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Guardians #2
Darkness Comes At Dawn
Everywhere Katie looks, she sees his face—her dad. The one she left in the rubble.
Her real dad won’t admit there’s a problem, Tristan is about to give up on her, and she almost gives up on herself—until she meets Portia, the girl with a solution. But not every rabbit hole is worth going down—or coming back from.
Worst, people are missing and no one knows if its the vampires, scrambling to find a new coven leader; the werewolves, who are fighting among themselves; or this new group, the Seven, claiming peace.
Katie is suffocating from her inability to live like yesterday never happened. But will new scenery, and new friends be enough to save her when true darkness comes at dawn?
Darkness Comes At Dawn is a YA Epic Urban Fantasy brimming with Darkness, Magic, and Moral Ambiguity.
Her real dad won’t admit there’s a problem, Tristan is about to give up on her, and she almost gives up on herself—until she meets Portia, the girl with a solution. But not every rabbit hole is worth going down—or coming back from.
Worst, people are missing and no one knows if its the vampires, scrambling to find a new coven leader; the werewolves, who are fighting among themselves; or this new group, the Seven, claiming peace.
Katie is suffocating from her inability to live like yesterday never happened. But will new scenery, and new friends be enough to save her when true darkness comes at dawn?
Darkness Comes At Dawn is a YA Epic Urban Fantasy brimming with Darkness, Magic, and Moral Ambiguity.
- GenresFantasy
401 pages, Paperback
First published April 17, 2017
148 people want to read
About the author
Francina Simone
8 books2,021 followersFrancina Simone is the author of The Guardians Trilogy, a young adult urban fantasy that explores the strength of love and lost. She was born in Germany, spent her childhood in hot the urban jungle of Orlando Florida, and now resides in the Rockies where she spends more of her time far away with her characters in their quest to make the right decisions in worlds brimming with romance, moral ambiguity, and often times, a touch of magic.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 28, 2017
This book is one hell of a ride. I went through so many feelings regarding Katie from liking her to hating her, to cheering for her. She is very well written.
The book doesnt disappoint in the side characters either. West is snarky, sarcastic and such a good friend. Funny, too. And his relationship with Zuri is so relatable.
Just read this book. I loved the first one, The Keepers Vow but Darkness Comes at Dawn blew my mind. Perfect sequel.
The book doesnt disappoint in the side characters either. West is snarky, sarcastic and such a good friend. Funny, too. And his relationship with Zuri is so relatable.
Just read this book. I loved the first one, The Keepers Vow but Darkness Comes at Dawn blew my mind. Perfect sequel.
October 11, 2017
Some minor spoilers here:
It is fair to say I have really enjoyed the dark twist that this sequel offers. Makes Katie more real, well, made ALL characters more real. People falling and people getting up, and falling again, and hitting harder and perduring in our worst moments. This is what this book is about, about recovering when you reach the bottom of a pit, in finding the light within those around you or on those who are new and able to see as you are. Katie here matures, even with all her immaturity, finds herself in darker places than the first books. And I loved it.
This book delves into subjects such as addiction and maturity.
In this sequel, Katie starts off ass using too much the all too-well-know phrase: "I'm fine" which we all know doesn't mean that. Trying to get over the fact that she witnessed her absent father die in from of her, she can't stop remembering Tristan saving her and her father choosing his evil half-brother over her, she is finding herself in a Tristanish BLACK VOID.
Hamilton High isn't helping, as Allison is MIA and Brian is being... Brian. Which frankly, I understand. It's naive to think you will keep your childhood friendships. Something about growing up is realizing how different you are to your all time bff.
New characters play into this book and I love each one of them. Zuri and West are nice and demostrate that not everything revolves around Katie, yeah, what I most like about Francina's characters is that they not sorely centralize around the main characters, there are not there to define them, no, they have their own lifes, their own identities and conflicts, like when you see Zuri walking by Katie or the twins trying to open a restaurant, this way, they fell more real.
Francina really showed her craft by showing the levels of grief and the recovering process of addiction, and I feel that as the most valuable lesson.
