Dark Star [Hardcover]

Dark Star isn't your typical superhero story--and that's a good thing. This is a new spin on urban fantasy with a rich, fascinating mythology, very scary baddies, a goofy sense of humor, and moments of lyrical beauty.

Audrey's mom is a superhero. Well, kind of. The superhero thing may or may not be a disguise to hide her real job from people who ask too many questions. People like the cops--and her daughter. But Audrey's mom is a superhero in other ways--holding their little family together when her father leaves, trying to keep Audrey safe from the nasty things that roam the streets of Minneapolis at night. And we're not talking unsavory boys, here.

Speaking of unsavory boys, there's one boy in Audrey's life who's almost a bit TOO savory. Leon, her mom's so-called sidekick, is just the right blend of gorgeous and bossy to drive Audrey insane. It's even more annoying when Leon turns out to be right about the dangers Audrey faces because of her mysterious origin.

What I loved most about Dark Star is the humor. This isn't the mean-spirited, ultra-snarky stuff you see in a lot of urban fantasy--it's genuine, goofy, and fun. The characters feel like real people, not jerkish Joss Whedon wannabes. Their dialogue is snappy but affectionate. The relationship between Audrey and her mom, in particular, is beautifully drawn--they drive each other crazy, but they love each other like crazy, too. It's refreshing to read YA where the MC has a healthy and close relationship with their parent, rather than the typical Absent Parent Syndrome.

Another high point is that Frenette's prose sings. It's fluid and often poetic, especially when she's describing the creepy, creepy world of the Beneath. Here's one of my favorite passages:

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Minneapolis was gone--at least, the Minneapolis I knew.

Around us, the world was skewed, distorted. The skyline had altered. The horizon was a smear of dust and darkness, and above us the stars had gone red.

Red stars. Red shadows. I'd heard that before.

The street had transformed. The buildings remained, the tar and the parked cars and the curve of the sidewalk below us, but they had changed, twisted somehow. Brick became bone. Gnarled trees jutted up from charred earth. The cars had lost their tires, their windows, their paint: they looked like metal skeletons, covered in rust. At my feet, the ground was rough and unsteady, trembling on occasion, making it difficult to keep my balance. The snow, at least, was still snow, a strange and blinding white against the backdrop of decay.

Now and then, the real city flashed before me, an intrusion of sound and color into the space that surrounded us. I heard the turn of a motor, smelled exhaust. Then it was gone.

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Some have called the world-building in Dark Star too complicated, but to me, it's perfect--just complex enough to feel believable and full of history. There are so many cool little mechanics in this world: Audrey's Nav cards, which are like tarot cards that tell the truth instead of the future; and mystical powers like Knowing, which is another kind of clairvoyance that often springs on Audrey suddenly, showing her a glimpse of the secrets lurking beneath the shadows.

I like that Audrey is a realistic heroine. She's not the kick-everyone's-ass-and-take-ALL-the-names type. She's got some neat powers, but as useful as they are, they can make her vulnerable, too. Mostly, she has to rely on her wits, and sometimes her curiosity and desire to protect her friends gets her into trouble. It's refreshing to see an MC who can't just deus ex machina her way out of every danger.

If you're looking for a change of pace from the typical ultra-snark, ultra-drama of YA urban fantasy, Dark Star is a breath of fresh air. There's humor and heart and gorgeous writing here.

If you're anything like me (and by that I mean addicted to the superhero worlds that reside within Marvel and DC) then just reading the synopsis of Bethany Frenette's novel Dark Star was enough to spark your interest and give you goosies. The exact same thing happened to me. In my mind, when I finished reading the synopsis, the first thing that came to mind was: "So you're meaning to tell me that this novel is about a girl with a Superhero mother who fights demons, has an attractive sidekick, and that the main character has enough power within herself to save the city? You had me at Superhero." Hopefully, you're thinking that too and if you aren't you can pretend that the above was your own thought. But I, personally, was begging to start Dark Star because I wanted to read all this superhero goodness since the YA world needs more superhero genre novels, which I am dying for.

The novel itself is about main character Audrey Whitticomb who has grown up without a father, and has a mother who is the superhero Morning Star who defends Minneapolis. To make the story cooler, there is a superhot sidekick named Leon who has lately taken it to himself to constantly protect Audrey due to a series of deaths in teenage girls that are connected to Demons who are plotting something that is seriously not good. Dark Star had high expectations from me and not only did it meet them, it took a raygun, pointed it at my head and *boom* blew my freaking mind!

