DARKNESS BECOMES HER
by Kelly Keaton
Blending tropes currently popular in teen fiction, this predictable supernatural romance portrays a society of vampires, shape-shifters, witches, monsters and gods in the post-apocalyptic ruins of what was once New Orleans. Seventeen-year-old Ari travels south to visit a mental institution to search for information about her birth mother and is drawn into the annexed city, now known as New 2. There are some likable elements in this light read—endearing, if clichéd characters and a pleasingly tough heroine among them—but it suffers from clunky language. Florid descriptions of the rotting splendor of New 2 clash with the tone of the dialogue, uneasily skipping from phrases like, “the setting sun blinded me for a second as it sank down into the black horizon of the shimmering river and the swamp” to “Until a fucking dickwad came along and ruined things,” on a single page. Readers familiar with Greek mythology will have worked out the mystery of Ari’s history long before it is revealed. Also unsurprising is the cliffhanger ending, leaving no doubt that there will be a sequel. (Supernatural romance. 14 & up)