Review: The Eternity Key

Book two of Into the Dark
By Bree Despain
Available now from Egmont USA
Review copy
Read my review of The Shadow Prince and my interview with Bree

I enjoyed THE SHADOW PRINCE, so it's no surprise that I would pick up THE ETERNITY KEY.  I appreciated that there was some recapping of events since it had been awhile since I read the first book.  I think that will also be a boon to readers who leap ahead and skip book one for whatever reason.

THE ETERNITY KEY continues to switch between Daphne and Haden's POVs, and adds Tobin's POV to the mix.  I'm not entirely sure Tobin's POV added that much to the story, aside from reminders that they do need to find Abbie/CeCe.  (Okay, his romance with Lexie is cute.)  The main plot of the story is trying to figure out where the Compass and Key are so that Haden and friends can get into the Underworld and kill the Keres, while not letting anyone else get the Key and prompting more undesirable outcomes.  (If that sentence was gibberish, read book one.)

I liked the way the romance between Daphne and Haden developed at first in THE ETERNITY KEY.  Haden is working up the courage to say the words, and Daphne is working to prove to Haden that they can be equals (instead of her being the damsel in distress).  And then Daphne rebuffs Haden for a reason that barely made sense.  I sure hope the third book has a better explanation, like magical interference.

THE ETERNITY KEY ends with all three narrators in peril.  Bree Despain is a cruel author, torturing her readers like that.  I hope Lerner acquiring titles from Egmont USA means that book three won't be delayed, because I need the conclusion to this trilogy.

Review: The Shadow Prince

Book one of Into the Dark
By Bree Despain
Available now from EgmontUSA
Review copy
Read my review of The Dark Divine and my interview with Bree

I liked The Dark Divine trilogy, so I was eager to read Bree Despain's next series, Into the Dark.  This series puts a modern spin on Greek mythology.  THE SHADOW PRINCE concentrates on the stories of Persephone and Hades and Orpheus and Eurydice.  If that doesn't give it away, yes this book does deal quite a bit with the Underworld.  In fact, protagonist and co-narrator Haden Lord is a prince of the Underworld.  A disgraced prince, but that doesn't stop the Oracle from picking him as a Champion.  His quest: to go to Earth and convince Daphne Raines to join him in the Underworld in six months, when the gate opens again.

Haden starts the book incredibly arrogant and rather unthinking of others.  Luckily for him, both of his companions are excellent at pointing out his selfishness.  (They're a bit less awesome about making him do anything about it.)  He also manages to drive Daphne away the first time they meet, by trying to get what he wants immediately and not bothering to think things through, which is basically his flaws in a nutshell.

Daphne has lived with her mom her whole life, but moves in with her dad when he gets her into one of the finest music programs in the country.  She's talented and plans to use her voice to go places.  (And no, places is not code for the Underworld.)  She's understandably put off by Haden, and avoids him like a sensible person until she gets an explanation that recontextualizes his actions into something nonthreatening.  But Haden and Daphne might have bigger problems than the Underworld, starting with the fact that something is killing people and no one else seems to care.

I thought Into the Dark was a great start to the series.  There's some interesting worldbuilding, and Haden's people are neither entirely right nor entirely wrong.  There's a fairly large cast, but all of the characters are appealing and at least somewhat defined.  The romance is not instant, but developed through interaction.  There's another important guy in Daphne's life, but he's just a friend.  Love triangle: avoided.  If there's one misstep, it's that Despain begins to set up the plot of the second book a bit too far in advance.  I spent much of THE SHADOW PRINCE wondering when that plot thread was going to come into play.  I must admit, I did not see it slotting into place when it did, which did provide some redemption.

I know Persephone and Hades are super trendy right now.  I think THE SHADOW PRINCE succeeds in putting its own spin on the story.  Despain's fans won't be disappointed.

Interview with Bree Despain (+ Contest)

Yay! As of yesterday, I am twenty-one years old.

Today's guest is Bree Despain, author of THE DARK DIVINE, which I reviewed in January. This is a stop on The Dark Divine blog tour, so be sure to stop by Parajunkee tomorrow for even more deets on Bree and her impressive debut. The Utah-based author recently revealed the title of the sequel: THE LOST SAINT. I'm already excited about the book and the first one has barely been released!

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1. What is the strangest thing that happened at a book signing?

The first thing that comes to mind was when a group of fans brought a life-size cardboard cutout of Taylor Lautner to one of my readings and dressed him a feather boa and a purple “Team Daniel” shirt. Except, the person who made the shirt accidentally wrote “Team David” on it, and everyone in the audience was up in arms about it, shouting, “Who’s David?” She quickly fixed the sign on the shirt, and the Team Daniel Jacob became a crowd favorite for posing for pictures with.


2. What is the most exciting thing that happened to you since THE DARK DIVINE was published?

My launch party was something that I’ve fantasized about for the last 10 years, and surprisingly, it turned out even better than I had imagined. I was truly blown away by how many people came, and I got all choked up while giving my book talk. People were so nice and wonderful and made me feel like a rock star for an afternoon.

