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Sly Darkness
Kya Aliana's riveting novel, Sly Darkness, is told from loner/drifter, Zander's, point of view. Zander is a mystery to even his readers. This book is a mystery/suspense/horror novel targeted for mature teens and young adults.When Zander strides into the town of Riverwolf Pass for a very specific reason, he gets distracted with three local teens, Chad, Sarah, and Vikki. When they decide to go out to the woods in search of a missing boy in order to collect the reward money, all hell breaks loose!Four teenagers with very different personalities... Sarah, the new girl in town, has a deadly secret as well as a long and tangled past.Chad, finally coming out of a depression, is ready to face the world again.Vikki, the girl with a bad reputation and a lovers past with Chad, is ready to cause drama in this insane trip out into the woods.What could possibly go wrong?How will they fare when they get lost?... When their patients are tested? Their strength weakened... Their past come back to haunt them...? Their personalities pitted against them?These four teenagers will learn so much about each other as well as themselves. They mystery of the woods, the darkness, and their own personalities unfolds in this very gripping story... "The Breakfast Club" meets "Stand by Me" with Aliana's own horror twists and turns. The climatic ending will leave you hungry for more!
- GenresThrillerYoung Adult
214 pages, Paperback
First published July 30, 2012
1 person is currently reading
587 people want to read
About the author
Kya Aliana
10 books113 followersKya Aliana finished her first full-length novel when she was thirteen. Ever since then, she hasn't been able to stop writing. Now, at twenty, she is the proud author of over eight novels. She is the founder of Aspirations Press (AspirationsPress.com), home of The Dreams Come True Anthology Series, publishing talented young voices 18 and under.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 28, 2014
I found this book dull, convoluted, and hilariously melodramatic. The characters had no chemistry, besides forced, choppy dialogue, and the plot "twist" left me feeling more irate than shocked. Also, the main character was kind of a bad person, as well as completely unrelatable, so I wanted no good things for him.
July 8, 2012
First Reads
I won an ARC copy of SLY DARKNESS in a Goodreads' Giveaway
I recommend this book to young adults and mature teenagers. The book deals with some mature content such as: promiscuity, underage drinking, and profanity.
Being Kya Aliana’s second published novel (The first being IMPENDING DOOM), she shows a lot of potential as an up-and-coming author. SLY DARKNESS is the second book in a series, and revolves around a loner named Zander who winds up in a small town name Riverwolf Pass. He and three other teens set out on a camping adventure to find a local boy who went missing.
Aliana’s book is certainly a page-turner, with bits of mystery, suspense, horror, and a smidgen of romance. This particular copy is an ARC/Proof, so it needs a little polishing, but overall Aliana has created a great book with room for expansion.
Aliana did a pretty good job with the plot, but there’s a little room for improvement and expansion. To avoid listing spoilers, I’ll be sending a message to the author with suggestions. She has also done a great job with the characters. It was easy to envision what Chad, Vikki, and Sarah looked like. She did a great job of giving each character their individual personalities.
When you first dive into the read, the reader is automatically hit with questions. The only way to get the answers to those questions is to turn the page. This is where Aliana has talent. She knows how to keep the reader engaged and motivated to keep reading. The pace of the novel is perfect; not too slow or too fast. There were a few questions that weren’t quite answered, but maybe the sequel will answer those???
UPDATE to my review: It wasn't until after I read SLY DARKNESS, that most of my unanswered questions are actually answered in the first novel IMPENDING DOOM. I didn't realize that I was reading a sequel. With that said, I highly recommend you to look into reading IMPENDING DOOM before reading SLY DARKNESS.
Overall, I think Aliana’s target audience will certainly enjoy reading her book; I know I did. I really look forward to reading more of Aliana's work. She's a great storyteller with a a heck of a talent.
I won an ARC copy of SLY DARKNESS in a Goodreads' Giveaway
I recommend this book to young adults and mature teenagers. The book deals with some mature content such as: promiscuity, underage drinking, and profanity.
Being Kya Aliana’s second published novel (The first being IMPENDING DOOM), she shows a lot of potential as an up-and-coming author. SLY DARKNESS is the second book in a series, and revolves around a loner named Zander who winds up in a small town name Riverwolf Pass. He and three other teens set out on a camping adventure to find a local boy who went missing.
Aliana’s book is certainly a page-turner, with bits of mystery, suspense, horror, and a smidgen of romance. This particular copy is an ARC/Proof, so it needs a little polishing, but overall Aliana has created a great book with room for expansion.
Aliana did a pretty good job with the plot, but there’s a little room for improvement and expansion. To avoid listing spoilers, I’ll be sending a message to the author with suggestions. She has also done a great job with the characters. It was easy to envision what Chad, Vikki, and Sarah looked like. She did a great job of giving each character their individual personalities.
