Thursday 13 June 2013

ARC Review: Darker Days (The Darker Agency #1) by Jus Accardo

Darker Days (The Darker Agency, #1)Darker Days

Author: Jus Accardo
Series: The Darker Agency
Pages: 332
Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Amazon
Release date: 19th August 2013

Synopsis (Goodreads)

Jessie Darker goes to high school during the day, but at night she helps with the family investigation business. Cheating husbands and stolen inheritances? They’re your girls—but their specialty is a bit darker. Zombie in your garage? Pesky Poltergeist living in your pool? They’ll have the problem solved in a magical minute. For a nominal fee, of course...

When gorgeous new client, Lukas Scott, saunters into the office requesting their help to find a stolen box, it sounds like a simple case—until the truth comes out. The box is full of Sin.

Seven deadly ones, in fact.

They’ve got five days to recapture the Sins before they're recalled by the box, taking seven hijacked human bodies with them. Easy peasy—except for one thing...

There’s a spell that will allow the Sins to remain free, causing chaos forever. When the key ingredient threatens the life of someone she knows, Jessie must make the ultimate choice between love and family—or lose everything.

Review: 4 ½ out of 5 stars

I am a huge fan of Jus Accardo’s Denazen series so I was really eager to get hold of Darker Days, the first book in her Darker Agency series so I did a little happy dance when I found out I had won an ARC copy through Entangled Teen.

Seventeen year-old Jessie Darker is a loveable character, she is confident, witty and full of snarky one-liners that leave you either laughing out loud or shaking your head; she comes across as full of beans and without fear which I really loved – she was a lot of fun. She doesn’t live the life of a normal teen; she works for her mother at the ‘Darker Agency’ where they are hired to do jobs not of the norm, usually dealing with zombies, ghosts etc.

When Lukas Scott arrives at the agency needing their help to locate a box, it was certainly a big ask since the box has been stolen and the contents let out - the seven deadly sins who have taken over human hosts and need to be recaptured within five days or else they’ll wreak havoc. It was interesting finding out Lukas’s connection to the box and the part he played in it all.

Lukas was an interesting character; he was nice and sweet and because of his past (I won’t reveal what it is to avoid spoilers) he was quite the gentleman and treated Jessie with respect and care; I found myself really enjoying their interactions, his reactions to her comments had me giggling.

The romance I feel was too fast too soon, the attraction was immediate and the touchy feely declarations followed very soon after, unfortunately the build-up was missing for me but I did like Jessie and Lukas together, they complimented each other well.

Jus Accardo's writing is descriptive and the setting vivid; the plot was evenly paced and creative - a story about the seven deadly sins is certainly unique and I loved her interpretation and how they were each worked into this wonderful story. The surprises, especially towards the ending had me gaping and eager to know how it would all play out – you could never predict the outcome which I liked, there were twists and turns aplenty.

What I also loved was Jessie’s relationship with her mother, the conversations between them were hilarious and I thought the boundaries her mother set were believable. I also liked her demon father; I am keen to see the role he’ll play in the next installment.

Overall, Darker Days is a perfect start to this wonderfully unique series with a great amount of humour, interesting mythology, detailed world-building and amazing characters who are true to life, I can’t wait to get hold of the next book!

Thank-you kindly to Entangled Teen Publishing for providing me a copy of Darker Days to read and review.


Jus AccardoAbout the Author: Jus Accardo is the author of YA paranormal romance and urban fantasy fiction. 

A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald. 

Her first book, Touch, came out in November 2011 from Entangled Publishing. She is represented by Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.




6 comments:

  1. Not sure about the romance but the world building sounds awesome, I am so glad you liked this I am adding it to my wishlist!!

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    1. This romance happened quite fast but I loved both of the characters, they complimented each other well - I just prefer more build-up.

      The world-building was great!

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  2. I also won a copy of this and did a happy dance when I found out! You know how much I love Jus Accardo, so I'm excited to read this book.
    I can already tell from reading your review that I'll love it although I'm a little upset about the romance being too fast. But maybe going into the book expecting a fast-moving romance will help me ignore it.
    I can't wait to meet Jessie and Lucas!
    Great review, Sharon!

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    1. Yay! Congrats Nick :) I'm a big Jus Accardo fan and this was great! I think you'll love Jessie & Lukas.

      I think if you go in expecting the rushed romance it wont be a disappointment; I personally prefer the first book in a series to slowly build up a relationship.

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  3. I REALLY want to read this one! The romance sounds like one that may annoy me a bit, but the rest sounds so good I'll overlook that potential negative aspect. I'm adding this one to the WL immediately!

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    Replies
    1. It was a lot of fun despite the rushed romance. I am so excited for the sequel :)

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