3. What 2010 releases are you excited about?

HEX HALL by Rachel Hawkins (This book will be my reward when I finishing writing my sequel.)

CRESCENDO by Becca Fitzpatrick

MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins (Want this one like RIGHT NOW!)

THE SCORCH TRIALS by James Dashner

THE CLOCKWORK THREE by Mathew Kirby (I’ve already read this one because Matt is a good friend, but I can’t wait to own my very own hardcopy in October.)

[Ed: Read my reviews of HEX HALL (and enter the contest ending tomorrow), HUSH HUSH, and CATCHING FIRE.]

4. What are some unsung YA books that you like?

THE WAY HE LIVED by Emily Wing Smith (Excellent writing and explores some tough issues.)

THIS IS WHAT I DID by Ann Dee Ellis (This book haunted me for days after I read it.)

5. Do you have a playlist for The Dark Divine?

Yes! I actually think of it as more of a soundtrack because I arranged all the songs in order to reflect the progression of the mood of the book. You can find it here.



6. What aspects of your life most affected your novel?

The novel was inspired by three different guy friends who disappeared from my life at different times. In fact, “guys who disappear” is kind of a theme with me. The main inspiration from the book came when I was thinking about the time one of these guys suddenly reappeared at my school for a couple of hours and then vanished again. I always wondered what had happened to him and why he seemed so messed up and troubled. TDD is kind of an exploration of what might have happened if he hadn’t disappeared a second time.

7. If you weren't writing, what would you be doing?

I have a secret desire (okay, it’s not that big of an actual secret) to be an Egyptologist. I someday dream of getting to participate in a dig over there. It’s totally on my “bucket list.”


8. Who do you find inspiring, in your personal life or as a writer?

As a writer, I find Virginia Euwer Wolff to be inspiring. I met her at a time in my life when I was struggling with my confidence as a writer and whether or not I would ever be published. She told me that she went through the same doubts and discouragements in her life, and then she also told me that I was too good of a writer to ever settle for anything less than reaching my dream of becoming a nationally published author.

In my personal life, I find my hubby to be a huge inspiration. He’s hard working and extremely supportive. He always believes in me—even in the moments when I don’t believe in myself.

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Contest:

I have three bottles of THE DARK DIVINE purple nail polish to giveaway. One bottle will be an instant win - the first person to post a comment with their e-mail address gets it. The second two winners will be announced on March 31.

To win, leave a comment answering one of the questions I asked Bree. For a bonus entry, post/tweet/etc. about the contest.

Interview Questions for Bree Despain

Remember my review of THE DARK DIVINE? Well, Bree Despain is going to be visiting IBWB during her March 18-April 5 blog tour.



This tour has a twist: you, dear readers, get to develop the questions. So have at it in the comments! Visit her site, her blog, and check out my past interviews for ideas.

You have until March 12th to submit questions. Anyone who's question(s) are picked will earn an extra entry in my DARK DIVINE giveaway. Believe me, you want an extra entry.

You can also e-mail me the questions.

Review: The Dark Divine

By Bree Despain
Available now from EgmontUSA
Review Copy



It's odd how you can pick up a book and know exactly what you're getting, but at the same time have no clue. THE DARK DIVINE has a pretty typical paranormal romance set-up, with the innocent girl, the dangerous boy, and the people who are warning her away from the boy. It's a familiar recipe, and for the most part, THE DARK DIVINE hits all of the numbers. (I'm not saying that's a bad thing. If you haven't noticed, I read a lot of this type of book.) Like Maggie Stiefvater's Grace, Bree Despain's Grace escapes the clutches of Enfeebled Heroine Syndrome. And it's how she escapes that gives THE DARK DIVINE its unique and satisfying flavor.

Grace Divine is the daughter of a pastor. We all know what that means: repressed good girl waiting to break free. Er, not so much. Grace has faith. When she sings "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," all other concerns aside, she believes it. She's torn between her brother and her boyfriend, her own guilt in their break-up, and deciding on a truth to believe when everything she hears is subjective. But her real crisis is finding a course of action that allows her to maintain her principles while doing her best for those she cares about.

Christians tend to get a bad rap in contemporary secular fiction, particularly paranormal fiction. It's nice to see a community of Christians who have faults, but are basically nice people who believe in mercy and helping others.

This isn't to say that THE DARK DIVINE is perfect. There's one point where Grace becomes angry with Daniel, and I can see why she would be angry with him, but it seems like her anger was delayed. The bad guy is a bit obvious. But all in all, it's a page-turner, and I cannot wait for the sequel. (Particularly since Despain hinted at other things that go bump in the night, and I can't wait to see her expand the world since she did a great job of explaining a small bit of the mythology.)

If you don't like religion, THE DARK DIVINE probably won't be your thing. (And no, the book never says, "X has it right, everybody else is going to hell.") If you're open to a main character who is religious, and stays religious, in your paranormal, you'll probably enjoy THE DARK DIVINE. It's a promising debut.