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Darkseed: Awakening
205 Cheyne Avenue holds some dark secrets…
After an accident claims the lives of two boys, fifteen year old Sarah Walton moves in to 205 with her mother. It isn’t long before she realises there is another, unseen resident, and convinces best friend Christina to help her make contact. When they do, the girls learn more than they bargained for, and soon find themselves desperately unravelling a series of clues in order to stop a malevolent being, seemingly bent on manipulating the souls of those he’s killed in order to gain omnipotence. Their only ally is Craig, a spirit they’ve befriended via a Ouija board, but as the story unfolds, the girls discover things aren’t quite as straightforward as they’d assumed.
After an accident claims the lives of two boys, fifteen year old Sarah Walton moves in to 205 with her mother. It isn’t long before she realises there is another, unseen resident, and convinces best friend Christina to help her make contact. When they do, the girls learn more than they bargained for, and soon find themselves desperately unravelling a series of clues in order to stop a malevolent being, seemingly bent on manipulating the souls of those he’s killed in order to gain omnipotence. Their only ally is Craig, a spirit they’ve befriended via a Ouija board, but as the story unfolds, the girls discover things aren’t quite as straightforward as they’d assumed.
261 pages, ebook
First published July 13, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 30, 2012
Review:
A few years ago, I read a lot more books about ghosts and the occult than I tend to now. No particular reason, I just felt that I’d exhausted the genre somewhat. However, then I received the request to review Darkseed: Awakening I couldn’t resist it. And actually, it was a refreshing change from the genres I normally read, and also I ended up completely absorbed in what was happening.
This book was actually creepy – I actually stopped reading it late at night on more than one occasion for that reason. I liked how the girls gradually found themselves more and more involved and invested in the plot, and how their views of using the Ouija board started out as finding it fun, then began to see the dark underside of this and the danger they are putting themselves in.
I also loved the twist at the end of this. I have to admit, I was so involved myself that I didn’t see it coming at all, and like the girls, I was unsure what to believe once it had happened… and then when I thought I’d wrapped my head around everything, the final twist came!
The characters in this were also good – Christina being the sensible one of the pair, and Sarah being more reckless. I liked how close they were as friends, and the fact that even though they were close, they didn’t actually share everything. I also loved the very English accents, and ways of saying things, and felt I could relate to it being English myself!
Very much enjoyed this book overall, my only criticism being that at times my attention did wander because I felt things were moving a little slowly. If you fancy something more creepy than your average paranormal book, this is definitely one for you. Thoroughly enjoyed this, though somehow it wasn’t blow-your-mind awesome.
Overall rating: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
My Enjoyment: 4/5
A few years ago, I read a lot more books about ghosts and the occult than I tend to now. No particular reason, I just felt that I’d exhausted the genre somewhat. However, then I received the request to review Darkseed: Awakening I couldn’t resist it. And actually, it was a refreshing change from the genres I normally read, and also I ended up completely absorbed in what was happening.
This book was actually creepy – I actually stopped reading it late at night on more than one occasion for that reason. I liked how the girls gradually found themselves more and more involved and invested in the plot, and how their views of using the Ouija board started out as finding it fun, then began to see the dark underside of this and the danger they are putting themselves in.
I also loved the twist at the end of this. I have to admit, I was so involved myself that I didn’t see it coming at all, and like the girls, I was unsure what to believe once it had happened… and then when I thought I’d wrapped my head around everything, the final twist came!
The characters in this were also good – Christina being the sensible one of the pair, and Sarah being more reckless. I liked how close they were as friends, and the fact that even though they were close, they didn’t actually share everything. I also loved the very English accents, and ways of saying things, and felt I could relate to it being English myself!
Very much enjoyed this book overall, my only criticism being that at times my attention did wander because I felt things were moving a little slowly. If you fancy something more creepy than your average paranormal book, this is definitely one for you. Thoroughly enjoyed this, though somehow it wasn’t blow-your-mind awesome.
Overall rating: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
My Enjoyment: 4/5
October 15, 2012
Darkseed is a fascinating read that managed to successfully hold my attention. It was the character descriptions and their personal developments that in particular managed to truly capture my interest. The range of personalities evident are very well crafted and in many ways highly believable. It was difficult not to get completely absorbed in the young people's lives as they were navigating through the tension and mystery that awaited them in this novel.
