Monday, April 15, 2013

Review: Rising Darkness

RISING DARKNESS
Game of Shadows #1
Thea Harrison
Adult paranormal romance
304 pages
Berkley Sensation
Available now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
In the hospital ER where she works, Mary is used to chaos. But lately, every aspect of her life seems adrift. She’s feeling disconnected from herself. Voices appear in her head. And the vivid, disturbing dreams she’s had all her life are becoming more intense. Then she meets Michael. He’s handsome, enigmatic and knows more than he can say. In his company, she slowly remembers the truth about herself…

Thousands of years ago, there were eight of them. The one called the Deceiver came to destroy the world, and the other seven followed to stop him. Reincarnated over and over, they carry on—and Mary finds herself drawn into the battle once again. And the more she learns, the more she realizes that Michael will go to any lengths to destroy the Deceiver.

Then she remembers who killed her during her last life, nine hundred years ago…Michael.


MY THOUGHTS
Rising Darkness is a bit of a departure format-wise from Ms. Harrison’s Novels of the Elder Races, giving us a hero and heroine who will be front and center for multiple books rather than main characters in this first book and secondary characters in subsequent ones. This setup shifts the arc of the romance itself, drawing things out far longer and heating things up far slower than we might be expecting based on our experience with Dragos and company in her other series, and as a result, our connection to this story and its leading pair is incredibly slow in forming and weak in strength for majority of the book.

While the premise for the series is deeply intriguing–the concept of soul mates torn apart and catapulted into a new world where they repeatedly dance in and out of each other’s orbits one lifetime after another–it takes nearly one hundred pages for our couple to actually meet for the first time in their current lives, making the first third of the novel a touch tedious. So badly do we want them to set eyes on one another, to kick-start the palpable romantic tension we know Ms. Harrison is so gifted at creating, that it’s simply hard for us to settle into the story, our nerves on edge and our minds wandering to the moment of inevitability we're so desperately craving.

Additionally, Mary is understandably confused about the radical changes suddenly taking place in her otherwise fairly mundane existence (save for the very realistic dreams she’s experienced her whole life), and given we know nothing more than she does, our resulting confusion only amplifies our desire for her to find Michael and the vital information we know he possesses. Once they finally do meet the story drastically picks up, the answers to our questions flowing freely and forcing us to emotionally invest in the tragic, cyclical nature of their lives. Both Mary and Michael are characters we can easily see ourselves loving deeply as the series continues, each of them strong individually despite the fact that they are quite literally halves of a single whole, and though that love isn’t necessarily established by the time we reach the last chapter, we have nothing but infinite faith in Ms. Harrison’s ability to weave their beautifully chaotic strands around our hearts in future installments.

Overall, Rising Darkness gets off to a bit of a meandering start and never quite gets back on track, the romantic sparks between Mary and Michael lacking some emotional intimacy due to their late introduction to one another. Their history together and the all-too brief snippets of their past lives both together and apart seem to have far more poignancy and chemistry than their current incarnations do, leaving us just a touch wistful when we close the back cover and begin the long wait for book two. That being said, I will certainly be looking forward to watching their relationship deepen as their millennia-spanning fight against the Deceiver continues.

Rating: 3.5/5
 

More information on Thea and her books can be found here:

29 comments:

  1. Ohhh I love the last line of the blurb! Just loving it

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    1. I love it too, it's what added this book to my must read list! That and the fact that I adore Thea Harrison:)

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  2. I haven't heard of this book before but honestly the concept of soulmates is not so appealing to me - let's just say I burned my fingers few times on that. Still I might give this one a try. Great review Jenny :)

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    1. The term soulmates is typically one that makes me shy away from a book as well, but I thought it worked really well here and I like how she explained everything:)

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  3. Pity that the flashbacks were more interesting than what was happening in the present....

    Krazyyme @ Young Readers

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    1. Yeah, I was a little bummed. I just didn't feel their connection as much as I wanted to in this first book.

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  4. uhhu... lacking emotional itamacy? No spartks? But Jenny... that it was I need in a story.... I haven't heard of this story before so I will wait for the sequel and see where this series goes!

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    1. I know. There's SO much potential for sparks, it just didn't happen for me in this one. It just took too long for them to find one another I think. In a romance, I live for the tension and the banter between a couple, and when they haven't even met at page 90 out of 300, I get antsy and fidgety.

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  5. Yeah, I had a hard time settling in, too. I wanted the heat of her other series but didn't get it. There just wasn't enough sparkage for me! (Plus, with a name like Mary, she's got to be totally kick-ass and she wasn't! Maybe in the next book...)

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    1. SAME! I went in expecting Dragos and all his fight and fire and didn't find that at all. I know things will heat up as the series continues, but I wanted more out of this one.