Quick note. What surprised me here was Micheal which I really liked at the start when he realized how he is like his father and I wish to see more of him in the next book. Also, Katie's father (the real one, the one that raised her, more or less) finally shows a bit of understanding, though I really hope him and Lucy would stop mentioning sex. Like Tristan said, if sex was on the table, it would have happened, it annoyed me how much they focused on Katie and the idea of teen sex (like THAT'S the biggest issue of the whole world) over her difficulties adapting to school, her vampireness, or grief.
I'm sure the next book is going to delve into deeper levels of darkness and I'm ready for the ride. Things escalated by the end of this book (I can call them catastrophic levels) and going to places I wasn't expecting. I'm sure the levels of action (and carnage) will go off the roof in the final installment.
*Side note: Azazel... hey, compatriot with a sexy Spanish accent, hope you choose that name yourself and not because you want to be a fallen angel. I like you even with all the religiousness talk (I'll give you credit for being from another time), so I will concede on that. Weird to think of him as being "hot for his age" hahaha
It is fair to say I have really enjoyed the dark twist that this sequel offers. Makes Katie more real, well, made ALL characters more real. People falling and people getting up, and falling again, and hitting harder and perduring in our worst moments. This is what this book is about, about recovering when you reach the bottom of a pit, in finding the light within those around you or on those who are new and able to see as you are. Katie here matures, even with all her immaturity, finds herself in darker places than the first books. And I loved it.
This book delves into subjects such as addiction and maturity.
In this sequel, Katie starts off ass using too much the all too-well-know phrase: "I'm fine" which we all know doesn't mean that. Trying to get over the fact that she witnessed her absent father die in from of her, she can't stop remembering Tristan saving her and her father choosing his evil half-brother over her, she is finding herself in a Tristanish BLACK VOID.
Hamilton High isn't helping, as Allison is MIA and Brian is being... Brian. Which frankly, I understand. It's naive to think you will keep your childhood friendships. Something about growing up is realizing how different you are to your all time bff.
New characters play into this book and I love each one of them. Zuri and West are nice and demostrate that not everything revolves around Katie, yeah, what I most like about Francina's characters is that they not sorely centralize around the main characters, there are not there to define them, no, they have their own lifes, their own identities and conflicts, like when you see Zuri walking by Katie or the twins trying to open a restaurant, this way, they fell more real.
Francina really showed her craft by showing the levels of grief and the recovering process of addiction, and I feel that as the most valuable lesson.
Quick note. What surprised me here was Micheal which I really liked at the start when he realized how he is like his father and I wish to see more of him in the next book. Also, Katie's father (the real one, the one that raised her, more or less) finally shows a bit of understanding, though I really hope him and Lucy would stop mentioning sex. Like Tristan said, if sex was on the table, it would have happened, it annoyed me how much they focused on Katie and the idea of teen sex (like THAT'S the biggest issue of the whole world) over her difficulties adapting to school, her vampireness, or grief.
I'm sure the next book is going to delve into deeper levels of darkness and I'm ready for the ride. Things escalated by the end of this book (I can call them catastrophic levels) and going to places I wasn't expecting. I'm sure the levels of action (and carnage) will go off the roof in the final installment.
*Side note: Azazel... hey, compatriot with a sexy Spanish accent, hope you choose that name yourself and not because you want to be a fallen angel. I like you even with all the religiousness talk (I'll give you credit for being from another time), so I will concede on that. Weird to think of him as being "hot for his age" hahaha
June 19, 2017
AMAZING review to come
January 6, 2018
Equally as impactful as the first book; Darkness Comes At Dawn had a lot of gripping, relatable content sprinkled throughout. I'll try not to get spoiler-y with this.
Characterization: There were definitely periods of regression in Katie's character--which, as far as I'm concerned, is realistic. Seldom do people change their ways--especially their worst habits, their sense of self-doubt, their reckless behaviour or tendency towards selfishness--overnight. Though I did find myself getting pretty fed up with the amount of overdramatic screaming and crying she did, I could also 1) acknowledge that there are real people just like that, and 2) understand that given her circumstances (everything she went through in Book One, the aftermath she's dealing with on top of a whole slew of new issues) having a full-blown meltdown from time to time was inevitable. Likewise, the supporting characters--adults particularly--drove me insane at times. Their attitudes toward Katie, the push and pull of, "You can talk to me--but don't talk to me about your problems" they kept exuding...suffice it to say, whether I agreed with them or was angered by them, I could at the very least understand them.
