Pretty Dark Nothing (Pretty Dark Nothing #1)

The premise of Pretty Dark Nothing was quite interesting – Qiunn Taylor has been tormented by her dreams which are now bleeding into reality. The dreams are actually demons who are continuously taunting her – whispering ugly truths and cruel lies into her mind. She thinks she is going insane and feeling absolutely hopeless – her father left their family and got a new one, a fellow cheerleader is out to get whatever she had, her boyfriend leaving her for said cheerleader and now she is being attacked by the demons too, who say there is no escape for her. Aaron, a classmate, has psychic powers and can enter the minds of people whom he touches. He is unreasonably drawn to her, and keeps saving her from her demons, but she can’t even confide her fears to him.

The plotline of the book is interesting but loses its path somewhere in the middle. There is a lot of highschool drama which threatens to drown out the paranormal aspect of the book. Sure, the drama serves to escalate things the demons cause but at times, it seems too unbelievable. Her classmates, for example, shunning her one moment and then welcoming her the next. How did she become cheerleading captain again, for that matter? The demons sure didn’t help with her grades, that’s for sure. Not to mention, her disgusting pining over Jeff when she has this connection with Aaron. Throughout the book, things seem pretty hopeless for her and more than once you thing – she is going to kill herself. Towards the end, things are finally cleared out and explained so reaching the end sure overrode the boring middle.

The writing was the high point of the book – totally realistic and full of dark tones. You can imagine the scene as it is being explained in the book – just right, without too much description to hamper plot progress. The characters seemed a bit fickle, though, so I wouldn’t really praise the character development. Character-wise, I didn’t really like or connect to any. The ending, however, packed a nice punch and left a cliffhanger that makes you wonder when the next book is going to be announced, so there’s that. Overall, good but not if you like to avoid high school drama.

I received an e-copy from the publishers at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by how dark and spooky the cover portrayed the book to be. It seemed like it would be more horror than anything else. The premise even gave the same impression. I had am always a fan of reading debut novels for new authors and seeing how their skill grows throughout their various books afterwards.

Reid's debut book opens on a very troubled girl. She has lost her boyfriend of three years to the school slut, as well as her arch-nemesis, and she is struggling with hallucinations and voices speaking within her head. She doesn't know how to deal and she slowly loses all the people who she could once trust. As part of the social dynamic of most high school dramas, as soon as the popular boy dumps someone that person loses their social standing. Quinn, attempts to find peace in her chaotic life, but her only saving grace is Aaron.

Aaron is inexplicably drawn to Quinn and has no clue why. Sure, Quinn is cute and sweet, but his obsession with protecting her and loving her borders on obsessive. When Quinn faints in the hallway of their school, Aaron is there to catch her and makes it his mission from that point on to find a way to be with Quinn.

Aaron and Quinn's relationship is a constant rollercoaster. They are constantly doubting each other's loyalty as well as whether they should in fact be together. They attempt to get over their instant love for each other by distracting themselves with other people. This, of course, poses more and more drama for Aaron who can't remember his life before his accident and for Quinn who is struggling with dark, supernatural forces.

This book was not for me. Aaron and Quinn's romance was incredibly frustrating. They were avoiding each other, loving each other, then trying to hurt each other at every turn of the page. I just couldn't handle it. Not to mention, the big baddies that Quinn had to deal with were a steady steam of the same thing. Making Quinn feel worse and worse about herself until it comes to a shaky and completely unnecessary ending. I think for a first go, Reid has a lot of ways she could improve. Props for the effort and with this being a serial book, she has the next book to tweak and fix some of the flaws in this book. I have faith. I will definitely give the second book a go if and when it is published.

Pretty Dark Nothing is an interesting twist on all the angel books out there in today's age. Where most books focus on the beauty and majesty of angels, Pretty Dark Nothing draws upon the darker side of the romanticized creatures.

Review Posted on: http://www.ladybugliterature.blogspot.com