Review of The Dark World (Dark World #1) by Cara Lynn Shultz

The Dark World by Cara Lynn Shultz

My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Received: borrowed
Publication date: May 27th 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genres & Themes: YA, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Demons, Ghosts, Romance.

BLURB:

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.

REVIEW:

While I enjoyed Spellbound by the same author, this was just…one of the worst books I’ve read this year.

I’m a champion eye roller. I could go Olympic level with my talent.

Obviously, I had a problem with the main character. She sounded to me so arrogant and had, except for being a good friend, nothing I would enjoy in a main character or character at all. You may find her qualities and maybe I could too, if I overcome this annoyance I have…I mean had (let’s not keep a grudge here) toward her, but I’m absolutely not interested in doing that.

Another thing I didn’t like about her is that she is so NEGATIVE. Proof:

There was no point in getting my hopes up. I was destined to check ”forever alone” under my relationship status for the rest of my life.

Seriously?! You’re young, how can you talk like that? She hasn’t even had her heart broken so there is no point and no excuses for her to say things like that. It was just so eye roll-worthy.

Since we’re at it, here is another example of how what Paige says doesn’t make sense at all. I can’t believe she said this:

I’d kept my long dark hair pulled in front of my face, trying to hide, trying to not make eye contact with anyone as they whispered stories of my imagined conversations.(Really? You think you’re ALWAYS the center of attention, Paige? *rolls eyes*)Well, if I was also going to be considered a freak show at my new school, I might as well own it.

I.Can’t.Believe.She.Said.That.

I promise I stop criticizing her after this:

”Everything’s fine,” I interrupted him, agitated. ”I just finished a week of midterms, Dad. What do you want from me, jazz hands? Show me someone who gets thrilled about midterms and I’ll show you a masochist.”

What the…? It doesn’t even make sense! And how can she talk like that to one of her parents? I may not ALWAYS be an angel with mines but I would never ever say something like that.

Also, the writing wasn’t appealing to me at all. I felt like the author was concentrating too much on descriptions or emotions and as well as writing things that weren’t necessary at all. Plus, some sentences were really weird and took me some time to comprehend. For example:

I kicked a coffee-stained paper cup into the gutter, where it rested on top of a stubborn mound of soot-covered snow that refused to melt.

Are things like that really important for us to know?

So yeah, I didn’t enjoy myself at all. I did skim to be honest but only because I promised myself I wouldn’t DNF a book this month. Although, if I hadn’t challenged myself that way, I, without any doubt, would have DNFed this story at 30%.

If the main character sounds to you like one you would enjoy reading about, then I would say go for it, you will probably enjoy this book. At least much much more than I did (since 10% is easy to beat.) Yes, I did enjoy 10% of the book. I liked the scenes in which Paige and her ghost friend, Dottie, talked to each other, before all the drama started, but that’s a very small part of the book.

PS. The romance: predictable + cheesy + very far in the book = KILL ME NOW.

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