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Book Title: The Color of Darkness

Book Genre: Teen Fiction

Date of Review: March 13, 2016

Chapter(s) Reviewed: Words, Nova, Puck

Approximate Chapter Length: 1800, 1700, 1500

Content Flags: None

Summary (copied from book description)

Irrepressible.

Extraordinary.

Indestructible.

Her name is Nova, like the muscle car, or a supernova, and she is a cosmic hurricane in Puck's world. She swears, drinks, lives among the stars, and he can't help but fall hopelessly in love with her. Is it love? Infatuation? Enamoration? He's not sure if he'll ever find out. He is sure, however, that the only thing that can understand one broken heart is another.

Review

Andy developed a love of words at a young age, inspired in part by the endless encouragement of his mom. Words are important. But when his mother dies after he writes some hateful words with his typewriter, he puts away his love of writing in a dark corner of his heart, barricaded by the blame he imposes on himself for his mother's death.

Nova is a force to be reckoned with. Andy met her when he was six and she was seven, and her first impression was punching him in the face. It was a rocky start, to be sure, but Nova soon becomes an important part of Andy's life. She understands his grief over losing his mom and talks to him about ways of grieving. She is Andy's first kiss, one of the quick impulses of youth.

Andy slowly falls for Nova, though their friendship isn't quite typical and he can't be sure if she feels the same. He even inadvertently confesses his love while under the influence of valium after Nova accidentally shoots him in the foot.

The Color of Darkness is a teen fiction romance, and as such is far from my normal genre. The story structure is also far from my usual fare, very reflective, like a memoir with more vivid scenes interspersed throughout. However, the writing style drew me in. Aside from a typo here or there, the writing style is very polished and compelling. I enjoyed the narrator's voice and the characterization in the story. There are moments with truly sparkling use of language, as one might expect from a story whose narrator loves words. The plot is a bit meandering for my personal taste, but I believe that is a side effect of the genre more than anything else.

The author will be publishing this novel soon, and based on the first few chapters, I would certainly recommend it to readers who enjoy young adult romance.