ARC Review: The Deepest Night by Shana Abé
The Deepest Night (The Sweetest Dark #2)
by: Shana Abé
Publication Date: Aug. 13, 2013
Publisher: Bantam
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: e-ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 320 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 4/5 stars
It’s 1915, and sixteen-year-old Lora Jones is finishing up her first year as a charity student at Iverson, a prestigious, gothic boarding school on England’s southern coast. While she’s always felt different from everyone around her, now she finally knows why: She is a drákon, a rare, enchanted being with astonishing magical abilities.
As war hits Britain’s shores, and Lora reels from an unimaginable loss, she finds that her powers come with grave and dangerous responsibilities. At the request of Armand Louis, the darkly mysterious boy whose father owns Iverson, Lora will spend her summer at his lavish estate. To help the war effort—and to keep Lora by his side—Armand turns his home into a military hospital, where Lora will serve as a nurse. For Armand is inescapably drawn to her—bound to her by heart-deep secrets and a supernatural connection that runs thicker than blood.
Yet while Lora tries to sort out her own feelings toward Armand, fate offers an unexpected surprise. Lora discovers there is another drákon, a prisoner of war being held in Germany. And that only she, with her newly honed Gifts, will be able to rescue him.
With Armand, Lora will cross enemy lines on an incredible mission—one that could bond her to Armand forever, or irrevocably tear them apart.
Beautifully written, deeply romantic, and filled with daring adventure and magic, The Deepest Night is a mesmerizing novel of the enduring pull of destiny, and the eternal strength of love.
As war hits Britain’s shores, and Lora reels from an unimaginable loss, she finds that her powers come with grave and dangerous responsibilities. At the request of Armand Louis, the darkly mysterious boy whose father owns Iverson, Lora will spend her summer at his lavish estate. To help the war effort—and to keep Lora by his side—Armand turns his home into a military hospital, where Lora will serve as a nurse. For Armand is inescapably drawn to her—bound to her by heart-deep secrets and a supernatural connection that runs thicker than blood.
Yet while Lora tries to sort out her own feelings toward Armand, fate offers an unexpected surprise. Lora discovers there is another drákon, a prisoner of war being held in Germany. And that only she, with her newly honed Gifts, will be able to rescue him.
With Armand, Lora will cross enemy lines on an incredible mission—one that could bond her to Armand forever, or irrevocably tear them apart.
Beautifully written, deeply romantic, and filled with daring adventure and magic, The Deepest Night is a mesmerizing novel of the enduring pull of destiny, and the eternal strength of love.
This is the second book in the Sweetest Dark series, and I
really enjoyed it! I wasn’t sure if I would, simply because the first book left
me heartbroken. It was a great read, so
don’t let my shattered heart stop you!
The second book picks up as the school year is ending and
the headmistress is trying to decide what to do with Lora for the summer. I feel so bad for Lora. Everyone at the
Iverson school treats her like complete crap, and is just awful to her. She
does give them some lip back, but still. I would be laying the smackdown on
those rich, stuck-up brats!
Armand is back in this book also and together he and Lora
are dealing with the aftermath of what happened in the first book, as well as
the fact that they are drakon. I admit,
I didn’t care too much for Armand in the first book (probably because I really
liked Jesse), but he really grew on me in this one. Ok, he more than grew on
me, I love the boy now. He is the friend
that Lora needs to overcome her grief and yet he also doesn’t hide the way he
feels about her. You will definitely be rooting for him by the end!
This book did not focus much on the lore of the drakon, but
rather on awakening Armand’s dragon. I
still have a lot of questions, that I hope will be answered in the third
installment. The ending is definitely bittersweet, which leaves me wondering what direction Abe will
take the next book in the series and if she’s going to shatter my heart again.
We also find out that Armand’s brother Aubrey, is indeed still
alive, and together the two must venture into enemy territory to save him. This of course leads both Armand and Lora down a road that they never thought possible.
Shana does a great job of creating likeable characters, who
are willing to make the necessary sacrifices, no matter how heartbreaking the
outcome.
6 comments
ARG to Jesse! haha!
ReplyDeleteI really loved this one too! To me, it was better than the first one, there was more action and more DRAGONS.
Great review hon!
Hahaha. I definitely changed my tune during this book. Yes, I completely agree- we definitely got more action and I loved that! I feel bad, I wrote this review a while back and I can tell. It's not very detailed. LOL.
DeleteI haven't heard of this one before. But I like the drakon lore concept and the premise for this one. The characters sound great and I want to meet Armand and Jesse. Hopefully, there isn't a love triangle though. Glad you enjoyed this overall, girly! :D Great review!
ReplyDelete~ Maida
Literary Love Affair
I can assure you Maida, there's not really a love triangle. :D I really like this series. We need more drakon/dragon books!
DeleteI meant to read the first book, but never got around to it. I'm glad your heart feels better after reading this one. The drakon aspect sounds cool, too.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, babe!
Thanks Andrea! I've really enjoyed this series just because it's so different! Definitely can't wait for the third!
DeleteLeave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!
My blog is an award-free blog, however, as I just do not have the time to follow-up.