For Seventeen-year-old Liam O’Connor, nightmares become reality when he dreams of a fellow student's murder. Eager to uncover the truth, Liam and his friends investigate, revealing hidden secrets about his identity.
Targeted by the menacing Dark Friars, Liam is saved by the enigmatic Tariq, who introduces him to a supernatural world where good and evil battle in the shadows.
Can Liam juggle college, family, friendships, and desires while bearing the heavy responsibilities of his newfound destiny?
Against the picturesque cathedral city of Sarumbourne, the looming threat of the Dark Friars intensifies, and Liam's normal life shatters amid the chaos.
To be perfectly honest, this synopsis bores me to tears and gives the reader absolutely no clue how fantastic this book actually is. At least, it was for me. Not a single second was wasted. I was hooked from the first few sentences as we get dropped right into Liam’s nightmarishly violent dream. I was so sucked in that the second I finished, I bought a copy—even though it’s on Kindle Unlimited—and then bought the second book a few minutes later. I had zero self-control.
I don’t read a ton of YA. I think I read one or two last year, maybe the same this year. I’m only mentioning this because I don’t have a huge backlog to compare The Dark Friars to, but I can say I enjoyed it as much as my favorite YA of all time, Rotters by Daniel Kraus—just for completely different reasons. Liam, his friends Lily and Jack, Tariq, and the rest of the Keepers and Guild members pulled me straight into a world of immensee magic and the fight between those trying to protect it and those who want to twist it for their own nefarious means.
In a not-small way, The Dark Friars reminds me of my favorite TV show of all time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So much so that I’m giving in and breaking out the bullet points, though I still wish I could get away with using a giant Venn diagram.
- Like Buffy, Liam gets hit with immense power after the violent death of his predecessor. Unlike Buffy, Liam was forced to dream about that violent death for days.
- Buffy becomes the Slayer. Liam becomes the newest Keeper—one of six guardians protecting Sarumbourne from every manner of magical nightmare: shapeshifters, vampires, demons, and, of course, the Dark Friars.
- Buffy has the Watchers Council. Liam and the other Keepers have The Guild.
- Buffy has Willow and Xander. Liam has Lily and Jack—and honestly, I’d trade Xander for Jack in half a heartbeat. Jack is sooooo much better.
- Buffy has Angel. Liam has Tariq, and I’m already confident that Liam and Tariq are going to have a far healthier go of things.
That’s not to say the world the author has created feels derivative, because it absolutely doesn’t. This world stands entirely on its own and feels fully realized—a feat that can be difficult to pull off in the first book of a series. I could follow the paths of Craythorn Forest and Grovely Wood. The campus of Sarumbourne College is as real to me as my own. And I desperately want to wander the halls and rooms of The Seven Angels for myself. I think I would like it there.
All I know is that there better be a third, fourth, fifth, and twelfth book soon. Especially if they all have these gorgeous covers.
No comments:
Post a Comment