I really appreciated the strong British voices in this novel; although, I'm not sure a non-Brit would easily be able to get their head around the slang. I however, really liked this as I thought it helped the characters become much more three dimensional.
The plot line was cleverly crafted and on the whole pushed forward at a good pace, with several twist and turns and interesting developments. These developments at times were eerily dark, certainly enough to create high suspense and tension.
Whilst Darkseed: Awakening is a YA paranormal/supernatural read, it will easily be appreciated by adult readers too. An enjoyable read that comes highly recommended by Bex 'n' Books.
Bex
I really appreciated the strong British voices in this novel; although, I'm not sure a non-Brit would easily be able to get their head around the slang. I however, really liked this as I thought it helped the characters become much more three dimensional.
The plot line was cleverly crafted and on the whole pushed forward at a good pace, with several twist and turns and interesting developments. These developments at times were eerily dark, certainly enough to create high suspense and tension.
Whilst Darkseed: Awakening is a YA paranormal/supernatural read, it will easily be appreciated by adult readers too. An enjoyable read that comes highly recommended by Bex 'n' Books.
Bex
November 3, 2012
Sometimes when I'm searching for a horror novel to read, I come across some Young Adult novels that look better than the ones meant for adults. Some good YA horror novels include the Cirque Du Freak series by Darren Shan, The Grisly High series by Brian Rowe and the Trifectus series by Logan Bryne. Recently I found another one that is the beginning of a series that looks to be up horror fan's alley called Darkseed: Awakenings by Victoria Ley.
Fifteen year old Sarah and her mother have just moved into a new building. Their new home has a dark past, just 15 months earlier two boys were killed in an accident in Sarah's bedroom. One of the boys has not completely left the house and he's making his presence known by moving objects around and putting images in Sarah's head. Sarah invites her friend Christina over to help communicate with the spirit and they manage to make contact through a Ouija board.
They discover that the spirit's name is Craig and he is trapped in another dimension. Craig use to belong to an organization called the Brethren that researched the paranormal and communicated with spirits. One of the members of their group started to kill the others and trap their spirits in order to gain omnipotence.
Sarah and Christina do some research to find a spell to free Craig's spirit but doing the spell won't be easy. They also find that Craig may not be what he seems and they're being stalked by another spirit. The more they learn about the supernatural, the more twisted the mystery of the trapped spirits becomes and Sarah and Christina may be in over their heads.
Darkseed: Awakening may be aimed towards a teenage audience but it has a good story, great characters and some suspenseful parts that adults will like also. My favorite part in the book was when Christina and Sarah were communicating with Craig with a Ouija board. I liked it when Craig describes the other side and how he can make objects in a room move. I also liked the girl's reaction to Craig saying he is right beside them even though they don't see him.
The story for Darkseed: Awakening takes place mostly on the British isle of Sheppey in Kent. Some of the dialogue and descriptions in this book are very localised, which may turn some people off but added to the story for me because I was learning about an area that I knew nothing about. Another thing I liked in the story was the friendship between Sarah and Christina. The girls are very different but they get along well and help each other throughout the story. A good example of this is towards the end when the two girls have to fight the villain in the story. They may be scared but they work together to do what needs to be done.
I also liked how Victoria Ley adds so much depth to Sarah in the story. Sarah's parents are recently divorced and you witness how both parents act towards her and how their divorce affects her family. Sarah is a thrill seeker while Christina is the level-headed one that thinks things through before doing them. There are some great scary scenes in this book also, such as a chase scene through a graveyard and when the girls have to break the spell that has Craig trapped on the other side. Darkseed: Awakening is a chilling paranormal mystery that will have you looking forward to book 2 in the series.
Fifteen year old Sarah and her mother have just moved into a new building. Their new home has a dark past, just 15 months earlier two boys were killed in an accident in Sarah's bedroom. One of the boys has not completely left the house and he's making his presence known by moving objects around and putting images in Sarah's head. Sarah invites her friend Christina over to help communicate with the spirit and they manage to make contact through a Ouija board.
They discover that the spirit's name is Craig and he is trapped in another dimension. Craig use to belong to an organization called the Brethren that researched the paranormal and communicated with spirits. One of the members of their group started to kill the others and trap their spirits in order to gain omnipotence.
