Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Review: Dark Companion by Marta Costa

Dark Companion
by Marta Costa

Publication Date: July 3rd, 2012
Publisher: Tor/Macmillan
Pages: 368
ISBN: 9780765329646

B&N | Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads

When foster teen Jane Williams is invited to attend elite Birch Grove Academy for Girls and escape her violent urban neighborhood, she thinks the offer is too good to be true. She's even offered her own living quarters, the groundskeeper's cottage in the center of the birch grove.

Something's not quite right about the school -- or is it Jane? She thinks she sees things in the birch grove at night. She's also beginning to suspect that the elegant headmistress and her sons are hiding secrets. Lucky is the gorgeous, golden son who is especially attentive to Jane, and Jack is the sardonic puzzling brother.

The school with its talented teachers and bright students is a dream for a science and math geek like Jane. She also loves her new friends, including hilarious poetry-spouting rich girl, Mary Violet. But the longer Jane stays at Birch Grove, the more questions she has about the disappearance of another scholarship girl and a missing faculty member.

Jane discovers one secret about Birch Grove, which only leads to more mysteries. What is she willing to sacrifice in order to stay at this school...and be bound to Birch Grove forever? (Goodreads)
I will admit it; I was drawn Dark Companion by its gorgeous, creepy cover. It’s so very pretty! After finally reading the synopsis, this book sounded like something I definitely wanted to read. Here are my thoughts on the book!

Jane Williams has had a hard life in her few short years. Pulled out of poverty thanks to a scholarship to the Birch Grove Academy for Girls, things finally seem to be looking up for Jane. But things, and people, aren’t what they seem at Birch Grove, and Jane must decide if she wants to stay, or if she’s willing to give up everything to have what she wants.

Jane was a bit of a difficult character for me to like, mostly because she so very indecisive about everything. Ok, not really about everything, just about Lucky, the headmistress’ son.  She knew that she wanted to get out of the hood and make something of herself, but when it came to Lucky, she was a complete, blubbering mess. One minute she wanted him, and the next she didn’t. I didn’t like Lucky at all, so it was super easy for me to make the decision for her. I really had my ups and downs with both Jane and Lucky. These are the two characters I had the most problems with.

There were a few characters in the book that I really loved. Mary Violet, who is Jane’s friend and schoolmate, has to be my favorite character in the book. She is always spouting poems about anything and everything, and she also saying crazy things in French. She was a hoot! There’s also Jack, who is the headmistresses other son, was a complete riot. He was mysterious, snarky and a wee bit sexy as well. I loved the parts of the books that we got to share with Jack; I just wish he was in more of the book!

The storyline was really unique, and not what I expected. The pacing was well done, although I did seem to have a hard time keeping focused on the book. (Not the books fault, that’s all me.)  There were a couple of parts in the book that involved blood and blood-letting, and that kind of grossed me out. (Again, that’s all me!) Kudos to the author for such a unique read!

Overall, I did have a few issues with this book, but it was a good read. I see a lot of good reviews for the book, but I don’t think I was exactly in the right frame of mind to read it at the moment. I am definitely going to give it another shot in the future.

Happy Reading!


8 comments:

  1. I've read mixed reviews for this book but, like you, I was drawn in by the cover ;) I'm a little concerned about the characters...we'll have to see! I'm glad you enjoyed the book, despite its flaws. I MAAAAAY check it out later on in the year :) Great review!

    Lisa | Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unique? So not just another boarding school book? Cool! I don't mind blood and gore, either. While Jane seems a bit too wishy-washy, I can deal with that if the story's good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm so glad the storyline was really unique and special! :) I saw this at my library and I really want to read it! :) It sounds like such a mysterious and creepy book and I'm glad you liked it!

    Eileen @ ***Singing and Reading in the Rain***

    ReplyDelete
  4. The cover makes me think that the book is creepy. And there's blood and blood-letting, so yes, my impression was probably right. I'm still curious to read it though!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'll admit, I haven't even considered reading this one which is kinda odd for me, because I normally LOVE all things paranormal. I think I may add it to my TBR, because I can tell you did like it, despite some issues!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's a shame about Jane! I have a hard time liking those sorts of indecisive characters too. Still, glad you enjoyed it overall. And I love the cover too! Thanks for the review :).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ok, now I'm curious to see how blood letting figures into this story because I definitely did not see that coming! Jane sounds like a bit of a wishy-washy character I'm so tired to the overdone "I can't make my mind up about a boy" story line but that's just me. Thanks for your thoughtful review, it does sound like a book worth checking out!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm really happy you liked this one despite a few issues, because so far I've also heard some negative things about it that made me scared to start it myself. But now I'm looking forward to it a bit more and hope to get to it soon. Thanks for sharing! :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by! :)