Book Review: The Dark World

The Dark World 

By: Cara Lynn Shultz

Published By: Harlequin Teen (US) & Harlequin Teen Australia

Publication Date: May 27, 2014 (US), June 1, 2014 (Australia)

Page Count: 384

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or The Book Depository

Source: ARC Kindly Provided by Publisher (Harlequin Teen Australia)

Audience: Young Adult - Urban Fantasy/Romance

The first thing to say about The Dark World is that this is not a book to judge by its cover. The Australian cover is beautiful and ethereal and hints at gothic romance. This is not that book. The Dark World is an urban fantasy set in New York City. It’s gritty and dark and the main character is very unlikely to wear a floaty, Victorian era dress. 

 Ok, with that out of the way, let’s get to the story. 

Paige Kelly is somewhat of an outcast. It’s hard to be in the popular set when you talk to people that no one else can see. High school is weird like that. So Paige finds herself with a best friend who is a ghost, which can be handy at times, like when you’re sitting a difficult maths test, but not so much when your self-appointed tormentor walks in to the girls’ bathroom and finds you talking to yourself. Again. Besides Dottie, Paige’s ghostly best friend who died in the 1950s, the only person who doesn’t treat Paige like a complete freak is the new boy, Logan, who has a tendency to borrow her pens on a regular basis. Even her parents believe her ghostly conversations are actually psychotic episodes. 

 When Paige is attacked by a demon in detention, it’s Logan – demon slayer and half-warlock – who comes to her rescue. Paige finds herself in the middle of the ancient war between demons and warlocks. It seems that along with her ability to see ghosts, she has another skill that could tip the war in either side’s favour. Logan agrees to teach Paige how to defend herself, but soon he’ll move on to his next assignment, and Paige must keep herself from falling for him… 

 The course of true love never did run smooth, and a warlock demon slayer and girl whose parents think she has frequent psychotic episodes certainly have things stacked against them. Will the fighting bring them together, or tear them apart? 

 I enjoyed The Dark World. Paige, despite her troubles, is witty and headstrong and has managed to hold onto her sanity in a situation most would struggle with. Logan sizzles as the hard warrior with a gooey centre, and Dottie is cute as a boy-crazed 1950s teen. The suspense and twists and turns continue throughout the book, and the climax sets up the rest of the series nicely. 

 Recommended for those who like urban fantasy and a leading lady with attitude.

Summary:

Paige Kelly is used to weird--in fact, she probably corners the market on weird, considering that her best friend, Dottie, has been dead since the 1950s. But when a fire demon attacks Paige in detention, she has to admit that things have gotten out of her league. Luckily, the cute new boy in school, Logan Bradley, is a practiced demon slayer-and he isn't fazed by Paige's propensity to chat with the dead. Suddenly, Paige is smack in the middle of a centuries-old battle between warlocks and demons, learning to fight with a magic sword so that she can defend herself. And if she makes one wrong move, she'll be pulled into the Dark World, an alternate version of our world that's overrun by demons-and she might never make it home.