Review - DARKNESS BECOMES HER

Darkness Becomes Her (Gods & Monsters, #1) - Kelly Keaton
Genre: YA Paranormal
# 0f pages:
Publisher: Simon Pulse, Simon & Schuster
Releases TODAY!

Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.

Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued. She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her. Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

Remember in the good ol' 90s, how there were all those mythology inspired movies and TV shows? "Xena," "Hercules, "Young Hercules," the Disney movie Hercules, the "Odyssey" miniseries... now it seems like we're picking up on that trend. There was that new Clash of the Titans from last year, and there are at least two myth/gods-inspired movies that will come out soon... 2005's The Lightning Thief seemed to start the mythology trend in YA fiction and the rest of the Percy Jackson books followed close behind. Other books dealing with mythology have been published (off the top of my head, I can't think of any other Greek ones, lol)
And now...Darkness Becomes Her, the first book in the Gods and Monsters series from Kelly Keaton. There was so much action and butt-kicking in this book, I had to read it with a heating pad on my tush. You know how it's been mentioned that some books are a little "same song, second verse?" or even "same song, same chorus"? Well, if the mythology trend continues, you might feel that way about some myth book in the future. Chances are you will find Darkness Becomes Her a highly original and exciting thrill ride. I sure did.
The story world of this novel is so incredibly fascinating and richly detailed. Set in the near future, the city of New Orleans as we know it no longer exists: instead, it has been turned into New 2, a privately-controlled location with a reputation as a safe haven for paranormals. Keaton excels at bringing the world of New 2 to life in all its old-world, ethereal and dangerous glory.
I have to say, the rich descriptions and highly engaging writing style is what *made* the book for me.
Ari was an interesting main character to follow. For one, she's tough as nails and pretty mature for her age. When your newest foster parents are bail bondsmen, I'd think you'd have to have a strong personality. Sometimes, though, she had a tendency to really overreact. Like, she's the kind of character who goes from like 0 to 60 in the snap of a finger. Halfway into the book I just wanted to reach into the novel and hand her some Lithium or something, like "calm down, girl!" But she goes through a heckuvalot over the course of the story, and I admired that she wasn't a wussy character. And it was nice to read a book and *not* be able to guess what was about to happen next.
The only thing I didn't like about the book was the extreme and repetitious profanity. HOWEVER, I read an ARC copy and I have been told that a lot of it had been edited out for the final product. So I don't know how much or how little ended up in the final book, but just be advised, if that's something that is meaningful to you.
Ultimately, Darkness Becomes Her was a very entertaining and high-action novel that I would recommend to fantasy/paranormal lovers and YA fans in general. I'm interested to see where the story will go from here :)

Final Grade: