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Thursday, November 15, 2018

REVIEW: The Darkening by Chris Sarantopoulos


The Darkening 
by Chris Sarantopoulos

Thanks to the author for this review copy.
Fear the light. Fear your shadow. TRY NOT TO DIE!


Published: October 28, 2018
Kindle Edition
262 Pages
Standalone
Genre: Post-apocalyptic Horror



Don’t fear the dark. Fear the light. 

The end came when light changed. It decimated humanity, leaving scattered bands of survivors stumbling in the dark.

Faced with saving himself or his family during the apocalypse, John Piscus made the wrong choice, and has been living with the guilt ever since.

When a glowing girl shows up at John’s shelter begging for help, his instincts tell him to kill her. After all, light kills. 

But when masked troopers tasked with capturing survivors come after them, it’s up to John to protect himself and the girl. Not only may she hold the key to reversing the lethal effects of light, she could also be the one who can save his soul.

If you love dark settings and characters faced with tough choices that result in horrific and sinister outcomes, don’t miss this post-apocalyptic horror read.

My Review:


John is a terrible character - terrible in the fact that he's wandering alone, trying to stay out of the light, trying to survive ... eating maggots, cockroaches, raw, spoiled meat... all the while trying to dampen the voices in his head.  It's the bare bones part of surviving - doing whatever you can at the expense of whoever around you.  We learn that John's made horrendous decisions that he now has to live with.. and I use the word live loosely here.  Enter the glowing girl who reminds him of his dead daughter - could she be his salvation? Only the voices in his head really know.

The author gives us the raw look into what we normally see happening during an apocalyptic event - people turn on each other, it's survival of the fittest, die or be killed. You're alone because you trust no one and the one person you think you can trust can't be there for you.  The voices in your head are making you insane.  You're seeing things but aren't sure if they're real or you're hallucinating.  John has it ROUGH.  The glowing girl convinces him they need help and they head off... and when they get to their destination, well then things take a different turn and my head spins.

There were definitely some repetitive moments strewn in - I'm torn between thinking it was too much to thinking that hey, when you're alone and in this environments, you're going to have these repetitive moments, thoughts and annoyances... and isn't that what the author is trying to get us to feel?  I also wanted more about the girl - there was what felt like a grazing into her role into the whole fold and I just needed more.  Once the twist was revealed, which was hinted to but I didn't quite pick up on, then the pace picked up quickly.  

What I did like was the unique story line - while there were some standard post-apocalyptic tropes, there was also this newness to the genre that I truly appreciated.  I think some might be a little put off with the sudden ending and feel like maybe something more was needed... however, I really like how it ended.  The fight within came to a head and well... you'll have to read to figure out what happened with John and the glowing girl. 😉

★★★☆

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