Early Review & Giveaway: Dark Parties by Sara Grant

*This title will be released on August 3, 2011*

Title: Dark Parties Author: Sara Grant Series: N/A Cover Art: N/A Genre: Dystopian YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher via Big Honcho Media Reviewed by: Abigail Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (August 3, 2011) ISBN-10: 0316085944 ISBN-13: 978-0316085946 Sexual Content: Kissing. References to sex. Scene of sensuality Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Description

In a world shrouded in fear and lies, how can you shed light on the truth?

Sixteen-year-old Neva lives in Homeland, an isolated country separated from the rest of the world by the Protectosphere.  The government insists there’s nothing beyond its borders, but as Homeland’s resources dwindle, people, girls mainly, have started to go missing.  If there’s no way out of the Protectosphere, where are they going? Suspecting the government is lying about everything, Neva and her friends stage a Dark Party in the hope of uncovering the truth and finding the freedom they dream about.

Visit the DARK PARTIES Facebook page

The resistance has staged its first Dark Party. Listen in now and share with it your friends. Join the resistance!

Review

(This is a Genre Swap review, which means it’s not a paranormal book, but should still appeal to paranormal fans)

DARK PARTIES by Sara Grant is a bit like a 1984 version of THE CITY OF EMBER.  An entire society of people have sequestered themselves in a Protectosphere.  Generations later, supplies are running out, the population is dwindling, and the government wields control over everything and everyone.  Questions are ignored and sometimes even the one asking the questions will vanish as if they never existed.

The teenagers are the first to rebel.  Initially, it’s with a celibacy pact.  The government aggressively encourages reproduction from the day children turn sixteen.  They even have special films that are made up of just the sexy/intimate scenes from movies for the new ‘adults’ to watch together.  Neva (her name means snowflake) and her friends vow to remain virgins so as not to bring more children into a Protectosphere existence, a vow that they test frequently throughout the book, especially when Neva is around the mysterious boyfriend of her best friend.

There is quite a lot of sleuthing and espionage in DARK PARTIES.  Once Neva decides to fully rebel despite the risks, she infiltrates the government that her father works for and begins piecing together a shocking history and a future almost too horrible to be imagined.  All of this is brought to life with Grants simple but elegant writing.     

There were a couple of little details that grated on me, most notably Neva’s best friend Sanna who had her own catchphrase: A-maz-ing.  She said it a lot which in turn made me want to smack her a lot and seriously impacted my concern for her well being.  I also wanted to see more of the Protectosphere and the government that controlled it. They remain mostly a faceless enemy. 

Overall, fans of DELIRIUM, DIVERGENT and Maria V. Synder’s Outside In series will find plenty to delight and incense them inside DARK PARTIES Protectosphere.  There is no word on whether or not there will be a sequel to DARK PARTIES, but the ending leaves plenty of room for more books, and I would love to know what happens next.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	Logan E. Turner Diary of a Book Addict 365 Days of Reading

Giveaway provided by Big Honcho Media

One copy of DARK PARTIES by Sara Grant & a Book Light

 

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