Dark Parties: Review

Title: Dark Parties
Author: Sara Grant
Release Date: August 2011
Published By: Little, Brown
Pages: 320
Goodreads Rating: 3.51 stars

Review: Sixteen-year-old Neva has been trapped beneath the Protectosphere since birth, a shell that both keeps citizens safe from outside and locks them in. Neva and Sanna believe the government is lying about what lies beyond the sphere and decide to stage a dark party to recruit others who are questioning the government as well. But as Neva begins to uncover the truth, she realizes she must question everything she's ever known, including the people she loves.

As soon as I started DARK PARTIES, I discovered how wonderfully addictive this story is. It's true that the summary sounds like it belongs to a generic dystopian novel, but the actual details of this story are what make the book unique, not to mention utterly engrossing. Once you really get into the middle of the book, it becomes close to impossible to put this book down and just ignore the suspense ratcheting higher and higher.

Apart from the suspense, another reason this book was such a page-turner was because of the protagonist. Neva had a voice that made the novel very easy to read, and as a character, she was everything you could want. She had a personality that felt like it belonged to someone in real life, and while she was strong and admirable, she still had character flaws that made her someone readers can relate to.

Of course, a reading experience can be soured by a poor ending, but this was luckily not the case. I loved the ending in this book and thought it wrapped up the story line very nicely, both with the plot progression and with her familial, friend, and romantic relationships tying up mostly neatly with plenty of room for growth. I'm excited to read the sequel to this book, which better come out soon.

All in all, I ended up enjoying DARK PARTIES a lot more than I would. If you're finding yourself tired of reading dystopian novels that all have very similar plots and writing, you may find this to be a refreshing change. There's something about it that's uniquely addicting and suspenseful, and of course, once you pick it up, there's no guarantee you can put it down.

Guest Post and Giveaway: Sara Grant of Dark Parties

Here today we have Sara Grant, the author of Dark Parties, an excellent novel:

Hi Izzy! Thanks for inviting me on My Words Ate Me!

The 45 record played a significant role in my upbringing. If you’d set the arm a certain way on the old record players, it would play your favourite 45 over and over and over again. Getting ready for school, I’d select one song and let it repeat. I’d soon know every word of the lyrics. I must have driven my family insane.

I still have the same 45-record mentality. I download one song and play it over and over and over. Now I typically use earphones so no one has to listen. But there’s nothing better than unplugging the earphones, blasting the song as loud as your stereo – and tenancy agreement – will allow.

I typically can’t listen to music while I’m writing. I’m a sing-along type of person. Music isn’t really something in the background. I do, however, have a selection of songs that I listen to when I take breaks for inspiration and encouragement.

This playlist was compiled by me and one of the book's first readers, 17-year-old Maddie. Some of the songs inspired the writing of DARK PARTIES while others are a response to the reading of it.

Defy Gravity – Prefer the Wicked soundtrack (original cast) but also love the Glee version

It’s On – Superchick

When We Were Beautiful – Bon Jovi

I’m Not Dead – Pink

Into the Fire – the Scarlett Pimpernel soundtrack

I’m With You – Avril Lavigne

Believe in Me – Demi Lovato

Misguided Ghosts – Paramore

We’ll Be a Dream – We the Kings

Mad World – Michael Andrews & Gary Jules

Down – Jason Walker

Cut – Plumb

Bring Me To Life – Evanescence

Fire and Rain – James Taylor

Thanks for stopping by, Sara! There's also a giveaway, US only (sorry to all internationals!), for a book related necklace, pictured below!

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