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  6. Heh, this wasn't on my tbr list and you didn't sell me with this review, Jenny :D It's funny because in Daughter of Smoke and Bone I found the flashback parts to be lame.. I liked the present part of the book way more and it seems like this is the same with Rising Darkness since you wanted it to reach the present part right away. Anyhow, I don't think this book is for me, sorry. I just.. yeah. I don't believe in this. I'm glad you liked it as a whole though and I hope it'll adjust more to your taste:)

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    1. The flashbacks were super brief, but I felt their pain over their separation more in those moments than in their current incarnations, but I'm ever hopeful moving forward:)

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  7. It sounds like this one almost moved a little too slow at times. I am glad overall you still enjoyed it though. I always love the concept of soulmates but it has to be well done and believable.

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  8. I am INTRIGUED. I kind of wonder if knowing to expect a slow start (and slow romance) would affect anything. I'll probably read this for Thea Harrison alone (because how could I not?), but I'll adjust my expectations.

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  9. I like the sound of this book but the thought of the tedious 100 pages is putting me off a little. I get a little frustrated when a book couple takes forever to meet.
    I liked one book by this author. I can't for the life of me recall the name, but I remember thinking the couple was hot. ;)
    It's too bad about the slow start. It seems like it could have been a great book otherwise.
    Fab review, Jenny! :)

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  10. I'm with Amanda and hoping that knowing going in that it is so different romantically will make it easier to fall into. I am REALLY loving the Elder Races series! I'll read this, but maybe after the second book is out...

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  11. I know you are a huge fan of The Elder Races so I am a bit disappointed to hear that this one didn't seize you and hold you captive from the get go. Hopefully, though the next time around it will grab you from the first chapter. Still sounds like a good read, the idea of soul mates meeting again in and again reincarnated is always interesting to me.

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  12. I just recently bought the first Elder Races book and I'm looking forward to it. I haven't read PNR in a very long time and I'm not really a fan of the genre, but Harrison's been getting all these fab reviews.
    I'm sorry this didn't quite live up to your expectations, I can see why that first part would be tedious and it's so hard to bounce back after that. I think I'll stick with her other series.

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  13. I'm still on the fence about reincarnation novels. They're really just so hit or miss for me, and since I'm not the biggest fan of urban fiction, odds are I'll pass on this one. Especially since you gave it a less than stellar review.

    Still, I have friends who enjoy these types of books and I'll pass along what you've said. :) Great review, Jenny!

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  14. Sorry to hear this one didn't match up to the Elder Races for you, Jenny. Harrison is an author that I've been meaning to try especially since you love the Elder races so much. I think I'll start with that series first. :)

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  15. Can you believe I haven't read the Elder Races yet? What is wrong with me??? This has actually bumped that series up my wishlist. Oh and I'm adding this one as well. Even if this one isn't on par with the other, it still sounds like a series that has the potential to get so much better. However, I may see if you read and like the second one to push it up the list. :)

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  16. I still haven't tried anything by this author yet! I like the sound of this book, but I'm not sure if I'd have the patience for the tedious start. I imagine waiting for the two characters to meet will most likely result in me skimming the first few chapters. Still, I'm glad you liked it overall once things set sail. I'll wait to see what you think of the next book before deciding myself. ;) Great review as always!

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  17. While this book sounds really interesting, the thought of the connection with the characters being weak is throwing me off. I haven't read anything by this author before and seeing as I'm not a huge fan of the soul mates concept, I think I should try some of her previous works. Great review, though, Jenny! I'm excited to see what you think as the series continues! :)

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  18. I think I wouldn't be able to deal with the slow start Jenny, and like Keertana mentioned, the concept does sound really interesting, but the lack of anything at the beginning I would find difficult. But I'm glad Rising Darkness did pick up somewhat for you as the story progressed and you're still excited about picking up the next novel! Great review Jenny! :)

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  19. I've never read anything by Thea Harrison, but I always hear so much praise for her books. It's a shame the spark wasn't as strong in this romance, and that it took so long for the couple to even meet! I'm not the biggest fan of soul mate stories, so I might skip this one and try the Elder Races books instead. In any case wonderful review, Jenny!

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  20. I have some of her other books because you and Mary are always talking about her. I'm not so sure I'd be on board for the slow start of this one. I am excited to start her other series though!

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  21. This kind of reminds me of the story line in Jenny Pox except there isn't one destroyer. Sounds like an interesting though luke warm start to the series.

    Heather

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  22. Jenny, awesome review! Sometimes its good that love doesn't start right away. I like the chance to continue reading the story and watching the love grow slowly. Thanks for sharing :)

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  23. I agree that it felt like it took forever for Mary and Michael to meet, but to be honest, I wasn't looking at this as one book, but the first volume of two.

    One of my favorite characters in this one was Mary's ex-husband. Also, I'm not-so-secretly hoping to learn more about the other couples. I sincerely hope they aren't as dead and gone as we've been lead to believe.

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