Review: Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

February 22, 2011

Simon Pulse

From Goodreads:
Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is. Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.
She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.
Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

My Review:
This book was not at all what I expected it to be. I love mythology stories and I don't usually have any problems with them but Darkness Becomes Her is an exception. It was just kind of "blah" to me and I didn't like the main characters at all. While I didn't like the characters, the plot was intriguing and it did have me wanting to know what was going to happen next. Ari just made it really hard to connect to the story. She is very rude and unlikeable. If she had had a different attitude, I might have liked the story more. This is the first book in a series and while I might read the sequel, it will probably be from the library.

Ari was very mean, crass, and hardened. While I can see the fact that she has had a pretty tough life, that really doesn't make me like her character more. Some foster kids can make the better out of life and just move on from the past. Not Ari. She has a negative outlook on life and is extremely annoying. I couldn't connect to her at all. I tried really hard to get into her state of mind so I could understand her actions, but it just didn't happen. It doesn't help that while at first she acts mean and cold towards Sebastian, hours later she is making out with him and thinks she is in love with him. I don't see what made Sebastian fall in love with her that quickly, either. There isn't much to her besides her looks that is nice. I also didn't understand why she hated her hair and eyes. I, for one, think that I would love having silver hair and teal eyes! It would make me look unique and stand out. She isn't at all ugly yet she doesn't see her beauty.

Sebastian was alright but he just wasn't someone I could see myself falling for. Sure he is good looking, but he has a really boring personality. He hates who he is and can't accept who he is destined to become. He acts cool and aloof towards Ari and then suddenly he loves her and they have a relationship. I don't believe in instant love. It isn't realistic. Nobody "falls in love" that fast no matter what they may think. I also didn't appreciate how when he found out the truth about Ari, he ran away from her. If you were really in love with someone, you would look past what the exterior was and remember why you fell in love with them.

Darkness Becomes Her really disappointed me. I really wanted to get into the book, but the characters made it impossible. There were also a few things thrown in that threw me for a loop and confused me. I did love finding out what Ari was. I haven't seen anything like that in YA so I will most likely pick up the sequel, if only from the library. While I didn't really enjoy this book, I know many others who did so maybe others will enjoy this more than me.

My Rating: