Official Review: The Dark Ones by Emma Lynn
Posted: 16 Apr 2015, 13:39
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Dark Ones" by Emma Lynn.]
1 out of 4 stars
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The Dark Ones by Emma Lynn is a young adult novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. The alien species, known as Dark Ones, came to earth looking for a new home. The invaders alter human DNA, killing off half of the population. The survivors gained night vision. In an attempt to fight the invasion, humanity decides to use what the author calls radiation weapons. The weapons did not kill the Dark Ones but left the earth mutated. The most noticeable effect was total darkness and dangerous animal hybrids. The surviving humans live in underground communities. They visit the surface to gather food or to protect their homes from Dark Ones trying to invade or to enslave them. The story is told from Isla’s point of view. She is a nineteen year old warrior. Her main reason for being a diligent protector is her nine year old brother Joel, her only living relative.
The prologue of this story grabbed me right away. Isla is outside with her father at age eleven in one of the last days of sunshine. He is trying to impart words of wisdom as he says a final goodbye. It is a well-written and touching scene.
Lynn does a great job creating an interesting world. The radiation causes mutant animal hybrids and trees that grow bent and twisted from lack of sunshine with oozing tar leaves. She gives an interesting take on how humans would react to an invasion and how they would try to protect themselves. Where Lynn excels is in her action scenes showing off Isla’s skill in battle. The interactions between Isla and her brother Joel feel authentic.
While Lynn’s novel shows promise, awkward wording, forgotten words, and punctuation need to be addressed. These errors were so frequent that it was extremely distracting and became hard to read. The dialogue in the book suffers from too many exclamation points, clichés, and antiquated sayings. The lack of consistency throughout was frustrating and made for convoluted story telling.
Lynn’s post-apocalyptic world lacks uniformity. From the beginning it is established that the sun never shines, however, later in the book the sun is shining once a month without reason or explanation. Another example of this type of inconsistency is through the use of night vision. Initially night vision is a power, or gift that humans have as an indirect result of their encounters with Dark Ones. Later in the same chapter, characters need helmets to see in the dark. Contradictory details like these make it difficult to focus on the story.
Lynn's character development of Isla becomes stunted by a major shift in her personality that does not feel true to her character. Isla starts off as a stoic warrior, but towards the middle of the novel she becomes an angst riddled valley girl fretting over boys. A few chapters later Isla shifts back into the stoic warrior from the beginning. The giggly girlish Isla is grating and the sudden personality shift is disruptive to the story.
Lynn does a good job in the beginning of the novel describing characters that Isla trusts and her relationship to them. Later in the book new characters appear with no back-story and take on important roles. I had no idea who they were nor did I have an investment in these new undeveloped characters.
I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. The book suffers from lack of editing, a convoluted concept, and twists that are not shocking or interesting. The dialogue and characters feel under developed and shallow. The book has potential but needs some serious editing.
******
The Dark Ones
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1 out of 4 stars
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The Dark Ones by Emma Lynn is a young adult novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. The alien species, known as Dark Ones, came to earth looking for a new home. The invaders alter human DNA, killing off half of the population. The survivors gained night vision. In an attempt to fight the invasion, humanity decides to use what the author calls radiation weapons. The weapons did not kill the Dark Ones but left the earth mutated. The most noticeable effect was total darkness and dangerous animal hybrids. The surviving humans live in underground communities. They visit the surface to gather food or to protect their homes from Dark Ones trying to invade or to enslave them. The story is told from Isla’s point of view. She is a nineteen year old warrior. Her main reason for being a diligent protector is her nine year old brother Joel, her only living relative.
The prologue of this story grabbed me right away. Isla is outside with her father at age eleven in one of the last days of sunshine. He is trying to impart words of wisdom as he says a final goodbye. It is a well-written and touching scene.
Lynn does a great job creating an interesting world. The radiation causes mutant animal hybrids and trees that grow bent and twisted from lack of sunshine with oozing tar leaves. She gives an interesting take on how humans would react to an invasion and how they would try to protect themselves. Where Lynn excels is in her action scenes showing off Isla’s skill in battle. The interactions between Isla and her brother Joel feel authentic.
While Lynn’s novel shows promise, awkward wording, forgotten words, and punctuation need to be addressed. These errors were so frequent that it was extremely distracting and became hard to read. The dialogue in the book suffers from too many exclamation points, clichés, and antiquated sayings. The lack of consistency throughout was frustrating and made for convoluted story telling.
Lynn’s post-apocalyptic world lacks uniformity. From the beginning it is established that the sun never shines, however, later in the book the sun is shining once a month without reason or explanation. Another example of this type of inconsistency is through the use of night vision. Initially night vision is a power, or gift that humans have as an indirect result of their encounters with Dark Ones. Later in the same chapter, characters need helmets to see in the dark. Contradictory details like these make it difficult to focus on the story.
Lynn's character development of Isla becomes stunted by a major shift in her personality that does not feel true to her character. Isla starts off as a stoic warrior, but towards the middle of the novel she becomes an angst riddled valley girl fretting over boys. A few chapters later Isla shifts back into the stoic warrior from the beginning. The giggly girlish Isla is grating and the sudden personality shift is disruptive to the story.
Lynn does a good job in the beginning of the novel describing characters that Isla trusts and her relationship to them. Later in the book new characters appear with no back-story and take on important roles. I had no idea who they were nor did I have an investment in these new undeveloped characters.
I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. The book suffers from lack of editing, a convoluted concept, and twists that are not shocking or interesting. The dialogue and characters feel under developed and shallow. The book has potential but needs some serious editing.
******
The Dark Ones
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like bluemel4's review? Post a comment saying so!