Sarah and Christina do some research to find a spell to free Craig's spirit but doing the spell won't be easy. They also find that Craig may not be what he seems and they're being stalked by another spirit. The more they learn about the supernatural, the more twisted the mystery of the trapped spirits becomes and Sarah and Christina may be in over their heads.
Darkseed: Awakening may be aimed towards a teenage audience but it has a good story, great characters and some suspenseful parts that adults will like also. My favorite part in the book was when Christina and Sarah were communicating with Craig with a Ouija board. I liked it when Craig describes the other side and how he can make objects in a room move. I also liked the girl's reaction to Craig saying he is right beside them even though they don't see him.
The story for Darkseed: Awakening takes place mostly on the British isle of Sheppey in Kent. Some of the dialogue and descriptions in this book are very localised, which may turn some people off but added to the story for me because I was learning about an area that I knew nothing about. Another thing I liked in the story was the friendship between Sarah and Christina. The girls are very different but they get along well and help each other throughout the story. A good example of this is towards the end when the two girls have to fight the villain in the story. They may be scared but they work together to do what needs to be done.
I also liked how Victoria Ley adds so much depth to Sarah in the story. Sarah's parents are recently divorced and you witness how both parents act towards her and how their divorce affects her family. Sarah is a thrill seeker while Christina is the level-headed one that thinks things through before doing them. There are some great scary scenes in this book also, such as a chase scene through a graveyard and when the girls have to break the spell that has Craig trapped on the other side. Darkseed: Awakening is a chilling paranormal mystery that will have you looking forward to book 2 in the series.
January 25, 2013
What an absolutely GREAT book!!
Victoria Ley’s Darkseed: Awakening is a masterful book! You may think this book is just about séances and Ouija boards, but you would be wrong. Those elements are there, but it transcends that on so many levels, both physical and spiritual, and Ley does an amazing job of weaving together these two existences in such a way that is very believable.
The story grabs you right from the very first sentence. The action is palpable and at times leaves you breathless at what might come next. The main characters, Sarah and Christina are well developed as well as the friendship they share. I cheered them on as they began their search for answers into the deaths of two boys that had died in Sarah’s house several years ago. I was also worried for them, thinking at any moment one of them was going to end up dead. Ley writes in such a way that you really come to care about her characters, as well as hoping the villain gets it in the end. Does this happen? Well…you will have to read it and decide for yourself.
I will say this; Victoria Ley is the queen of misdirection. At one point I thought I had it all figured out, and with the turning of a page all my theories crumbled. I love it when an author is able to do this!
I would recommend this book to anyone. It is well written, exciting, suspense filled and clever. You will love every page!
Victoria Ley’s Darkseed: Awakening is a masterful book! You may think this book is just about séances and Ouija boards, but you would be wrong. Those elements are there, but it transcends that on so many levels, both physical and spiritual, and Ley does an amazing job of weaving together these two existences in such a way that is very believable.
The story grabs you right from the very first sentence. The action is palpable and at times leaves you breathless at what might come next. The main characters, Sarah and Christina are well developed as well as the friendship they share. I cheered them on as they began their search for answers into the deaths of two boys that had died in Sarah’s house several years ago. I was also worried for them, thinking at any moment one of them was going to end up dead. Ley writes in such a way that you really come to care about her characters, as well as hoping the villain gets it in the end. Does this happen? Well…you will have to read it and decide for yourself.
I will say this; Victoria Ley is the queen of misdirection. At one point I thought I had it all figured out, and with the turning of a page all my theories crumbled. I love it when an author is able to do this!
I would recommend this book to anyone. It is well written, exciting, suspense filled and clever. You will love every page!
July 28, 2012
A fun and frightening ghost story. Adults and young adults will find this book near impossible to put down. The writing (spelling, expressions, etc) is wonderfully british. This novel is perfect on a rainy evening. Just remember to have lots of strong tea within reach. You'll be too caught up in the story to sleep.
August 3, 2012
I read this book in 24 hours just couldnt put it down, it kinda brought me back to the point horror books. Was totally hooked from the start fantastic
August 30, 2012
Bought this on a wim as it was on sale, ended up being the best book I've read in a long time. Totally creepy, believeable characters, great story. Can't wait for the next one.
October 31, 2012
Absolutely brilliant. Very visual story, I can well imagine this as a supernatural TV series. Read it, read it, read it!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews