Dark Companion [Hardcover]

Dark Companion is one of those books that had its absolutely fantastic moments, which you rave about, and yet it also had some downright aggravating moments that made me want to rave in a non-good way. And yet....I still couldn't manage to put the book down until I finished.

This novel opens with a mini prologue of our heroine, Jane, as a child trying to escape something vile that totally sent chills down my spine, and left me wanting desperately to flip to the end to see what the mess that was about! But I resisted. From there, Dark Companion starts with a slightly cold, slightly bitter teenage Jane leaving the slums, and her foster home for a chance at a better life in Greenwood. She worked hard, and managed to snag a scholarship at an exclusive all-girls school. Not only that, but she also gets a stipend for going to school, gets to live on campus in a quaint cottage, with a bathroom all to herself, and she finds out she can make more money on the side by tutoring the headmistresses son Lucky. For a person who had nothing like Jane to actually have a future that's bright, is a dream come true! But her new home is not all rainbows and sunshine. Jane is still very wary of people, especially the new friends that surround her. But the one area where she threw caution to the wind is in Lucky. When she first sees him, he takes her breath away with his utter handsomeness, and she is instantly hooked. Lucky's older brother, Jack, also takes Jane's breath away, but unfortunately it's because he's either teasing her mercilessly or trying to run her over with his bike. Which he says was an accident. But as Jane settles into her new home, she has the remarkable feeling that something is not right. Especially when she learns that there was another scholarship orphan kid before her who apparently fled the school after a long lost uncle found her, a school nurse mysteriously died, and no body was ever found, plus the cryptic warnings that seem to surround her by various Greenwood natives. For a person who is not too fond of emotions or fantasy, Jane will realize that sometimes you simply have to believe.

Dark Companion, was, in regard to the book as a whole, a pretty darn good read with slightly spooky undercurrents. And I truly was hooked until halfway through the book. Then Jane finds out a portion of what is wrong with the school, and then I was so ticked off I wanted to throttle her!!! For a person who is all scientific, and scoffs at false emotion, I had such a hard time seeing her in a role that put her in a demeaning position. She let someone hurt her (I don't want to give it away, but it wasn't sexually), who doesn't even like her, but she has this false hope that one day he'll fall in love with her. For a person from the slums, whose good friend is a street walker, you'd think Jane would be smart in not being used. However, she clung to this false hope for nearly the remainder of the book. I was so disappointed that it made me consider skipping to the end. Luckily, it did pan out towards the end, and Jane finally managed to open her eyes. Lucky, you will end up hating just like I did, but Jack, to me, was the shining star of this book. He was funny, quirky, messy, had a great sense of honor and morals, protective instincts, just an all-around good guy. He literally made the novel for me. Well...him and Jane's friend, Mary Violet who was a hoot! As for the plot or what the mystery behind the story was...it was different, but it also wasn't...real...to me. Like I just couldn't envision it, but this was probably due to my irritation over Jane being used for a pretty face. Again...don't want to give it away, but I will say I wished it had really been "monsters" as the mystery, and that the mystery linking the prologue for Jane would have been more supernatural. That was a letdown too. I truly thought she might be a fairy or something like that. Apparently she's just...plain Jane. Dark Companion was still a good read, minus the middle, and I would recommend it for all those who like mystery, don't get upset over the heroine willingly being used, and slight romance.

Let's see...where do I start with this book? It's hard to say -my thoughts on it are so mixed, almost confused about what I actually read. After studying the cover, I was concerned that this was yet another teen vampire romance -and I'm completely sick of them. I want something out of my book these days, something more original. Luckily, at least, the book was more original than the title implied.

The book opens with the back story of Jane Williams, an orphan who has lived a hard life in various foster homes. Through her hard work, Jane lands a scholarship to the prestigious Birch Grove Academy, where for once in her life Jane finds a home, complete with friends and secret crushes -all set in a mysterious town with its own secrets.

Well, there were some things in Dark Companion that I absolutely loved. Some of the passages were gorgeously written -so gorgeous that I re-read some of them and paused to reflect on how beautiful Acosta's words were. Dark Companion also had some great characters, especially Mary Violet, who kept me laughing on virtually every page. She was a nice balance to Jane, a strong and intelligent protagonist who was willing to work for what she wanted and wasn't going to take crap from anyone.

Well, until about half-way through the book when Jane's character seemed to do an unexpected 180 and allowed herself to be used and abused by a terrible romance. Not only was it out of character, but it just made me downright mad. That was the start of when the novel went downhill for me. Things started to get a little strange (and not in a good way). The plot started to get lost, and I was just unhappy with the characters. The worst part? The big reveal at the end just....didn't work for me. Very, very odd and it just...made me cringe.

I really think this book could have been better. It had so much potential and had some great moments, but overall come out as uneven and inconsistent.

Possibly the most non-professional review in the last 4 months. Before that, all reviews were bad. )

I HAVE. SUCH. MIXED. FEELINGS. ABOUT THIS BOOK.

Jane definitely one of my favorite characters. She seemed to think she was better than everyone; the kids in her group home because she was smarter and got into the Birch Grove Academy, but better than the Birch Grove girls because she clawed her way from the bottom. In fact, even one of the secondary characters stated "...acting like you don't think you're better than them, when you do because you did it on your own.". She annoyed me so much and seemed shallow and pathetic. She was attracted to Lucky because he was handsome and rich and tutored him to be nearer to him and get money. Really? And this was when she literally just met him. Meanwhile, she immediately hated Jack, Lucky's brother which annoyed me furthermore because hey, I'm definitely a fan of him! But the pathetic part? Even after everything Lucky had done, she was still obsessed with him, still longing for him and I wanted to rip her throat out. So. Badly. AND she was so, so blind about who she liked, and what made her "alive". Sigh. And, just throwing this out there--who gets in a car with someone you met once in a store?

On the other hand, the writing was absolutely lovely and smooth. It flowed well and told the story beautifully. I was instantly captivated by the prologue and the mysterious things happening at Birch Grove sealed the deal. Secrets were everywhere and while I predicted one (Well, sort of. Let's just say that no one sparkles.) the rest blew me away!
Throughout the entire book. I fell asleep thinking about what would happen next in this book and I was not disappointed.

As for world building, it was definitely a bit...mixed. And as a sort of spoiler, science (mutations.) and supernatural (Lady of the Wood) were swirled in Dark Companion. I loved that while Jane uncovered each secret, other things were happening, things that didn't seem very important then, but were suddenly essential clues to the ending. This book, admittedly, doesn't have many plot twists, but it's paced quickly and the few it had definitely shocked me! Dark companion isn't all fight-action-y, but it has this subtle-action. Is it bad to compare it to politics bookified? Because it was definitely like that, in my crazy logical way.

In a few words, Marta Acosta can weave a scene, a world, a feeling, missing nothing. Main character aside, Dark Companion was an amazing gothic romance perfect for late-night reading daytime dreaming! Definitely pick this one up soon! It'll stun your socks off for sure!