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A review by brookeisbusyreading
Keep It in the Dark by Justin Arnold
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Oh man, I REALLY don’t want to come across as critical or nitpicky. (I mean I REALLY don’t.) There’s just a lot of little things that added up.
First, I couldn’t shake the fast-paced feeling I had the entire book. This story is around 280 pages I think, but I feel like it could’ve been longer - at least to 300 pages. I wanted more descriptions of the characters/environments. Above all, I wished the characters had taken more time to process things instead of just moving on.
With Casper’s backstory, I’m still a little confused. I get he was in an orphanage, which is where he shared a birthday with another kid, but the Mr. kyle thing was a bit hazy. I got the impression he was like the headmaster(?), but there could be a seriously loose implication that he was abusing them (psychologically for sure but unclear if there was physical). The turning scene worked but I don’t know if it was the disjointedness of how the memories came back to Casper that muddled the series of events the day he was turned (for me).
The mystery of the branches and the secret society/cult thing was neat! I loved the suspense and little “gifts” left for Casper and Rowan! …But then it was kind of shattered when Rowan discovered Diego was part of the society. I really wish the mystery had lasted longer.
Other little things that bothered me:
- Four different couples were a human-vampire combo, two of which were slayer-vampire combos
- I couldn’t tell you, between Sophie and Dakota, who was who.
- Why did the setup for the backstory of how Mr. Abadi and Scarlett’s significant others feel the same? (i.e. getting one or both MCs alone, some kind of pause, monologing the account)
- The musical just didn’t feel necessary at all. I wasn’t engaged in those scenes. Speaking of, Rowan was just let into the class and no one questioned it?? Not his dad, the fencing team - no one? Wouldn’t that have been suspicious? Also, how incompetent are vampires in fighting, especially Oscar the BODYGUARD, where Casper AND Rowan were kidnapped?
I have so many little questions! I feel like I’m ripping into the book but I don’t mean to. I’m genuinely curious (and confused) by some choices made by the author and characters.
First, I couldn’t shake the fast-paced feeling I had the entire book. This story is around 280 pages I think, but I feel like it could’ve been longer - at least to 300 pages. I wanted more descriptions of the characters/environments. Above all, I wished the characters had taken more time to process things instead of just moving on.
The mystery of the branches and the secret society/cult thing was neat! I loved the suspense and little “gifts” left for Casper and Rowan! …But then it was kind of shattered when Rowan discovered Diego was part of the society. I really wish the mystery had lasted longer.
Other little things that bothered me:
- Four different couples were a human-vampire combo, two of which were slayer-vampire combos
- I couldn’t tell you, between Sophie and Dakota, who was who.
- Why did the setup for the backstory of how Mr. Abadi and Scarlett’s significant others feel the same? (i.e. getting one or both MCs alone, some kind of pause, monologing the account)
- The musical just didn’t feel necessary at all. I wasn’t engaged in those scenes. Speaking of, Rowan was just let into the class and no one questioned it?? Not his dad, the fencing team - no one? Wouldn’t that have been suspicious? Also, how incompetent are vampires in fighting, especially Oscar the BODYGUARD, where Casper AND Rowan were kidnapped?
I have so many little questions! I feel like I’m ripping into the book but I don’t mean to. I’m genuinely curious (and confused) by some choices made by the author and characters.