When you first dive into the read, the reader is automatically hit with questions. The only way to get the answers to those questions is to turn the page. This is where Aliana has talent. She knows how to keep the reader engaged and motivated to keep reading. The pace of the novel is perfect; not too slow or too fast. There were a few questions that weren’t quite answered, but maybe the sequel will answer those???
UPDATE to my review: It wasn't until after I read SLY DARKNESS, that most of my unanswered questions are actually answered in the first novel IMPENDING DOOM. I didn't realize that I was reading a sequel. With that said, I highly recommend you to look into reading IMPENDING DOOM before reading SLY DARKNESS.
Overall, I think Aliana’s target audience will certainly enjoy reading her book; I know I did. I really look forward to reading more of Aliana's work. She's a great storyteller with a a heck of a talent.
November 20, 2012
“Sly Darkness” opens with a captivating narration delivered by a mysterious young drifter who enters Twin Peaks type small town with a dark secret. If Stephen King were to write a “Twilight” novel, it would be “Sly Darkness”, a thrilling and addictive page turner by a young and ridiculously talented writer named Kya Aliana.
The author’s stylish prose and her mastery at balancing plot and characters are amazing. Add to that a beautifully crafted sense of place and time, a well-constructed atmosphere of dread, and a breathtakingly paced plot full of surprises. There were many moments reading this book where I felt like I was in the middle of a Stephen King or Dean Koontz novel. Kya Aliana’s command of storytelling is that good.
A word about style and viewpoint. Ask any writer and they will tell you the most difficult viewpoint to write from is the first person with an opposite gender character. The author pulls this off seamlessly in this book. To say that this is a monumental achievement would be a severe understatement. “Sly Darkness” is an impressive work of fiction on so many levels.
Among of the many aspects of this suspenseful novel that really works well are the characters. The four main teenage characters are very realistically portrayed. These are young people that talk and think and act like real teens with real life passions and insecurities. The reader becomes wrapped up in their lives as the plot unfolds and their ordeal becomes all the more real and all the more terrifying because of it.
“Sly Darkness” would make for a terrific teen-age horror film. It is a riveting thriller with a raw physicality to it and cinematic visual writing. It is an entertaining and expertly-crafted piece of suspense fiction loaded with drama, horror, and even dark romance in a “Supernatural” meets “One Tree Hill” kind of way. “Sly Darkness” is a must read for Stephen King readers and fans of YA, teen suspense fiction, or anyone who enjoys a great story told by a confident and gifted storyteller.
The author’s stylish prose and her mastery at balancing plot and characters are amazing. Add to that a beautifully crafted sense of place and time, a well-constructed atmosphere of dread, and a breathtakingly paced plot full of surprises. There were many moments reading this book where I felt like I was in the middle of a Stephen King or Dean Koontz novel. Kya Aliana’s command of storytelling is that good.
A word about style and viewpoint. Ask any writer and they will tell you the most difficult viewpoint to write from is the first person with an opposite gender character. The author pulls this off seamlessly in this book. To say that this is a monumental achievement would be a severe understatement. “Sly Darkness” is an impressive work of fiction on so many levels.
Among of the many aspects of this suspenseful novel that really works well are the characters. The four main teenage characters are very realistically portrayed. These are young people that talk and think and act like real teens with real life passions and insecurities. The reader becomes wrapped up in their lives as the plot unfolds and their ordeal becomes all the more real and all the more terrifying because of it.
“Sly Darkness” would make for a terrific teen-age horror film. It is a riveting thriller with a raw physicality to it and cinematic visual writing. It is an entertaining and expertly-crafted piece of suspense fiction loaded with drama, horror, and even dark romance in a “Supernatural” meets “One Tree Hill” kind of way. “Sly Darkness” is a must read for Stephen King readers and fans of YA, teen suspense fiction, or anyone who enjoys a great story told by a confident and gifted storyteller.
September 30, 2013
I won a Kindle copy of this book and start reading it now in my Vacation.
The style and start of the book grabbed me right away and I had hard times putting it down. Kya managed to give the reader the chance to get easy into the book and keep interested by not giving away a lot of the story right from the start but really let it evolve in front of your eyes.
She provides a great atmosphere and as a reader you are caught in the actions almost as if you are right there.
Two downsides for me: the one was all the sexual activities between teenagers, what I consider complete bullshit (not that teenagers do not have sex but the passion and romantic in my opinion only comes later in life) and the other was the appearance of a new character in the middle of the book, without good reason that got killed pretty much right away. It was a bit irritating.
Unfortunately - in my opinion - on one point Kya lost track of her own story and the story got really weird and quite unexpected. Fortunately only over a few pages after she found back to her exciting mystery style without bringing up Vampires all off a sudden......
At the end of the book I read that Kya is only 17 or was as she wrote this novel and for that reason I will give her extra credit. For her age it is a extremely well written, exciting story with a few twists and turns! Hope she will keep on her journey and I am sure we can expect more fantastic stories.
Thanks!