More importantly, it was easier to forgive all those frustrating moments when the characters started owning their faults. Katie in particular grew quite a bit, and while still prone to hysterics, it's nice to see some strength, some resolve and optimism making it's way into her character.
Plot: I felt it took some time to get into the nitty-gritty of the plot--particularly the part that was being hinted at throughout--but I also felt the subplot dealing with Katie's issues (themes of addiction and depression) were just as important, and showed this to be a character-driven story, while not negating the issues others face on a day-to-day basis. I also think the addiction and depression was handled really well, not once romanticizing them, but showing both for what they really are.
The main plot itself, while it took awhile, hit like lightning when it did. I can only assume this means Book Three is going to be one hell of a ride.
My only issue with this book was the amount of technical errors, though thankfully that was greatly lessened toward the latter half.
All in all an enjoyable, emotionally-charged read.
Characterization: There were definitely periods of regression in Katie's character--which, as far as I'm concerned, is realistic. Seldom do people change their ways--especially their worst habits, their sense of self-doubt, their reckless behaviour or tendency towards selfishness--overnight. Though I did find myself getting pretty fed up with the amount of overdramatic screaming and crying she did, I could also 1) acknowledge that there are real people just like that, and 2) understand that given her circumstances (everything she went through in Book One, the aftermath she's dealing with on top of a whole slew of new issues) having a full-blown meltdown from time to time was inevitable. Likewise, the supporting characters--adults particularly--drove me insane at times. Their attitudes toward Katie, the push and pull of, "You can talk to me--but don't talk to me about your problems" they kept exuding...suffice it to say, whether I agreed with them or was angered by them, I could at the very least understand them.
More importantly, it was easier to forgive all those frustrating moments when the characters started owning their faults. Katie in particular grew quite a bit, and while still prone to hysterics, it's nice to see some strength, some resolve and optimism making it's way into her character.
Plot: I felt it took some time to get into the nitty-gritty of the plot--particularly the part that was being hinted at throughout--but I also felt the subplot dealing with Katie's issues (themes of addiction and depression) were just as important, and showed this to be a character-driven story, while not negating the issues others face on a day-to-day basis. I also think the addiction and depression was handled really well, not once romanticizing them, but showing both for what they really are.
The main plot itself, while it took awhile, hit like lightning when it did. I can only assume this means Book Three is going to be one hell of a ride.
My only issue with this book was the amount of technical errors, though thankfully that was greatly lessened toward the latter half.
All in all an enjoyable, emotionally-charged read.
May 27, 2018
3.5
Francina's writing comes into its own in this book. I still had problems with the copy editing. There were sentences that were malformed and other mistakes that shouldn't have been in the book at release or should have been fixed after the fact.
Katie finally grows into maturity, letting the chip fall from her shoulder and coming into her own. I'm not sure where the series is meant to go from here, but it obviously isn't over. I expect there will be another book. I hope there will be another book.
My only problem with this book is the petty fighting, the editing, and still not understanding the world properly. But I think the world-building, despite so much being left in the dark, is interesting.
Francina's writing comes into its own in this book. I still had problems with the copy editing. There were sentences that were malformed and other mistakes that shouldn't have been in the book at release or should have been fixed after the fact.
Katie finally grows into maturity, letting the chip fall from her shoulder and coming into her own. I'm not sure where the series is meant to go from here, but it obviously isn't over. I expect there will be another book. I hope there will be another book.
My only problem with this book is the petty fighting, the editing, and still not understanding the world properly. But I think the world-building, despite so much being left in the dark, is interesting.
February 11, 2019
While it was frustrating at the beginning to deal with the characters' angst, it also was nice to have the actually deal with events from the previous book. And then, just when I started wondering if this was going to go anywhere, the ending brought an intensity I wasn't expecting. Very much hoping the third book gets released in the near future.
July 10, 2019
Super awesome paranormal young adult read with real world themes and beautifully fallible characters. Can't wait for the next book!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews