"Seventeen-year-old Clark Treasure assumes the drink he stole off the captain is absinthe… until the chemicals in the liquid give him the ability to awaken the dead.
A great invention for creating perfect soldiers, yes, but Clark wants to live as a miner, not a slave to the army—or the deceased. On the run, Clark turns to his estranged, mining tycoon father for help. The Treasures welcome Clark with open arms, so he jumps at the chance to help them protect their ranch against Senator Horan, a man who hates anyone more powerful than he.
Sixteen-year-old Amethyst Treasure loathes the idea of spending the summer away from her bustling city life to rot on her father’s ranch, but when a handsome young man shows up claiming to be her secret half-brother, her curiosity is piqued. He’s clever, street smart, and has no qualms jumping into the brawl between the Treasures and Horans. Caught in the middle, Horan kidnaps Amethyst, and all she gets is this lousy bullet through her heart.
When Clark brings her back to life, however, the real action starts, and Amethyst joins him in his fight against the Horan clan—whatever the cost. Defeating the Horans may seem easy at first, but going up against men with the same fighting vengeance as Clark, and a Senator with power he’s obtained by brainwashing the masses?
Well, Amethyst’s boring summer at home has turned into an adventure on the run, chock full of intrigue, danger, love, and a mysterious boy named Clark."
NetGalley. Thanks for the copy!
Treasure, Darkly has a weird comma in the middle of the title, but I'm going to ignore that. Even though it is tempting to poke about it with a figurative stick. (Note to self: Never poke a sleeping book in the eye. It never bodes with the book's guardian). I'm just going to type the name without the comma. Because the comma gets in the way of typing (and I'm not even going to explain how my hand types).
Let's start with the characters. My favorite one is Amethyst. She is snobbish, a rich heiress, and everything Clark Treasure isn't. The completely opposite. While she is a queen, he would be a pair of hands or cheap labor. Her hands are satin-like while Clark's hand are much more like sand. Opposites. Sort of like... Cinderella but in a reverse way. Surprisingly, I like her the most. Slowly, she is starting to understand poverty. Sure, she is still snobbish (and a bit static by the end of the book), but I like her. Out of all of these characters, I would say that she is one of the more decent ones of the lot.
Clark reminds me of Clark Kent. Partially, because of the name. Some other parts... Well, he has super powers (bringing dead people back to life) but has to hide them. He is wanted, and he has a secret identity (or an alias, depending on how you look at it). I will have to say that he is teetering towards more... Bruce Wayne-kind of feel. Charming when he wants to be, dangerous when he needs to be.
Storywise, Treasure Darkly is a really wild ride. It kicks off with a few dead bodies, continues on with many more dead bodies (and resurrected Amethyst), and ends with a cliffhanger. The entire book (plotwise) is good until the ending, where it starts to feel like the ending is... connected to a bunch of events that don't really need to be there. So the cliffhanger doesn't really work.
Overall, Treasure, Darkly (see! I added the comma! Intentionally! But with typos!) is a good book. I say it is really close to perfection (just need to cut off the ending early). There are great characters, and each character feels unique (though I have no feel about Clark's father. That is a confusing guy right there). I would definitely recommend Treasure, Darkly to any readers who are fans of Steampunk, YA Historical Fiction. Yeah, that is pretty much it.
I think I covered all my bases.
Rating: Four out of Five
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