Pages: 336 Publisher: Simon and Schuster Release Date: November 1st 2011 Source: S&S Galley Grab
Goodreads: Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…Now it’s our turn. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, turning everday people into hunters, killers, crazies.
Mason's mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground, and everyone he knows is killed. Aries survives an earthquake aftershock on a bus, and thinks the worst is over when a mysterious stranger pulls her out of the wreckage, but she’s about to discover a world changed forever. Clementine, the only survivor of an emergency town hall meeting that descends into murderous chaos, is on the run from savage strangers who used to be her friends and neighbors. And Michael witnesses a brutal road rage incident that is made much worse by the arrival of the police--who gun down the guilty party and then turn on the bystanding crowd.
Where do you go for justice when even the lawmakers have turned bad? These four teens are on the same road in a world gone mad. Struggling to survive, clinging on to love and meaning wherever it can be found, this is a journey into the heart of darkness – but also a journey to find each other and a place of safety.
My Review: ‘Dark Inside’ is one of those fantastic novels that is jam packed with tension and suspense. It was amazing! It has a dark heavy atmosphere and you can definitely sense this throughout.
The narrative is split between the four main characters, Clementine, Aries, Michael and Mason. I did enjoy viewing each characters view point on the situation as they had different ideas and feelings on the environment in which they were in –some more negative than others. The characters were all very unique and within the first few pages, one of the characters loses their mother so it’s pretty intense. I liked how all they all had their little quirks and flaws which made them more believable. Understandably, there are some characters you don’t like, particularly Colin as he was very selfish and didn’t help anybody else.
The setting is very bleak with an apocalyptic atmosphere; there are huge earthquakes and mega disasters which happen within almost every chapter. It is very raw and sometimes very gritty but this adds to the tension building up throughout.
The plot is fantastic! Kept me up, turning the pages again and again ( well- digitally :) ) until I reached the end. It makes you realise how scary the world would be if this did actually happen. ‘Baggers’ is a term used for the killers, which shows that it is not going to be simply nice all the way through. Characters that I thought were nice turning out to be completely the opposite shocked me. The different twists and turns were great; I loved how all the characters intertwined towards the ending of the story. The ending is a bit disappointing but it ties up all the loose ends so everything is answered. However, it does leave an opening for a sequel, which I am excited about!
Recommended for anyone who loves apocalyptic style books, lots of tension and action!
5 out of 5 stars overall.
