Darkness Falls (Reveler #1) by Erin Kellison

Title: Darkness Falls
Series: Reveler #1
Author: Erin Kellison
Genre: Adult/Urban Fantasy/Romance/Science Fiction

Age Recommendation: 17+
*WARNING*: VERY GRAPHIC SCENES
Overall Rating:

My Quickie Synopsis: Lucid dreams are now all the rage, but Jordan Lane isn't convinced that it deserves the hype. She is eventually cornered by her sister into trying lucid dreaming at a host party, where she meets the handsome and mysterious Malcolm Rook. Together they find pleasure beyond their wildest dreams, but also find terror rooted deeply within the shadows of their nightmares.

Initial Rating:

My Initial Response: Again, this comes from the anthology that I've been reading over the past week. It's called Dark and Deadly: Eight Paranormal Bad Boys of Romance. Click the link to buy it from Amazon; it's still only $0.99, so it's quite the steal! Anyway, this was a nice surprise. This is the first time I've read anything by Ms. Kellison and I enjoyed all eight chapters of Darkness Falls. Yep, you read that right. It's only eight chapters, but quite a bit can happen in such a short span! This is the main reason why I have to say hats off to Ms. Kellison. Somehow she built a complete world, full of rich characters and an intriguing plot line, within a few keystrokes (or penstrokes, if you will). Not an easy feat, by any means!

What I imagine the Reve island to feel like. So peaceful!

One of the other reasons why I'm rating this as a four is because she actually left me wanting for more. As I've said before, I don't like novellas; they are generally lacking in multiple areas that are important to me. But! I am slowly warming up to the idea of reading more novellas, and Darkness Falls has a lot to do with that. The first thing I did after I finished reading it was to check to see if the next book was already out. Color me surprised when I found out that it didn't center on Malcolm and Jordan. Very disappointed! However, upon checking again just now (just to make sure!), it looks like all information about the story has been pulled, so who knows what's in store. If you do end up purchasing the anthology, there is a snippet from the supposed next book Lay Me Down, and you'll see what I mean about it being centered on other characters.

Technical Rating: 

Character Building: 
It's interesting to me that Ms. Kellison was able to build her characters so well in such a short span when other established authors struggle to give life to their characters with twice, three times, four times, the span of what Ms. Kellison used. Not only do you connect with her main characters, but you develop a connection to some of the supporting characters as well.

Plot Strength:
There are a couple of glaring holes that cannot be ignored; however, a lot of them have to do with the overall series' plot from what I understand, so my assumption is that they will be answered as Ms. Kellison moves through the series. But, the ending was extraordinarily abrupt, and not in a good, "edge of your seat," what-a-cliffhanger sort of way.

Sincerity:
The only thing that really threw me was how quickly Jordan accepted everything. It makes sense if you think about it overly much, but I think that in this case, it was only done to save page space. Other than that, the world feels genuine and the plot seems organic.

Editing:
Full star!

Pacing:
This novella is very fast-paced, but it has to be for the amount of material that it covers. It works well with the plot though, because it makes it an action-packed thriller of sorts. Would I necessarily say that this fits in the thriller genre? Not so much. But, it is a thrilling read!

My Icing on Top:
I like this author! It actually had story to it and it wasn't just about the romance. Actually, even if you took the romance angle out of it, it would still be a highly entertaining read. There's really only one scene of steaminess, and it doesn't take up 75% of the book. Sorry, I'm still disappointed about the last couple of romp-fest novellas I forced down. I would love it if Ms. Kellison took these ideas and expanded them into a full-length novel, but as it stands now I think she's going to stick with a novella series. Only time will tell, though! If you're looking for a romance story but want something that has a well-thought out plot that doesn't heavily rely on the romance, pick up Darkness Falls!

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K