The style and start of the book grabbed me right away and I had hard times putting it down. Kya managed to give the reader the chance to get easy into the book and keep interested by not giving away a lot of the story right from the start but really let it evolve in front of your eyes.
She provides a great atmosphere and as a reader you are caught in the actions almost as if you are right there.
Two downsides for me: the one was all the sexual activities between teenagers, what I consider complete bullshit (not that teenagers do not have sex but the passion and romantic in my opinion only comes later in life) and the other was the appearance of a new character in the middle of the book, without good reason that got killed pretty much right away. It was a bit irritating.
Unfortunately - in my opinion - on one point Kya lost track of her own story and the story got really weird and quite unexpected. Fortunately only over a few pages after she found back to her exciting mystery style without bringing up Vampires all off a sudden......
At the end of the book I read that Kya is only 17 or was as she wrote this novel and for that reason I will give her extra credit. For her age it is a extremely well written, exciting story with a few twists and turns! Hope she will keep on her journey and I am sure we can expect more fantastic stories.
Thanks!
August 16, 2015
What started out as a 3-star book became a 2-star halfway through and a 1-star in the last 25% of it.
Zander is 18 and showed up in Riverwolf Pass to learn about his past. He's been a loner for 4 years. In town, he meets Chad who's friendless and quiet about an event 6 months ago, Victoria who throws herself at any guy who wants her, and Sarah who is new to town. It's quite obvious that a female wrote this based on how Zander feels and behaves towards females.
Chad though, is quite stereotypical and just grows worse. It's quite irritating how possessive he becomes..
The four decide to go in the woods to look for a missing boy, whose body is worth $20,000.
The random hookups and behaviour changes, as well as some oddities past chapter 10 that just went to extreme weird drove this book down. It had some real potential at first.
Also, after chapter 10, there were some typos:
Page 96 - "I warned" instead of 'Chad warned.'
Page 111 - "higher their percentage" instead of 'raised their percentage'
Page 113 - "my fathers throat" instead of "father's"
Zander is 18 and showed up in Riverwolf Pass to learn about his past. He's been a loner for 4 years. In town, he meets Chad who's friendless and quiet about an event 6 months ago, Victoria who throws herself at any guy who wants her, and Sarah who is new to town. It's quite obvious that a female wrote this based on how Zander feels and behaves towards females.
Chad though, is quite stereotypical and just grows worse. It's quite irritating how possessive he becomes..
The four decide to go in the woods to look for a missing boy, whose body is worth $20,000.
The random hookups and behaviour changes, as well as some oddities past chapter 10 that just went to extreme weird drove this book down. It had some real potential at first.
Also, after chapter 10, there were some typos:
Page 96 - "I warned" instead of 'Chad warned.'
Page 111 - "higher their percentage" instead of 'raised their percentage'
Page 113 - "my fathers throat" instead of "father's"
Want to read
September 12, 2012WOW. REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK. IT IS FULL OF TWISTS AND TURNS AND YOU NEVER SEE THE ENDING COMING. WAS REALLY PLEASED WITH THIS BOOK. IT WAS DEFINITELY HARD TO PUT DOWN.
November 10, 2012
4.5/5 angel stars. Review to follow.
December 20, 2015
Well written and the format was better than the first book.
February 1, 2013
Because I'm the type of person who needs to know the answer to every mystery - only if I find it exciting, which is when it stays in my head long enough to bother me until I sate it by finding out the answer - I found this book really good. It didn't take me long to figure out that every character had a secret, one that probably would or wouldn't be revealed willingly. But whatever their secret may be, it - more or less - went back to "six months ago." In fact, EVERYTHING went back to "six months ago," and I'm not sure if I buy what they said actually happened.
I'm not sure if the characters are trustworthy seeming how they lie throughout the book, I'm actually a little surprised that they didn't all turn on each other like caged animals. I mean, aside from being out in the wild, I would feel on edge most of the time seeming as how if I were in one of their places; I wouldn't know much or anything about them at all and I'm going into the woods with them where if I get lost, who's going to know? But now I know that if I'm ever lost in the woods and find a small waterfall of some sort, I know it's safe to drink. Although, I'd rather not get lost in the woods to test out that theory...
I'm not sure if the characters are trustworthy seeming how they lie throughout the book, I'm actually a little surprised that they didn't all turn on each other like caged animals. I mean, aside from being out in the wild, I would feel on edge most of the time seeming as how if I were in one of their places; I wouldn't know much or anything about them at all and I'm going into the woods with them where if I get lost, who's going to know? But now I know that if I'm ever lost in the woods and find a small waterfall of some sort, I know it's safe to drink. Although, I'd rather not get lost in the woods to test out that theory...
July 19, 2013
Another hit for Kya Aliana! Bringing some of the characters from her first book back for another adventure. A great read for young adults and anyone who likes the supernatural. Loved the ending not giving it away!
July 6, 2014
Better than her first, but still.... I would like to read her works when she gets more creative education
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews