Infinite Dark

by Page Morgan

He was supposed to stay away…

Six months after surviving an alien invasion that nearly destroyed New York City, Penelope Simmons is beginning to accept the truth: Rowan, the Volkranian she fell in love with during the attacks, is gone for good. He isn’t coming back, and it’s about time she and the rest of humankind adjusted to Earth’s newest inhabitants.

But then, they came for her…

An old Volkranian enemy, the Inoori, has tracked Rowan and his people to Earth, and they want one thing: to reclaim the baby prince stolen from them long ago—Rowan. The Inoori know that Rowan will do anything to save Pen, her mom, and hundreds of abducted human prisoners from a fate worse than death, and that is exactly what Pen fears too.

Falling love with an alien was never going to be easy, but as Pen hurtles through the universe, she’ll have to choose who to save—and how to live with her choice.

Genres: Romance, Aliens, Young Adult

216 pages, ebook

Published November 1, 2021

About the author

Page is the author of THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED, THE LOVELY AND THE LOST, and THE WONDROUS AND THE WICKED, young adult gothic thrillers critically acclaimed by Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, School Library Journal, VOYA, and The Bulletin. Page’s novels have been an IndieNext selection, a Seventeen Magazine Summer Book Club Read, and a #1 Amazon bestseller. Her next book, THE LAST HUNTSMAN, is a reimagining of the Huntsman and Magic Mirror from the tale of Snow White.

She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and their three daughters, an English Pointer, an arrogant cat, two boring bearded dragons, a one-eared bunny, a bunch of chickens, and during the summer and fall, their neighbor’s two sweet horses.

Page also writes adult historical romance under the name Angie Morgan. Find out more at www.AngieMorganBooks.com

Reviews

[Shawna Finnigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW// violence, death, drugging, brief mention of fatal car crash

Finally a book that I actually enjoyed this year!! Infinite Dark is the sequel to Violet City, a young adult alien invasion story that I read a couple of years ago. I wasn’t a huge fan of Violet City, but Infinite Dark was available on Kindle Unlimited so I decided to give it a read and I’m so glad I did.

Infinite Dark picks up several months after the events of the first book. I found this time leap jarring at first, but I eventually got into the swing of things and I found it really interesting to see how the humans had mixed reactions to the aliens.

Something that I really loved about this book was how Page Morgan fleshed out the worldbuilding. There’s multiple locations that the characters visit in this story and they all feel really well developed and unique. There was one ship in particular that had my jaw dropping from how cool it seemed. I wish there were a movie adaptation of this book so that I could see that ship come to life. There’s more fleshing out, too, when it comes to the alien races that was done really well. I could picture them all clearly as if they were real and I even found myself having dreams about the aliens because my brain couldn’t stop imagining what they’d look like.

Page Morgan also really improved her writing style in this sequel. I remember feeling that Violet City had somewhat of a middle grade feel to the writing despite the young adult label, but the writing in this one felt very young adult and it felt much better crafted than the writing of the previous book.

There was one issue that I had with this book, but luckily it didn’t hinder my enjoyment too much. I’ll it in a spoiler tag so that potential readers won’t see a spoiler regarding one of the twists in the story. I don’t understand how the consorts work in regards to the Inoori. I understand why they were included since Penelope’s role in the story wouldn’t exist without the consort element, but the Inoori supposedly don’t feel emotion and it specifically mentions that Rowan won’t feel emotion once he’s awakened. The role of the consort in the story is to provide physical/sexual pleasure to the Inoori, but if the Inoori don’t experience emotions, what’s the point of having a consort? I feel like this plothole should’ve been addressed in the story.

Infinite Dark does have some flaws, but I really enjoyed my time reading this book. I hope there’s another installment in this series at some point. I really want to see Penelope and Rowan’s relationship develop further and I think there’s a lot of potential to dive into how the aliens will start learning to live with the humans.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really hope Page Morgan writes a third book, because if this were the end to the series, I wouldn't give it 4 stars--it would be more like 3. I'm assuming she will, though, because this cannot be the end. Then again, I've read one of her series that had a great ending and another that had a terrible ending. So I guess there's that. But I'm still going to plan on reading a third book. The end of this book feels like it's in a resting place, not a finished place.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it doesn't feel particularly edited; it feels more like an ARC (I read the ARC of The Violet City). All the extra commas and other little things here and there were a little distracting, but I still enjoyed the story. I feel like it could have had more to it, though. And there were a few things that went unexplained. For example, How did Rowan overcome the Divitrix? When did he have time to invent and create the statistix? And, especially important to me, how are Penelope and Rowan going to get their happily ever after? Because they need one.

Rowan (20 in the first book, but it's been seven months, so who knows if he's 21 now?) seemed a bit more human in this book than he did in the first. Penelope (17 maybe 18, same reason) also felt less immature than she previously had, and I suppose her experiences in the first book would have that effect. I still like them together, and I'm happy with certain decisions and resolutions regarding them at the end of this book (though, as I mentioned before, this is not satisfactory as an ending). I do wonder, however, what would have happened if the Inoori hadn't abducted Pen. What was the plan, Rowan? Hmm?

How it ends: For the most part, people are trying to be okay with Peaceful Settlement of the Volkranians, but there are groups of people called Salvagers who are dedicated to forcing the aliens out at any cost (including violence). Pen and her mother were living with Sam and Hayden Streeter. Sam was the young man Pen's mother helped in the tunnel in the previous book, and Hayden is his 8-year-old sister. Sam seems to have some feelings for Pen, and she might have returned them if not for Rowan. Sam is a member of the Salvagers, though he's not hardcore about it.

The Sovereign had positioned Rowan in the distance rather than sending him on along the Belt (he had lied to all the humans). Because of this, Rowan was able to return to earth when the Inoori tried to abduct Pen. Before he got to her, one of the Inoori implanted a device in her arm that would have allowed him to transport her to their ship. Rowan took her back to Volkron Six with him to keep her safe, leaving Sam to tell her mother what happened and be informed of everything they hadn't told him.

Rowan is reserved with Pen around is people, which frustrates her. But when they're alone, he is very affectionate with her. They are unable to remove the device from her arm because it's already integrated with her nervous system. Rowan leaves Pen in his room while he sees to some of his duties. A nurse visits her and turns out to be an Inoori spy who activates the device and takes her.

We find out that Rowan is an Inoori prince who was kidnapped by the warden when the Volkranians fled their planet after the Inoori invasion. His mother, Queen Ursa, has been following them on the Band in order to bring him back; Rowan's younger brother, Kronan, is rather bitter about all of it. The queen demands that Rowan (Prince Tallin) come to their ship, or she will kill Pen and all the humans. He goes, despite the protests of the warden and others (including his friend Ash and Dove, the Volkaranian woman he's been matched to his whole life despite not loving her--it's kind of like a betrothal). Ursa has no intention of freeing anyone, and she wants Rowan to continue on with them. Pen is there in order to be a gift to him: his consort. There are also 300 humans on board (including Sam, Hayden, and Pen's mother), taken in order to become Inoori slaves. Sam jumps down the waste disposal system in an effort to escape.

Once the Divitrix in Rowan's head has been activated (it basically mutes feelings and emotions and connects him to Avorra, the sentient AI ship, like everyone else), he acts differently towards Pen--cold and unfeeling. She chooses to return to the humans rather than be his consort, but he tips her off to the fact that Avorra listens to everything and chooses what to store and report.

We find out that Sam is okay and has been retrieved and is fine. He tries to tell Pen that he found something while he was away, but she doesn't really get what he's telling her. Kronan sends guards to retrieve her and bring her to him. He tells her that Ursa will be insulted at her refusal of Rowan and will retaliate by killing the humans. He offers her the chance to be his consort (but without any of the usual expectations) and save her people, so she accepts. She is implanted with a key that allows her to travel through the ship.

She wakes up to Rowan's voice and finds the gold tracker he gave her in the first book. He'd had it attached under the hem of the gold dress she'd been forced to wear earlier. It allows them to communicate with each other, and she discovers that his behavior and treatment of her was an act. He also had attached a device called a statistix to her lower back. He created it to prevent Avorra from hearing them or anyone within proximity. He instructs her to return to the humans and get them to the core crafts (spaceships) on level zero, which is what Sam had been telling her about. The Volkranians are coming to retrieve him, and he wants the humans returned to earth. She makes him promise that he'll try to go with them.

Almost everyone is able to get to level zero before guards arrive, but some people including Sam) don't make it through the gate. Pen goes back to get him, and she's captured by guards and taken to Ursa, who interrogates her to find out which of her sons is the traitor. Whichever son it is will be killed immediately; if she doesn't answer, the airlock in the hanger will be opened, killing the humans. Pen stalls, trying to convince Ursa that perhaps there are others who don't want to follow her anymore. The Volkranians attack the ship, which draws Ursa into another room. As Pen is trying to escape, Rowan arrives to get her. He's angry she didn't listen and leave, but he gets over it. In order to escape, he uses his lambent emulsifier to break the walls separating them from the aquatic section around them. He helps her swim to safety, and they kiss some more before getting up to keep running.

Kronan arrives and shoots Rowan, injuring him. He doesn't care if the humans leave, but he refuses to let Rowan leave because of information he was able to get from Avorra (about the planet where the Inoori are headed). Pen tries to convince him to allow them to leave and to go with them. I can't remember how they got away from him, to be honest. But they do, and they are transported to the Volkranian ship just after Pen is shot, too. The combination of being dematerialized and shot with a laser keeps her unconscious for a day while she's being healed.

She wakes up with Rowan, Ash, the warden, and Dove in her room, but she is unable to move because of the effects of the healing serum. Rowan tells her that the humans have been returned, though she figures out that Sam didn't make it. She will also be returned once she has finished healing. He orders everyone out of the room, and then he kisses her and tells her that he doesn't wish to be without her again. However, for now, she has to return to earth while he remains on the ship. He gives her another golden tracker/communication device because hers was lost in the water.

When she returns, she has to wade through reporters to get to her mom and Hayden. Some people call her a hero, and others say she was complicit in the abduction and attack because she is connected to the Volkranians.

And that's kind of where things end. It's not quite a cliffhanger, but it's not resolved, ether.

Here's what I want to see in the next book: A formal dissolution of whatever matching is between Rowan and Dove, just so it's official. Rowan permanently settled on earth with Pen. A hopeful way forward for the humans and the Volkranians.

Note: Maybe some swearing. Lots of unnecessary commas.

[Lacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally finished the sequel to Violet City. I hate that it took me so long. Part of it was my up and down reading slump and part of it might have been Page surprise releasing it. I didn't have time to hype myself up. I'm a weird reader. 😅

It’s all just a bunch of chaos. This is our world now. And there’s no going back.

Infinite Dark picks up a few months after the end of book 1. It was a little confusing because we skipped past dealing with the apocalypse and everyone was trying to get back to normal. (Example A: Covid) Whatever that is. Aliens are coexisting (but not really) with humans. There are those who don't like it and are fighting against it. And then some chaotic stuff happens and Penelope is introduced to a new set of problems and a different alien race. We do find out what happened to Rowan. But, I'm still not sure what to think about the direction this story took. It's definitely not what I imagined. And the character's chemistry felt a bit off. Maybe that was the point considering what happened. (So vague, I know. Read the book. 😉) I'm still excited to see where the story goes next.

The Sound of Stars meets the CW show, The 4400.