Du Livre: Darkness Becomes Her (Monsters & Gods #1) Review

Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.

Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.

She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.

During my read of Ari's attempt to discover her past, I did not know how to react. I repeatedly asked myself "do I actually like this...or am I just reading it to be done with it?" A little bit of both really.

Kelly Keaton's first young adult novel follows Ari as she looks for her birth mother in a near future. Her journey takes her to New 2 which is New Orleans but only rebuilt. It's no longer apart of the United States, because a wealthy organization known as the Novem bought it. Rumors fly across the States that New 2 is full of paranormal freaks such as vamps and other things that go bump in the night. As Ari makes progress she meets a group of Misfits who quickly become like her family.

This novel got better as the book went on. For the first 100 pages I was just reading to get over with it. There wasn't anything that I was in love with, nor was there anything that I hated. The writing was solid and I liked the voice that Keaton gave Ari. I did enjoy Ari's tough girl attitude, and the fact that she wasn't afraid to drop a few "naughty words" every now and again. I could tell that Keaton was trying to build a world fit for her characters but I was not entirely interested in the environment until the "finale" if you will. Everything about this book was progress. It started off a bit flat, but as I flipped pages, I noticed that I was getting more and more intrigued. My assessment of "this is an okay read" turned to "next book now please."

The group of Misfits were fun. I adored little Violet who saw no fault in anything and although the other children didn't have quite the lasting impression as Violet had, they were still fun characters. Like I stated earlier, I didn't really care about their existence until the last fifty or so pages. That was when Keaton sold me on this novel.

One more thing I must mention before I wrap this review up. The romance. I'm still not too sure if I would call it that, it was really a pseudo-romance. The author made many hints that Sebastian was to be the drool-worthy interest but I did not care for him, and I still kind of don't. There were not solid interactions to prove that they liked each other besides a spur of the moment kiss.

Given that this novel built for 273 pages, I'm sure that all of my complaints will be fixed. This series has so much potential that I have to read the sequel when it comes out!