ARC Review: Pretty Dark Nothing by Heather L. Reid

Title: Pretty Dark Nothing
Author: Heather L. Reid
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Fantasy

Goodreads rating: 4.07 out of 5.00 (pre-release)
Goodreads | The Book Depository | Amazon

It’s been twenty three days since Quinn has slept for more than minutes at a time. Demons have invaded her dreams, stalking her, and whispering of her death. The lack of sleep and crippling fear are ruining her life. Energy drinks and caffeine pills don’t make a dent. When Quinn dozes off in the school hallway, Aaron, an amnesiac with a psychic ability, accidentally enters her nightmare. The demons are determined to keep them apart, and Aaron from discovering the secret locked away in his memory. Together, they could banish the darkness back to the underworld for good. That is, unless the demons kill them first.

Review by Nara


Thank you to Month9Books for sending me an advance copy of Pretty Dark Nothing through NetGalley. In no way did this affect my opinion of the book.

Jesus! One thing I can say about Pretty Dark Nothing is that it was pretty creepy. There were certainly elements of horror throughout- for example in the first scene, main character Quinn is suddenly attacked by a fog- but I thought that it almost felt like a psychological thriller. I don't even think I could watch a movie adaptation of this- I feel like it would end up like Black Swan or something like that. Freaking creepy. (Also, I was reading it at 1 AM and it was really windy outside. Bad move.) The quotations you see throughout are part of this phone thing where Quinn is texted by some unknown entity. And, holy crap, it is scary.

UNKNOWN 11:38 AM: HE CAN'T HELP YOU.

After that dose of horror at the start, though, the book reverts to a state where it almost seems like a fluffy contemporary romance- except for the undertones of creepiness and insanity. I found that the middle of the novel was much too slow. I wanted the drama to get over and done with so we could actually move forward in the plot. It was really quite frustrating. I feel that the author could have cut down a fair portion of the middle- some events only served to add to the melodrama and were unnecessary. There was too much focus on the "romance" when all I wanted was to find out why Quinn was being haunted by demons. Also, just the drama upon drama upon drama got a bit annoying.

UNKNOWN 11:39 AM: YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE, QUINN. HE CAN'T HELP YOU. HE DOESN'T HAVE THAT KIND OF POWER. NOBODY DOES.

With there being a dual narrative perspective (one point of view from Quinn, the other from Aaron, the love interest), Reid utilised a crapload of dramatic irony. SO MUCH DRAMATIC IRONY. On the one hand, this was really annoying, because I kind of wanted to yell at the characters for being so naive/stupid/unobservant, and on the other hand, it was actually quite good, because it pushed the tension levels through the roof.

UNKNOWN 11:40 AM: EARTH TO EARTH

UNKNOWN 11:40 AM: ASHES TO ASHES

UNKNOWN 11:40 AM: DUST TO DUST

UNKNOWN 11:40 AM: EVERYONE DIES

Quite frankly, the main characters were all whiny little bitches (including Aaron, incidentally) and all the supporting characters were awesome. I especially liked Aaron's friend Marcus- he was hilarious (although I feel like he'd be a bit annoying as a friend). Aaron's bandmate Jenna and Quinn's best friend Teresa were also rather well developed/badass. Honestly, I really pitied Quinn. Things just ain't going right for this girl. She had everything going for her, but now she's on a downward spiral into insanity.

UNKNOWN 11:40 AM: HE CAN'T HELP YOU!!!!

UNKNOWN 11:40 AM: HE CAN'T HELP YOU!!!!

UNKNOWN 11:40 AM: HE CAN'T HELP YOU!!!!

UNKNOWN 11:40 AM: HE CAN'T HELP YOU!!!!

THE TWIST. Seriously, I did not expect the twist at all. In fact, I don't think anyone would have been able to predict it. There was pretty much NO hint of it whatsoever except Aaron knowing the name "Azrael" and honestly, that could be anything. (If you've read it, by the way, let me know in comments whether you expected the twist!) Seriously, just read the book for the twist. If anything, even if you feel like giving up halfway through because the stupid drama is getting on your nerves, stick with it, because the twist is definitely worth it.

Ratings

Overall: 8/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 2/5