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booksandcecilia's review
3.0
3.5 stars A good start to the series, but I feel like there is something missing from the story. Maybe more subplots? Or maybe a bit more depth? Anyway, I like it and I will continue with the series.
shanella's review
2.0
Take faeries, innocent young girls, put them in the early 1900s in an alternate universe over a steampunk setting and you have Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear.
The unique setting of Innocent Darkness was what caught my attention. The Fae is real, but a little different than the usual fae that we see in young adult novels. Every seven years, these faeries take a young girl with The Spark, wine and dine her, giving her everything she could ever dream and hope for and then sacrifice her to the earth to renew their magic. Kevighn Silver-Tongue, a hunter for the High Queen, is given one more chance to make up for losing the last girl that was suppose to be used for the sacrifice and time is running out as the magic becomes unstable and slowly begin to disappear. With his world - and himself - at risk, Kevighn must undertake the challenge, even though he has lost some heart.
In the human world, it’s the turn of the century, early 1900s and Magnolia is a head-strong, smart girl who is living in a society that will try its best to stop her from making her own decision - after all society knows what’s best for women! Through a series of unfortunate events, she finds herself in a house for girls, where the heads are set on stomping out any individuality and making the young ladies into ladies society will welcome.
The premise of the story, the setting… everything was aligned for a wonderful tale, however, I found Innocent Darkness lacking. It started of with a bang, Magnolia - Noli - and her friend Steven - V - are caught illegally flying a car that Noli fixed and Noli ends up in a reform school in San Francisco. The things that happen at the school are very real and I felt for poor Noli and found myself rooting for her to remain the same and not be broken. Then, Noli is taken into the Otherworld and everything goes downhill from there.
The biggest issue that I had with this story is the love triangle! It’s not just that I’m not a fan of love triangles that I found an issue with it, it’s that this love triangle makes absolutely no sense to me! I’m sure there might be a bit of Stockholm Syndrome going on, but the way that Noli falls for Kevighn when he’s basically going to kill her was quite unbelievable - even the little explanation between Noli and Charlotte felt flat and forced. Also, the way Kevighn became enamored with Noli was also unbelievable and a little creepy, especially when he keeps comparing her to his younger sister.
The other issue I had was Noli’s behaviour towards the end. Yes, I get that she wants to go home to her mother, but she seems a little out of character towards the end, almost acting like a petulant child and this caused me to lose any respect I built up for her in the beginning.
The first half of the book flew by, but I found myself slowing trudging through the last half, as the characters irked me. It’s a shame this happened, the story really was interesting and the setting was gorgeous, I wish I could have cared about what happened to Noli and her friends in the end, she had such great potential. But alas, in the end it wasn’t a tale for me.
[Review of ARC from BEA]
The unique setting of Innocent Darkness was what caught my attention. The Fae is real, but a little different than the usual fae that we see in young adult novels. Every seven years, these faeries take a young girl with The Spark, wine and dine her, giving her everything she could ever dream and hope for and then sacrifice her to the earth to renew their magic. Kevighn Silver-Tongue, a hunter for the High Queen, is given one more chance to make up for losing the last girl that was suppose to be used for the sacrifice and time is running out as the magic becomes unstable and slowly begin to disappear. With his world - and himself - at risk, Kevighn must undertake the challenge, even though he has lost some heart.
In the human world, it’s the turn of the century, early 1900s and Magnolia is a head-strong, smart girl who is living in a society that will try its best to stop her from making her own decision - after all society knows what’s best for women! Through a series of unfortunate events, she finds herself in a house for girls, where the heads are set on stomping out any individuality and making the young ladies into ladies society will welcome.
The premise of the story, the setting… everything was aligned for a wonderful tale, however, I found Innocent Darkness lacking. It started of with a bang, Magnolia - Noli - and her friend Steven - V - are caught illegally flying a car that Noli fixed and Noli ends up in a reform school in San Francisco. The things that happen at the school are very real and I felt for poor Noli and found myself rooting for her to remain the same and not be broken. Then, Noli is taken into the Otherworld and everything goes downhill from there.
The biggest issue that I had with this story is the love triangle! It’s not just that I’m not a fan of love triangles that I found an issue with it, it’s that this love triangle makes absolutely no sense to me! I’m sure there might be a bit of Stockholm Syndrome going on, but the way that Noli falls for Kevighn when he’s basically going to kill her was quite unbelievable - even the little explanation between Noli and Charlotte felt flat and forced. Also, the way Kevighn became enamored with Noli was also unbelievable and a little creepy, especially when he keeps comparing her to his younger sister.
