Pretty Dark Nothing
Author: Heather L Reid
Publication Date: April 23rd 2013Source : Egalley from Month9Books via Netgalley (In exchange for an honest review. Thank you!)
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:
Eighteen months ago, the day her father walked out and never
came home, Quinn Taylor started having nightmares of dark entities reaching out
for her. Thinking it was her subconscious giving her a way to deal with his
absence she doesn’t think much of it. Until the nightmares get worse and worse,
from harmless nightmares to dark, vivid and dangerous Quinn hasn’t had a full night’s
sleep for twenty-three days. Trying everything she can to stay awake, blasting
music that’s way past healthy for your eardrums, red bull, caffeine pills and even
physically hurting herself to keep awake, but eventually she falls asleep, and
the nightmares begin as soon as she closes her eyes, first the oncoming cold,
tendrils of fog choking her and dragging her dream self tunnelling through the
dark void until she smacks into the hard, cold ground of a forest floors where
the darkness lay.
They whisper to her, crawl out to her, wraith vines pin her
to the forest floor as images of her parents throwing dirt into her coffin
lowering into her grave.
Seriously, the opening chapter freaked me out and had me
hooked, give me some scary and I’m all yours, and ohmygod talk about classic
horror movie.
Now when Quinn wakes, what started out as nightmares- but
dreams, threatening and dangerous but harmless unless she was asleep- and
dreams can’t hurt you, become deathly real.
The harmless nightmares start leaking into reality, slow at
first, a shadow here, a shadow there, her own separate shadow following her, a
trick of the eye, she chalks up to the lack of sleep and all those energy hits causing
hallucinations’. But as those shadows grow and whisper things to Quinn,
influencing what she’s feeling, how she acts, and start twisting and
manipulating every perception Quinn has to the point she doesn’t know what’s
real or if it’s simply the time for the white men in coats.
And that’s just one of Quinn Taylor’s problems, her
boyfriend of four years broke up with her by text with little explanation or indication, she’s heartbroken, and rubbing
in the salt is Kerstin- Jeff’s new girlfriend who he started to date a week after breaking up with Quinn. That’s
only the one reason she hates Kerstin, she’s also replaced her as Captain of
the Westland High Fillies, while Quinn’s been benched due to her grades, and
she consistently rubs it in her face.
Pretty Dark Nothing shifts between alternate chapters of
Quinn and Aaron, and we’re introduced to Aaron; Aaron who is deftly in love
with Quinn who is too hung up on Jeff to even notice Aarons clear adoration.
Until a fainting spell comes over Quinn and he rushes to her aid before she
hits the floor and smash!
Power-psychic-ability-link-whatever-you-want-to-call-it happens.
Aaron has his own tragic background, which we get to learn
slowly through his chapters, and I won’t spoil it for you, but it’s really tragic.
Aaron’s advances are met to very much resistance, until some drama happens on the twisted side
with broken mirrors and everything- and they have their first kiss.
Which is ruined by Jeff, and even worse, ruined by Quinn running to Jeff after it.
This is where I would yell and hit the book, but I am very
much against abuse on books, besides, the copy was on my kindle and I’m not
breaking that thing.
By this time Aaron’s given up, and to be honest, I would’ve
given up way before then, so kudos to him, and thinks, hey, she doesn’t want me
but others do so why am I still hung up over her?
Good question Aaron, I was thinking the same about the ass
that is Jeff.
So he asks out Jenna- the singer of their band (did I
mention Aaron’s in a band? Yes.) to Westland High’s football game.
Let’s say Quinn’s not happy, and as whispers start spreading
about why she was getting suspended, Quinn realises she’s losing it and fast.
Now, I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it either. It
took me the first 150 pages to really get into it and I was really disappointed
with it since the opening chapter had me hooked. It seemed the plot got side-lined
to the high school drama.
Quinn…Quinn was
everything but “Quinn Perfect”, she was shallow, and selfish, and I didn’t find
myself rooting for her. I get she has the ‘demons’ influencing her, I found she
was more of the ‘mean’ girl than Kerstin, though Kerstin was a right bitch too.
Aaron, no, no, no Aaron, now this is nothing against Aaron,
but I really try to avoid boy chapters, they kind of make me cringe. Nobody
knows how boys think, or talk but those individual boys, and unless written by
a guy mostly it tends to be forced,
or sounds girly, and maybe it’s just me, but no. There’s only a few for me
that’s an exception. (Love you, Cas.) Probably that’s because
I watch too much Supernatural. Not sorry at all.
I didn’t get why he was so hung up on Quinn, especially how
she treats him, and yes, okay we know why at the end, but you have to get to the end to figure out why, and
then I felt a little sick at the explanation. I really find things like that creepy- and not in a good way.
Overall, it was an okay read.
Rating; 2.5/5
