wesley Falls is a sweet former mining town; close-knit, religious, filled with small town values. At the end of the school year in 1995, 6 teenagers are brought together by their sophomore capstone project. The group decides to complete their research on the town's mine. But when they witness a vicious, violent crime, they realize there's no one to turn to, and the group parts ways from then on. Years later, one of the group has been murdered, and the remaining capstone 5 must come back together to confront the town and its all-powerful church members.

I really enjoyed this, and found it engaging even when the storyline flashed back to the past and was less focused on the main conflict. I honestly felt like this was some of what I had hoped to get out of Stephen King's <i>The Stand</i>; religious and somewhat culty, a leader emerges, the book is a solid length but doesn't actually go on forever and doesn't have weird sexual connotations. Also, I'm not sure if I could pick a favorite from the capstone 6, but if I had to, I'd pick Padma - no matter how badly she wants to, she never lets the fear paralyze her. Go Pad!!

vera_cologne's review

mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Interesting story and I like the concept of dual timelines. Not the biggest fan of the supernatural element, but that’s a personal thing. I think the pacing and and division of the timelines could have been better. We spent a lot of time on the old timeline at some point, a bit more jumping back and forth would have made this more interesting I think. And Maddie‘s 2015 POV felt a bit wrong in there. We didn’t really learn much and it was kind of at the wrong place? It’s not really the same timeline, it’s a bit earlier. Oh and the dream sequence didn’t work for me. Too much explanation. 

writingbookscoffee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Okay so I loved the plot of this book and the supernatural elements... but there were just so many POV to follow across 2 different timelines. And it just felt really long,

thefxckingtwist's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

3.75

josimpso's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

ckbadara's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

sydhoops's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

roleynicoley's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Super disappointed with this book because this authors other book was amazing. However this book was slow, boring and super inconsistent. This was a mess. So many POV, multiple time lines... and the story wasn't strong enough to hold this kind of book. 

taylakaye's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

xxsh0tgun's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0