Tagged: a d koboah

Rising Dark by A. D. Koboah

Rising Dark by A. D. Koboah(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

When the newly married Reverend Avery Wentworth embarks on a journey to the Americas to begin a new life, he foresees only joy ahead of him. But along with the shocking evils prevalent in a world of slavery, he comes against a much older, darker evil that steals his soul and turns him into a creature of the night. Cut off from humanity, he wanders through a wilderness of despair. A nameless, faceless creature forced to exist in the shadows, his only hope for salvation is the vision of a beautiful Negro and three words: Wait for me.

Rising Dark is the long awaited sequel to Dark Genesis and takes us from London 1757 to present day America in a love story that defies, time, death and the all-too-human flaws inherent in mortals and immortals alike.

[Full disclosure: I was contacted by the author and received a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]

One of the things that struck me about Dark Genesis was the strength of Luna’s character.  In her life as a slave she goes through absolutely horrific things and that really affects her later on, even when Avery proves over and over that he would never ever hurt her.  As she learned to trust him, their love developed naturally but at the same time she still had trouble trusting.  They go through so many trials together that you can’t help but love them as a couple.  But at the end of the novel when Avery (through the eyes of one of Luna’s descendants) reveals that Luna is gone, you wonder what went wrong with the two of them.  In Rising Dark, we definitely start to get an answer.

Here in Rising Dark we see both what happened to Avery before and after the events of the first novel.  It was very interesting to see his early life in London, his move to America, his marriage and then his horrific transformation into a vampire.  What I liked best about his character was that although he goes through some very awful things he still manages to be kind to everyone, especially Luna.  When she learns to trust him and love him he is very understanding and caring but as she grew drunk on her power, things began to change between them.  Seeing Avery’s heartbreak over the whirlwind borderline abusive relationship between the two of them that develops is just heart-rending.  As their mutual happiness turns to ash, it’s very interesting to see how they both deal with it.  It really says a lot about both of their backgrounds and their personalities.  I can’t tell you much more without giving away spoilers, but Avery (obviously) does not cope very well with his beloved turning into a monster.

The plot was a lot more fast-paced than the plot of the first book.  Avery’s life story goes rather quickly so that we catch up to the point where we meet Luna fairly soon.  After that, it’s a whirlwind of plot twists and turns as the two of them play out their growing push-and-pull dynamic.  Just when you think you know what’s going to happen between the two, A. D. Koboah throws in a huge twist in the plot and forces you to re-evaluate your predictions.  This is especially true toward the end of the novel when Avery meets the descendants of Luna’s human children and discovers that a mysterious evil is stalking them as well.  Rising Dark ends on a cliffhanger and although in some cases this second book raises more questions than it answers I felt that it wasn’t an unsatisfying ending.  It just made me want to get my hands on the third book even sooner.

One of the things that makes the Darkling trilogy stand out to me is the fact that A. D. Koboah has just a beautiful writing style.  I have never been to the United States or England but she creates a very believable picture of life everywhere from a Southern plantation to the dark streets of London.  Through her descriptions, she not only paints a picture of daily life throughout the past three centuries but she also creates a sort of air of foreboding tied into the dark evil mentioned in the blurb.  It makes you want to read on even when you feel like you should probably put the book down and do something productive like sleep or eat.  Even if the pacing was slow, Koboah’s writing style would most definitely keep you hooked.  I know it did for me and now I can’t wait to learn the conclusion of Avery and Luna’s story in the third book.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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Dark Genesis by A. D. Koboah

Dark Genesis by A. D. Koboah(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Life for a female slave is one of hardship and unspeakable sorrow, something Luna knows only too well. But not even she could have foreseen the terror that would befall her one sultry Mississippi evening in the summer of 1807.

On her way back from a visit to see the African woman, a witch who has the herbs Luna needs to rid her of her abusive master’s child, she attracts the attention of a deadly being that lusts for blood. Forcibly removed from everything she knows by this tormented otherworldly creature, she is sure she will be dead by sunrise.

Dark Genesis is a love story set against the savage world of slavery in which a young woman who has been dehumanised by its horrors finds the courage to love, and in doing so, reclaims her humanity.

I’ve been putting off doing a review for Dark Genesis for two weeks now.  It’s not because I’ve forgotten the plot lines and character names and have had to re-read it or because it’s so horrible I don’t have the energy to write a review.  No, it’s because of how amazing it was.

Words really don’t do this book justice.  It evokes so many different emotions in the reader from happiness to despair and everything in between.  I’m not the sort of person that cries over books frequently, but believe me when I say the waterworks were on for this one, especially at the end.  Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, the author sends a huge plot twist your way that you’re desperate for the next book.

Dark Genesis is a book with a strange sort of beauty.  A. D. Koboah’s descriptions and vivid imagery are absolutely unmatched; you’re instantly transported to Luna’s world.  Yet the topic that features in her book, slavery, is anything but beautiful.  Koboah didn’t flinch away from all of the horrors slaves like Luna had to face and one of her greatest strengths was how she portrayed the effects of such treatment even years afterward.

On the topic of Luna, she is an incredible character.  She’s now one of my favourite heroines ever not only because she was such a strong woman but because she had to go on a long journey of self-reflection to become that woman.  The time she spent with Avery really did change her, even if the scars from her years of enslavement were still beneath the surface.  Avery too was a very flawed character and you don’t really realize the depth of his sorrow until the end of the novel.  He’s not your typical vampire the same way Luna isn’t your typical heroine.  I won’t go into much more detail than that because I don’t want to spoil all of the good parts for you.

The plot remained relatively fast-paced despite being a mainly character-driven novel.  That in itself would have been quite impressive if not for the fact that there were so many plot twists.  Believe me, you may be able to predict some of the twists but most will blindside you in a good way.  I read Dark Genesis two weeks ago and I’m still reeling from that final twist at the end of the novel!  It’s hard to believe that this was A. D. Koboah’s first novel.  I don’t expect this level of awesome from many established authors, yet here I am writing this review.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t like vampire novels.  If you like any sort of character-driven novel or even just plain historical fiction, go and download Dark Genesis this instant.  It’s free on Amazon and Barnes and Noble as an ebook so it’s not like you’re losing anything by taking a chance on this wonderful novel.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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