- Release Date : August 8th 2012
- Genre : Fairytale/Historical
- Pages : 408
- Publisher : Flux Books
Synopsis:Be careful what you wish for…In an alternate version of 1901 Los Angeles sixteen-year-old Noli Braddock’s hoyden ways land her in an abusive reform school far from home. On mid-summer’s eve she wishes to be anyplace but that dreadful school. A mysterious man from the Realm of Faerie brings her to the Otherworld, only to reveal that she must be sacrificed to restore his dying world. Her best friend, V . . . appears to help Noli escape and return to the mortal realm . . . but if she does the entire Otherworld civilization will perish.
The Huntsman travels to the mortal world seeking out those special girls with the spark; wild, creative and unbound. The Huntsman whisks these sparky girl away to Otherworld where they are loved, celebrated and
every whim is indulged
Then they are sacrificed. Blood spilled to keep Otherworld alive.
And 6 years later the Huntsman hunts again.
Magnolia “Noli” Braddock is a girl filled with the spark. However, in her upper-middle class neighborhood her willful, rebellious behaviour along with her penchant for mechanical prowess is seen as troublesome and not suitable for young lady.
Noli is sent to Findlay School for Girls, a reform school notorious for producing mindless and proper marriageable girls. She has been taken away from her home, her mother and her best friend V Darrow. Deep in despair she learns the hard way why she should never talk to strange Faeries; when she meets Kevighn Silver-Tongue. The Huntsman.
I think alot of the mixed rating for this novel lie in the misleading cover and genre. This novel isn’t a historical and isn’t a zeppelin/gadget filled Steampunk. I think the best way to describe this novel is that it is tried and true Fairytale. It is what I expected and what I got.
We’ve got Faeries, a damsel in distress, princes, queens and true love. The novel has a clever plot with smooth pacing and quite a few plot twist. This novel is also a bit more steamy than most YAs, which I suppose is a reflection of the Victorian-era setting of the novel.
Our heroine Noli wants to do what she can to help support her mother a high-class woman now resorting to working in order to support herself. I liked Noli’s drive and her defiance while at the reform school
As the novel progresses we are introduced to more characters and plots and soon Noli takes a back seat. She seems to lose her spark and isn’t very recognizable from the first chapter. We hardly get a re-mention of her mechanical tinkering. I just found the other characters and their stories more interesting than Noli’s. There was so much tension and deceit happening between the other characters. This novel has a lot of great back stories.
The novel lost me a bit towards the end. It features a Deus Ex Machina and there seemed to be a lot of padding. There is one chapter where Noli reflects and talks out the love triangle and I just didn’t see the point.
Towards the end the novel really comes full circle in somewhat of an ironic way which really ties the novel together. I can’t wait to see what else awaits our characters in Otherworld.
Innocent Darkness is a debut YA Fairytale with a clever story and plot,but still leaves something to desired. If you are looking for a romantic Fairytale this is the perfect novel to get lost in.
*ARC received for review.
Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | Amazon
1/2 of the blogging duo at Books and Sensibility, I have been blogging about and reviewing books since 2011. I read any and every genre, here on the blog I mostly review Fantasy, Adult Fiction, and Young Adult with a focus on audiobooks.