My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Children of Darkness is an original twist on the post-apocalyptic genre. Three youth are coming of age and instead of conforming to the current trends of the religious/political leaders they are thrust into an adventure that helps them grow into heroes and through their courage they help transform the way people think and the way politics function.
What I think I like most about this book is that the teenagers are relatively normal. They don't face up to grown adults and beat them in hand-to-hand combat as is often the case with YA books. Instead they use their wits to solve puzzles and help make change.
I liked this book and kept turning pages to see what would happen, but I also often found myself thinking the book was a little rushed, and tons of stuff happened. I think if the author took time to develop characters more and show the action instead of narrating it, this story could have been two very well rounded books. Now with the political situation basically resolved, I think a sequel will seem forced, or at least like it is an afterthought. Having said that I do like self-contained stories so in a way I'm glad I got good resolution. So the one-book-or-two-book thing doesn't really matter because the story was page-turning and fun.
Having said that there are some things about this book that made me teeter between three and four stars:
1. I felt there was very little intensity. Because of the rushed pace and narrated feel to the book, things that could have been intense were simply told in story form. Some scenes I would have loved to see played out were just not there.
2. The main characters didn't really need to struggle. When they needed food, it was given to them; when they needed shelter, they found it; when they tried to solve a thousand year old problem, the solutions came easily. They always seemed to solve the problems very quickly without any resistance, the whole time they were making some pretty big mistakes. I would have like to see them struggle and grow a little more.
3. The foundation of the heroes' success is that there are some things that were lost over time, and just by reading a couple of postings of information people rose up in a peaceful rebellion against the government. What was on those pages? We are never told. If you develop a world and create a fallen political system, please give the details that will make all of this come together. I'm really confused why the writing on those pages was missing from the book.
For these reasons I had to give this good book a 3 star rating. I also want to emphasize that, despite its flaws, I did enjoy reading this book. It was fun, fast paced and had a solid ending. I'd recommend it for those looking for a quick clean original YA book.
I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
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