The other issue I had was Noli’s behaviour towards the end. Yes, I get that she wants to go home to her mother, but she seems a little out of character towards the end, almost acting like a petulant child and this caused me to lose any respect I built up for her in the beginning.
The first half of the book flew by, but I found myself slowing trudging through the last half, as the characters irked me. It’s a shame this happened, the story really was interesting and the setting was gorgeous, I wish I could have cared about what happened to Noli and her friends in the end, she had such great potential. But alas, in the end it wasn’t a tale for me.
[Review of ARC from BEA]
crystal_roguephoenix's review
3.0
If only Goodreads would let us give half star ratings. Technically, I rated this book 3.5/5 stars. I had high expectations for this book. . .
Read my full written review here ---> http://lunarticforbooks.tumblr.com/post/88818599769/book-review-3-innocent-darkness-by-suzanne-lazear
Read my full written review here ---> http://lunarticforbooks.tumblr.com/post/88818599769/book-review-3-innocent-darkness-by-suzanne-lazear
melrailey's review
3.0
I went back and forth on this book. I had a hard time getting started on it but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I just wanted to keep reading. For some reason, I had totally missed that this book was a fae story. Talk about an unexpected combination - fae + steampunk. Totally unique. And I liked it. I also liked the way that the author wasn't afraid to be unique in her writing and didn't feel the necessity to stick to one genre. I did think at times that the book was a little more young or juvenile than what I would normally read but the characters were kind of young. Hopefully, Noli will grow up in the second book. I am looking forward to it.
adkwriter15's review
3.0
This review originally appeared HERE on My Life is a Notebook. Please check out my blog to comment on this review or to read others like it!
In comparing the Goodreads blurb (the one used above) and the back cover blurb from my NetGalley ebook ARC, the difference is staggering. The back cover blurb tries to convince you the book is steampunk. The Goodreads blurb doesn’t try to pretend.
Despite having awesome amazing steampunk trappings at the beginning, fans of straight steampunk might find themselves a little upset with this book. Since I personally didn’t request this book just because of the steampunk factor and I enjoy reading about fairies this didn’t bother me, but I can only imagine steampunk fans not being warned of this. So, yeah, you’ve been warned.
Noli is my kind of girl. She makes fun of simpering, vain girls and prefers fixing machines and hoverboarding. The time she spends at the abusive boarding school is written fantastically, and it sent chills up my spine while making me ill. (Not graphic anything, mind you. Just the idea that they would do these things to these girls.) That entire first section is the entire reason this gets three stars. It made me excited for what was to come and allowed me to fall in love with Noli.
Unfortunately, the second half of the book wasn’t as great.
To be fair, I loved the setting. I loved the plot. I loved the description and the little wood fairies. But the characters began to grind against me. Noli, for example, begins to lose her independence a little bit. She spends a lot of the second half crying and running away. Granted, freaking everybody DID lie to her and she does do some spectacular slapping-of-faces, but she spends so much time crying and simpering and it really began to grate on my nerves.
The “mysterious man” from the blurb is a Fae named Kevighn. He’s the queen’s huntsman, tasked with finding a girl full of “Spark” to sacrifice so the Otherworld, magic and the Fae can continue to exist. He does this by seduction, usually. However, Noli is just different from the other girls and he finds himself falling in love with her. Because she … gardens? Never once did she do much of anything except frustrating him by not giving into his charms or binding to the Otherworld. His character was bland, seemingly unnecessary, and made way too many mentions of how much he wanted soft women and opium. So why was he there?
Love triangle.
Thankfully, at least Noli’s best friend from forever, Stephen “V” Darrow, is the other half of the triangle. Despite being a little over swoony, he’s actually a realistic kind of guy. Noli’s reasons for liking Kevignh are flimsy at best, but at least with V the attraction makes sense. They are clearly in love with each other right from the get-go, so they also lacked insta-love which I enjoyed. (Well, until it got awkward there towards the end and I was wondering if I was going to need to warn people under 16 about this book. That was … spontaneous.)
It is the plot that saves this second half. After all, I still like Noli enough that I don’t want her to DIE. V showing up gets her away from Kevighn (at least, until he randomly shows up, twice), which makes a lot of things more bearable. V’s brother James and Noli’s friend Charlotte are also fun characters, and I enjoyed reading about them.
The first part of the end seemed like a deus ex machina. This huge issue seemed to be resolved too easily. What I didn’t realize what that the book was NOT over yet. What happens to Noli at the end was definitely a twist that I wasn’t expecting, and it left me interested in what would happen next.