If you read a lot of stuff from DC comics, then hopefully you know who Zatanna Zatara is? If you do then great! If you don't, you're on the internet right now so go ahead and Google her! Now that you are aware who Zatanna is, you know that she is full of power and that she is a part of a secret variety of people called the homo-magi. Now the main character Audrey was so much like Zatanna that I was freaking out. My comic side was having a field day with the comparisons between the two. Audrey is able to Know things and is part of a secret variety of people called the Kin who are all people from a long blood line and can do things that are considered impossible. Awesome-sauce? I think yes.

The major thing about the novel that kept my attention wasn't the superheroes, it wasn't the side-kick, and it wasn't the demons. It was the quality of the writing and the fact that every single part of the novel was full of twists, turns and oh so much anticipation. Every chapter of Dark Star was a mystery to me, everything was unpredictable and I loved it for that. Dark Star is a novel that ultimately expresses the battle between the forces of good and evil. Do I want a sequel? Of course!

I would recommend this to fans of superheroes and comic books because seriously guys we live for this stuff. Fans of YA romance and of action will fall hard for Dark Star. Honestly, Dark Star was nothing short of mind-blowing, you won't be disappointed.

Even though I love this cover, my expectations going into this were pretty low. I haven't seen any reviews for it, but I've heard from people who read reviews that they've seen less than encouraging ones. As such, I adjusted my hopes down a bit and set off. Actually, I ended up really enjoying Dark Star. Is it perfect? No. Is it a fun? Heck yes!

The very best part of Dark Star is the characterization. Recently, though I've been on a really good reading streak, I feel like most of my star deductions have been for characters that didn't feel real to me or that I simply could not connect with, so I really needed this character-driven read. Audrey has a huge personality, funny and clever and a little bit rebellious. I loved her voice so much that the writing style, which leans a bit more to the choppy fragments style than I generally care for, didn't bother me much.

Not only is Audrey awesome, her friends are great too. She has two best friends, Gabriel and Tink. Gabriel is the only one who has been trusted with her mother's secret (that she's the superhero Morning Star, though she prefers to be called a Guardian, and fights bad guys with her younger partner Leon). Audrey trusts Gabriel implicitly, the only secrets she keeps from him being ones she's not allowed to tell. Tink, who I totally pictured as the character of the same name from The Guild, is outgoing and tiny and a little bit terrifying. They have a real bond and I love to see that in novels.

Perhaps even more rare, Audrey has a loving, protective, approachable, attentive mother. Can such a thing truly exist in YA? Apparently so! Audrey's mother, Lucy, does go out all night to fight crime, but she's in no way an absentee mom. She manages to spend a lot of time with her daughter. While definitely not an overprotective hardass, Lucy does keep informed of her daughter's whereabouts and try to keep Audrey safe, except for that one flashback where Lucy totally battles this demon preggers. Plus, they totally have the mother-daughter banter down. Of course, to fulfill the YA parental drama, her father's out of the picture, but I was still so glad to have a loving family dynamic in this book.

The romance, which does exist, satisfied, even if it was totally predictable. Of course, if a romance has to be predictable, I'm not going to complain too much when it's my favorite of the cliched romance patterns, which this happens to be. Also, the best part is that the romance totally isn't the focus. It's there and believable and has chemistry, but flirting is minimal and Audrey doesn't spend the whole book mooning over boys.

The first half of the book, had it continued in that vein, might even have gotten four stars from me for the sheer fun of it and the awesome characters. However, the book took a bit of a turn, and, though I didn't hate it, I would have preferred for the book not to have a paranormal twist. If you don't want to know what the twist is, skip to the last paragraph now.

In true YA fashion, it turns out that mom is not in fact a superhero; she fights demons. Basically, the book takes this whole twist to the paranormal when I really just wanted to read a fantasy novel where some people have a little bit of extra power for who cares why and do some vigilante justice, okay? Mom has super strength, Leon can teleport, and Audrey Knows things, or, in otherwords, is a little bit psychic. That was all awesome and I had accepted it and then it was all because of paranormal things, which wasn't bad, but I've had enough of that and was so excited for something a little different.

The bigger problem with the paranormal plotline was that it was weird and a little haphazard at the end. Like, the final confrontation was so abrupt. There's this small battle and it's dramatic, but then instead of the BIG crazy showdown, it just sort of ends. I want my epic battle of powers and superheroes, dang it! Also, the book didn't really feel wrapped up plot-wise at the end. I haven't heard rumors of a sequel, so, if this it, poorly done on that.

But, you know what? I still had so much fun reading this that I'm giving it a bonus .5 for keeping me engaged in the story. Of course, now I really want to reread After the Golden Age, which is about a woman who's the daughter of superheroes that are actually just superheroes and so, so good.