If The Walking Dead is your show, then The New Dark by Lorraine Thomson will be your new YA fantasy. Although, small confession, I stopped watching Walking Dead with my husband because I constantly fought zombies in my dreams and it just got exhausting. The series is amazing, I just need my sleepy time to be positive and not apocalyptic.
But seriously, The New Dark is the book to buy friends, teenagers, and family for Christmas. Even guys will like this book but probably only if they are fans of The Hunger Games. This book has crazy mutated people (so not zombies but the more advanced mutated people are freaky), a Governor-esque villain and a little toddler that needs to be rescued. This book is the first in a trilogy, but the best news is the other two books will release in 2018. So you won’t have a super excruciating wait to finish the series.
More About The New Dark
Sixteen year old Sorrel and her sorta boyfriend David lives in a post-apocalypse where mutated people ravage the land and pockets of normal people squeak out an existence. When their village gets destroyed (you know, at the end of chapter one), Sorrel barely escapes with her life while her toddler brother is taken hostage along with her love interest David. Sorrel is determined to find them but when a psycho religious dictator enslaves her, she’ll have to rely on a mutated person in order to escape.
The New Dark is a ride from chapter one to the last page. I read this book in a day and wiped my mouth ready for more. It has everything you want in a fantasy: high stakes, high adventure, freaky mutants, packs of bad people, self-righteous dictator, do I need to keep going? And because the narrative switches between Sorrel and David, both guys and girls will enjoy this book.
Why I loved The New Dark
The fast-paced, high stakes adventure. Sorrel’s life falls apart in all the best ways. I’d think, I’ll stop at the next part but then something new happened and I had to ignore my children and read on. This is why I read it in a day. Never stop never stopping.
The villain. He’s creepy, self-righteous, Governor-ish and all things you love to hate. His breath stinks, like all the time, do I need to go on? He controls the community that saves Sorrel at one point but, just like Walking Dead, it isn’t good. This community is more messed up than the mutated people.
Sorrel and David. The narrative switches between the two and I looked forward to each of their chapters. Sorrel is courageous, loyal and compassionate. Plus, the girl is a fighter, scrappy to the core. David is Sorrel’s love interest but they’re separated from the beginning. Captured by the mutated people, David rallies the survivors, hoping to inspire escape.
The New Dark by Lorraine Thomson just came out. It’s a perfect stocking stuffer for anyone who loves The Walking Dead. So you can buy it now on Amazon.
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Are you watching The Walking Dead this season? Do you miss the Governor?
