A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley for review. Mild spoilers for the book follow.
I don’t do dangerous. Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha – that’s me. But I just couldn’t pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me … something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It’s like part of me is missing-and I don’t know if I can get it back.
Then there’s Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he’s keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he’s what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me ….
Dark Kiss is a hard book to review because, while I enjoyed it, I feel it is missing something. The plot is interesting but unengaging and the main characters were hard to for me to get into. There was nothing that had me rooting for Samantha and Bishop and nothing that made me want the destruction of the ‘grays’ as badly as they did. A bit like the grays in the story, this story lacks soul.
One of my main concerns about the novel is the serious lack of character development. Every time there is a moment where some character growth could have been explored, the author drops a bomb shell. There are so many huge revelations / big reveals in the story that they ceased to entertain me because I ended up assuming that everyone is either lying to Samantha or about to betray her.
I did, however, enjoy the supporting cast a lot. Kraven stole my heart away as the bad boy demon, and Samantha’s best friend Carly has a lot of potential, but we don’t spend enough time with her to explore it. Another aspect I really like about Dark Kiss is the romance. Although still based on the very YA concept of “I don’t know you but we belong together”, Bishop and Samantha have a relationship based on mutual trust. Bishop is never abusive towards her, in fact, he’s a right gentleman, and I found myself enjoying the electricity they had when they were together. The author sketches out their magnetic attraction quite vividly.
I think Dark Kiss is worth a read, but I wouldn’t be holding out for it. I enjoyed the book but there is a lot of material out there that is just as good or better. I will be reading the rest of the series because I want to see what happens, but I am not emotionally invested in it.
About the book:
- Date published: 29 May 2012
- Publisher: HarlequinTeen US
- Format: Paperback, 348 pages
- ISBN 13: 9780373210473 ISBN 10: 0373210477
- Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult
- Goodreads / The Book Depository