Friday, August 9, 2013

Review: The Never Dark #1: Dark Wings

Title: The Never Dark #1: Dark Wings

Author: Skyla Madi

Date of Publication: July 13, 2013

Formats Available: E-book

Buy This Book: Amazon

Synopsis: “I don’t want to kill you, not anymore.” He said, coming to face me. “I want to be with you. I want to hold you and touch you and—” He exhaled. “I. Want. You.”

Violet Ashton is an exemplary angel with ninety-nine kills under her belt. Nothing could make her underestimate herself until she's sent to hunt down Death, one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Or as Violet knows him--Lucas Cross, her ex-mentor and ex-lover.
Defining the line between what her job requires and what her heart wants is the hardest decision she's ever had to make.

Lucas Cross is an angel turned demon. The only thing he had to worry about was helping his brothers end the world, that was until Violet blew into town. From the moment he saw her again his normal self has fought hard to keep down the demon that desperately wants to kill her. Torn between love and hate, Lucas is determined to push all of Violet's limits.

The feud between the Never Dark realm and The Underworld is at boiling point and if Violet can't complete her mission Earth will pay the ultimate price.

My Review:

Dark Wings is one of those novels that is hard to review just because there is so little to say about it. That's not to say that it was a bad novel but it was just an unremarkable one. From the characters to the plot there just wasn't anything special about this novel that made it really stand out to me. Even though I liked it, because there wasn't really anything to dislike, it just wasn't a novel that I could really get into.

The shining aspect of Dark Wings was the fascinating world building. Madi did a great job creating a believable and interesting world and I absolutely loved learning more about the Never Dark and the back story of how Violet became an angel. I really liked Madi's version of heaven and angels and the intricate society of the Never Dark, as well as the angel's interactions with humans. Even though the plot wasn't really anything new it was interesting enough and the history between Violet and Lucas made for an entertaining story and I enjoyed the sprinkling of action and romance throughout the novel.

Although the characters weren't exactly two-dimensional I also found that they weren't completely fleshed out either. Maybe it was because of the shorter length of the novel but I felt like the characters were one their way but they just weren't there yet. While I enjoyed reading from Violet's point of view I absolutely loved reading from Lucas's point of view. Maybe it was his circumstances or his personality but I just really enjoyed getting a look inside of his mind. Likewise I really enjoyed his side of the back story between him and Violet, something about his character just rang a little bit more true than Violet.

My biggest complaint with the novel was the choppy writing at the beginning of the novel. When I first started this novel I was a little frustrated by how little the writing seemed to flow but as the novel went on Madi's writing greatly improved and that made it much easier to get into the story. The novel also had its fair share of slow spots but that's because of all the back story and introductions to the world; I could understand the purpose but it did make a few moments of the novel drag a little bit.

Overall Dark Wings wasn't a bad read, but I just didn't find anything exciting or new about this novel. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend it I wouldn't completely write it off either. Readers looking for a short, paranormal read may be interested in this one but don't be expecting anything new or exciting.

3/5

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