Overall, the book was a solid 3 stars. I even thought about giving it 3 1/2. I recommend this book for people looking to ease into steampunk, as long as you are the kind of reader that likes romance-centric novels with love triangles. If you’re looking for straight steampunk or something with a little less romance (the latter of which I was hoping for) then this might not be a top choice for you. Still, I enjoyed the world and I look forward to the next installment!
In comparing the Goodreads blurb (the one used above) and the back cover blurb from my NetGalley ebook ARC, the difference is staggering. The back cover blurb tries to convince you the book is steampunk. The Goodreads blurb doesn’t try to pretend.
Despite having awesome amazing steampunk trappings at the beginning, fans of straight steampunk might find themselves a little upset with this book. Since I personally didn’t request this book just because of the steampunk factor and I enjoy reading about fairies this didn’t bother me, but I can only imagine steampunk fans not being warned of this. So, yeah, you’ve been warned.
Noli is my kind of girl. She makes fun of simpering, vain girls and prefers fixing machines and hoverboarding. The time she spends at the abusive boarding school is written fantastically, and it sent chills up my spine while making me ill. (Not graphic anything, mind you. Just the idea that they would do these things to these girls.) That entire first section is the entire reason this gets three stars. It made me excited for what was to come and allowed me to fall in love with Noli.
Unfortunately, the second half of the book wasn’t as great.
To be fair, I loved the setting. I loved the plot. I loved the description and the little wood fairies. But the characters began to grind against me. Noli, for example, begins to lose her independence a little bit. She spends a lot of the second half crying and running away. Granted, freaking everybody DID lie to her and she does do some spectacular slapping-of-faces, but she spends so much time crying and simpering and it really began to grate on my nerves.
The “mysterious man” from the blurb is a Fae named Kevighn. He’s the queen’s huntsman, tasked with finding a girl full of “Spark” to sacrifice so the Otherworld, magic and the Fae can continue to exist. He does this by seduction, usually. However, Noli is just different from the other girls and he finds himself falling in love with her. Because she … gardens? Never once did she do much of anything except frustrating him by not giving into his charms or binding to the Otherworld. His character was bland, seemingly unnecessary, and made way too many mentions of how much he wanted soft women and opium. So why was he there?
Love triangle.
Thankfully, at least Noli’s best friend from forever, Stephen “V” Darrow, is the other half of the triangle. Despite being a little over swoony, he’s actually a realistic kind of guy. Noli’s reasons for liking Kevignh are flimsy at best, but at least with V the attraction makes sense. They are clearly in love with each other right from the get-go, so they also lacked insta-love which I enjoyed. (Well, until it got awkward there towards the end and I was wondering if I was going to need to warn people under 16 about this book. That was … spontaneous.)
It is the plot that saves this second half. After all, I still like Noli enough that I don’t want her to DIE. V showing up gets her away from Kevighn (at least, until he randomly shows up, twice), which makes a lot of things more bearable. V’s brother James and Noli’s friend Charlotte are also fun characters, and I enjoyed reading about them.
The first part of the end seemed like a deus ex machina. This huge issue seemed to be resolved too easily. What I didn’t realize what that the book was NOT over yet. What happens to Noli at the end was definitely a twist that I wasn’t expecting, and it left me interested in what would happen next.
Overall, the book was a solid 3 stars. I even thought about giving it 3 1/2. I recommend this book for people looking to ease into steampunk, as long as you are the kind of reader that likes romance-centric novels with love triangles. If you’re looking for straight steampunk or something with a little less romance (the latter of which I was hoping for) then this might not be a top choice for you. Still, I enjoyed the world and I look forward to the next installment!
dee2799d's review
2.0
Aside from the cover and the author's taste in music (she claimed to have listened to Emilie Autumn while writing the draft for this book), I find nothing at all charming about this book.
Oh wait, I do think Kevighn Silver would have been quite an interesting character if the author even gave him a chance and if everyone was more believably fae than they are in the book. As it were, I have no idea why I even tried.
'Steampunk' novel with fairies and tithes and set in San Francisco.
I wanted to know how Suzanne Lazear would handle that.
And it was all right, I guess. It wasn't too bad. The thing is, it wasn't particularly memorable either. I don't think I've read a steampunk book that deals with fairies and the tithe before, but for some reason, the novel didn't read like it's a new idea for me. In short (and 'in rude') it was mediocre. I can't even hate it. It's just ok.
