Saturday 25 May 2013

The Sweetest Dark #1 The Sweetest Dark

A historical fantasy through the dark period of Europe..... fascinating. Presenting The Sweetest Dark #1 The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe.

Here is the summary of the book:

Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she’s far more than what she seems.

England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England’s southern coast. Iverson’s eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny.

Jesse is the school’s groundskeeper—a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she’s only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves.

Filled with lush atmosphere, thrilling romance, and ancient magic, The Sweetest Dark brilliantly captures a rich historical era while unfolding an enchanting love story that defies time.


Elegantly written and beautifully crafted. Breadth takingly detailed. 1915 circa England, the year of the first great world war. Picturesque landscapes of English countryside and elegance of the days of old. But the mirror world is what we miss out on if we don't look hard enough and it is in this world that our tale begins.... of the legacy of the ancient creatures of old, the Drakon (Dragons i.e.).

A paranormal romance. A love triangle of sorts, Lora, Jesse and Armand form the crux of the tale. These two polar opposite males enter Lora's life when she comes to Iverson as a scholarship student. Once is shy and passionate Jesse and the other, the rich aristocrat Armand. This is the tale of self-discoveries and committing the most dangerous of all sins in this sweetest dark amidst the air-raids, bombings, of the mysterious wailing in the air and of touching romance that surprised us since we came across it within the pages. Don't get me wrong there is danger too and the sword cutting almost at the edge that makes it all the more perfect and very light read.

This is my first Shana Abe read and I admit I was a little confused at the beginning of the tale. Only to figure out later that this somewhat follows Abe's another bestseller series 'Drakon', well definitely some chapters but as the clueless, I tried to make sense of Rue and almost everything else. The three protagonists are brilliantly written. Lora makes for a fantastic heroine and her chemistry with both Jesse and Armand was simply off the charts. And while Lora and Jesse's romantic sojourn come as a big change from the norm that i'm used to so I slowly adapted to it with the shocking demise of one of the characters to rock the boat. I am definitely excited to see where it goes from there in the Deepest Night.

"An enchantress of a tale.....Refreshingly new and Elegantly beautiful"

Genre :      Young Adult, Historical Fantasy, Paranormal Romance


Publisher: Bantam


My Copy Publisher and netgalley


Rate:              4/5 (Really Liked It)

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