"I was obsessed.
It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I'd ever seen--everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable...utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.
There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.
I've crossed over into his world within the painting, and I've seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked--bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. Unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still."
Darker Still is a charming little book. It will captives readers everywhere with its crazy yet also logical sense of darkness and magic.
Natalie Stewart is a mute girl. She's a young girl full of hope and dreams. She wants to speak again but she can't because of the death of her mother. She's smart, quiet (obviously, she's mute, hello), and aware of her surroundings. She's a girl not to be underestimated. She's brave and wants to help people. She wants to save the innocent. (The girls are the innocent people in this book, Darker Still). Natalie is a wonderful character and narrator who will delight the young audience of Darker Still. And she is indeed obsessed with the painting of Lord Denbury.
Jonathan... is awesome. I love how the author describes him. The author seriously has describe him in great detail. Almost to the tiny flaws. Jonathan is the strongest male character in Darker Still. He is fighting a battle with the devil. He's pretty strong according to Natalie's POV. He gets weaker throughout the book because the devil is doing horrible things with his body. Jonathan, by the way, is trapped inside a portrait. He has been split from his body. And the body has been hacked by the demon.
The dialects are amazing. The way the character speak felt old in the eighteen hundreds way. I wish the author would put a little more efforts into the dialects. The dialects have to be there since this book is a historical fiction and young adult and paranormal fiction and supernatural. I love books with dialects because it makes the book seem a little more alive.
The writing is smooth. I love having Natalie Stewart as a narrator. She is an awesome narrator. Readers will love her. She is a wonderful character that will delight readers endlessly. I just wish that the book wasn't Natalie's diary. It would be much more interesting if it was just Natalie's view. Not just what she puts in her diary. Although, her voice in a diary is much more impressive. It's an interesting change compared to how other books narrative their story. It's similar to Meg Cabot's series, The Princess Diaries. The difference between The Princess Diaries and Darker Still is that The Princess Diaries has a lot more humor than Darker Still. Darker Still is more romantic and exciting than The Princess Diaries.
I like the ending of Darker Still. The author included some pages of police reports on the disappearance of Natalie Stewart. It was interesting to read what the police had thought of her and her mysterious disappearance. I found it rather entertaining and downright hilarious. Especially when the writer of the report includes his thoughts and feelings about the situation.
The demon... I like what the author did to make readers like me hate the demon more and more. First of all, he robbed Jonathan's body. (That's is a big reason to hate the demon). Second of all, the demon is hurting the innocent. (The same people Natalie is protecting, yes). Third, the demon did something so foul to Natalie which makes readers hate him even more. (I think the demon likes being hated).
Darker Still is an eyeopener to the world of the eighteen hundreds in New York City, New York. The author has done a good job in plugging in the variables of the characters. Example: Natalie's disability to talk, gender, and money.
This book's rating is a four out of five. The next book is already out, I believe.
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