Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts review

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Egalley thanks to Simon & Schuster


Synopsis from Goodreads
Four teenagers on the same road in a world gone mad. Struggling to survive, clinging on to love and meaning wherever it can be found. THE DARK INSIDE is a stunning, cinematic thriller: 28 DAYS LATER meets THE ROAD.

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…. Now it’s our turn.

Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even worse is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, hooking on to weakness, turning the unwary into hunters, killers, crazies.

Mason: His mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground. Everyone he knows is killed.

Aries: A school bus, an aftershock and a crash. Pulled out of the wreckage by a mysterious stranger, she’s about to discover a world changed forever.

Clementine: An emergency meeting at the town hall that descends into murderous chaos. Outside the rest of their community encircle with weapons. How can those you trust turn into savage strangers?

Michael: A brutal road rage incident. When the police arrive on the scene they gun down the guilty and turn on the by-standing crowd. Where do you go for justice when even the lawmakers have turned bad?
  
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* * *

I'm really on the fence with this book.


On one side the writing is brilliant. It's compelling, gripping, hard to tear your eyes away, terrifying. The day to day descriptions of what's happening and what the main characters feel about it are top notch.


On the other hand, anything that is not relevant to HERE and NOW is not there. No background, no conclusions, no answers. There are passages narrated by the darkness itself, but all they do is confuse you even more, especially the first and the last ones. This is exactly what I dislike in the books I read. Where the darkness came from, why all the survivals are young, what's happening in the rest of the world, what is the great evil plan?


So far all I got from the book is "wow! what? this is it?! I can't believe it! What was the point?.."


However, if you are a fan of apocalyptic stories and dystopias, you still wouldn't want to pass this book. I personally loved Ashfall by Mike Mullin much more.

* * *

Ещё одна книга, после которой хочется сказать: "Твою мать! И что это было?"


С одной стороны слог великолепен, оторваться невозможно.

С другой стороны, описание зацикливается на здесь и сейчас. Нет постороения мира, предыстории, не ждите каких-либо объяснений про Тьму и её происхождение, какого-либо заключения в конце книги. Пассажи от самой Тьмы приводят в ещё большее замешательство, особенно первый и последний. Я осталась как та бабка у разбитого корыта, одни вопросы и обманутые ожидания - что такое Тьма, почему все выжившие молодёжь? Что происходит в остальных странах?


В общем, да - читать стоит, особенно если вы поклонник - апокалиптичных историй и дистопий, но мне, например Ashfall by Mike Mullin понравился гораздо больше.

8.5/10