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A review by alina_leonova
Dark Ocean by patrick carpenter
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
This book has a lot going on! It's a dystopian YA sci-fi with some military, litRPG, romance and fantasy elements that involves training for a mission, a quest and a good revenge story. Addy and her brother Alex have an ordinary life on a corrupt planet when they get noticed by Zach Brine. He makes it his mission to train them to become elite Prism soldiers. They embark on an epic quest traveling off planet, fighting monsters and mysterious beings and honing their skills for the test that will decide whether they are worthy of being Prism soldiers. They also find friendship, love and meaning in the meantime.
There are three characters whose points of view we get to explore, but Addy feels like the main protagonist. She's a complex character who has a dark past. The author did a great job showing how traumatic events made her anxious, suspicious, aggressive and cynical but also really strong and unwilling to give up no matter what. I didn't always like her behavior but it made sense in the context of her personality and troubled past. There were also moments to admire, and it was a pleasure to see her grow. All the characters in the book felt real and were noticeably different when it came to their thinking, personalities and even speaking patterns.
There were quite a lot of action and battle scenes that were fun to read. The story of young people on a quest, trying to figure out how to pass the test added to the adventurous mood of the book. The final battle scene was really powerful and made a strong impression on me!
The book is a mixture of everything: it was really dark, violent and even gory at times, while also being fun and adventurous, inspiring and empowering, romantic almost to the point of being corny and cozy in its familiarity when it dealt with mundane elements of life or depicted friends hanging out together. It shows the importance of having people one can rely on, forgiveness, love and friendship and also encourages to stand up to injustices and fight.
All in all, I enjoyed the book and can recommend it to those who like YA / adventure / dystopian / military sci-fi, quests, litRPG (though it's not about gaming) and romance.
I've got a website about sci-fi by women and non-binary authors where I review books, create lists, do interviews and more. Check it out if that's something you are interested in.
There are three characters whose points of view we get to explore, but Addy feels like the main protagonist. She's a complex character who has a dark past. The author did a great job showing how traumatic events made her anxious, suspicious, aggressive and cynical but also really strong and unwilling to give up no matter what. I didn't always like her behavior but it made sense in the context of her personality and troubled past. There were also moments to admire, and it was a pleasure to see her grow. All the characters in the book felt real and were noticeably different when it came to their thinking, personalities and even speaking patterns.
There were quite a lot of action and battle scenes that were fun to read. The story of young people on a quest, trying to figure out how to pass the test added to the adventurous mood of the book. The final battle scene was really powerful and made a strong impression on me!
The book is a mixture of everything: it was really dark, violent and even gory at times, while also being fun and adventurous, inspiring and empowering, romantic almost to the point of being corny and cozy in its familiarity when it dealt with mundane elements of life or depicted friends hanging out together. It shows the importance of having people one can rely on, forgiveness, love and friendship and also encourages to stand up to injustices and fight.
All in all, I enjoyed the book and can recommend it to those who like YA / adventure / dystopian / military sci-fi, quests, litRPG (though it's not about gaming) and romance.
I've got a website about sci-fi by women and non-binary authors where I review books, create lists, do interviews and more. Check it out if that's something you are interested in.