Basically there's Noli, a human girl with a Spark. She gets chosen as the tithe by the fairy huntsman Kevighn Silver-Tongue. The tithe means so much to the Otherworld because the magic holding it together was unravelling and only a tithe can hold it back together.
But Noli has other ideas. Her friend V comes to her rescue before anything dire happens (and not only of the kind where people end up dead: Noli has to deal with her libido as well, and she has trouble resisting Kevighn's charm although it was obviously V she wants). And there's a completely daft twist that you saw coming a thousand miles away. That wasn't even playing it right by the characters. There was no actual foreshadowing to the events that led to this twsituntil we are told Charlotte had a tumour, and then you realise that she was put there to replace Noli as the tithe .
Oh, and there was a part where Charlotte and Noli meet again in the Otherworld and James asks Steven:
James: I wonder what they're talking about.
Steven: Us, probably. They're girls.
And that was when I went over the rest of the conversations in my mind wondering if it passes the Bechdel test. It does. And Noli opens the novel with nice thoughts about not getting married because she wants to go to uni and work.But then later on, the High Queen turns her into a sprite and therefore into the flighty female that Noli hates . Saying that females who want to get married and wear nice gowns and go to parties are less intelligent/insipid is not a very nice thing to do, Ms Lazear. Sure, those females would probably make feminists weep, but THAT DOESN'T MEAN NOLI IS BETTER THAN THEY ARE. there are many different types of women. And putting in Charlotte there as Noli's foil is not enough. Charlotte isn't 'one of those girls' either.
Add to that a bitch of a Queen who chose power over her family (another twist you saw a thousand miles off), and what do you even mean to say?
Fairies also not very convincing. I've read about humans who are more compulsive/unpredictable than these characters. Also, very heteronormative, which I really shouldn't diss but JFC, it's the fucking Otherworld and the conventions don't really matter (since they are not the same), but no one is gay? How weird.
Love triangle the stupidest thing I've ever read. There was an effort to make V interesting, but tbh, I just thought he was a fop in the beginning. Kevighn slightly more interesting, although the times he's been called a 'lying rake' or somesuch sort of puts me off. I KNOW this was in the early 1900s but omg, do people really call those sort of men lying rakes? At any rate, Kevighn better have his salvation in the next book, although I'd never know because I won't bother.
Oh wait, I do think Kevighn Silver would have been quite an interesting character if the author even gave him a chance and if everyone was more believably fae than they are in the book. As it were, I have no idea why I even tried.
'Steampunk' novel with fairies and tithes and set in San Francisco.
I wanted to know how Suzanne Lazear would handle that.
And it was all right, I guess. It wasn't too bad. The thing is, it wasn't particularly memorable either. I don't think I've read a steampunk book that deals with fairies and the tithe before, but for some reason, the novel didn't read like it's a new idea for me. In short (and 'in rude') it was mediocre. I can't even hate it. It's just ok.
Basically there's Noli, a human girl with a Spark. She gets chosen as the tithe by the fairy huntsman Kevighn Silver-Tongue. The tithe means so much to the Otherworld because the magic holding it together was unravelling and only a tithe can hold it back together.
But Noli has other ideas. Her friend V comes to her rescue before anything dire happens (and not only of the kind where people end up dead: Noli has to deal with her libido as well, and she has trouble resisting Kevighn's charm although it was obviously V she wants). And there's a completely daft twist that you saw coming a thousand miles away. That wasn't even playing it right by the characters. There was no actual foreshadowing to the events that led to this twsit
Oh, and there was a part where Charlotte and Noli meet again in the Otherworld and James asks Steven:
James: I wonder what they're talking about.
Steven: Us, probably. They're girls.
And that was when I went over the rest of the conversations in my mind wondering if it passes the Bechdel test. It does. And Noli opens the novel with nice thoughts about not getting married because she wants to go to uni and work.
Add to that a bitch of a Queen who chose power over her family (another twist you saw a thousand miles off), and what do you even mean to say?
Fairies also not very convincing. I've read about humans who are more compulsive/unpredictable than these characters. Also, very heteronormative, which I really shouldn't diss but JFC, it's the fucking Otherworld and the conventions don't really matter (since they are not the same), but no one is gay? How weird.
Love triangle the stupidest thing I've ever read. There was an effort to make V interesting, but tbh, I just thought he was a fop in the beginning. Kevighn slightly more interesting, although the times he's been called a 'lying rake' or somesuch sort of puts me off. I KNOW this was in the early 1900s but omg, do people really call those sort of men lying rakes? At any rate, Kevighn better have his salvation in the next book, although I'd never know because I won't bother.
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