Pretty Dark Sacrifice Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Pretty Dark Sacrifice! I'll be sharing my review of the book - and don't forget to enter the giveaway! To follow the rest of the tour, click on the banner above.

Pretty Dark Sacrifice (Pretty Dark Nothing #2)

Author: Heather L. Reid

Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

Release Date: July 28, 2015

Publisher: Month9Books

Description:

It’s been five weeks, two days, and eight hours since the demons forced Quinn to throw herself into the raging river, since Aaron sacrificed himself to save her, since his body disappeared without a trace.

Everyone wants Quinn to move on, but she can’t, not after a spirit appears to her at Aaron's memorial, convincing her he’s still alive.

When a mysterious box materializes on the very spot Aaron disappeared, Quinn finds she’s at the center of an ancient prophesy of betrayal, revenge, and sacrifice that takes her to the depths of the underworld to face Lilith—Adam’s first wife.

If Quinn can stop Lilith from unleashing the demon horde - Eve, trapped inside the box during the Battle of Eden millennia ago, she will save the human realm and free Aaron from an eternity in torment.

All it will cost is her blood.  

Pretty Dark Sacrifice is the second book in a young adult paranormal series that continues to focus on our main character - Quinn Taylor - as she recovers from the incident at the river. Armed with the knowledge of who she is and what she's supposed to be able to do, Quinn begins to finally train with her guardian angel Azrael. During all of this, Aaron's body still hasn't been found and everyone around Quinn has given up hope and accepted that he's dead. They try to get Quinn to accept it as well and begin to move on with her life - but she has the strongest feeling that Aaron is still alive - and he needs her help desperately. Her beliefs are strengthened at Aaron's memorial service, when a spirit tells Quinn that's she been right all along - that Aaron is alive, but barely holding on. Without knowing what to do, Quinn visits the river - the spot where both she and Aaron jumped in that fateful night. She finds a strange box in the exact spot where Aaron disappeared from and knows that it's no coincidence she found it there. She finally discovers the whole truth about herself, her powers, and her ultimate purpose in the supernatural war that's waging. Along with this information, Quinn learns that Eve has been trapped inside the box since the Battle of Eden. If Quinn can set Eve free, she will be able to save the entire human realm - and save Aaron from a horrific eternity as Lilith's toy in the Underworld. What does all of this have to do with Quinn? How is she supposed to get to the Underworld and free Eve from the box? Will she be able to get there in time to save the human realm and Aaron?

This premise of this series is spectacular - it could be mind blowing in the best of ways. I enjoyed the first book of the series and really hoped that the second book would be written differently with some of the bumps and glitches taken care of. Sadly, this didn't quite happen for me. Don't get me wrong though - I did enjoy the book. There were just some aspects of the story that got under my skin, which has nothing to do with the book - but me personally. Other readers might not have the same issues as I did while reading it, so again - it's all just my opinion.

The plot itself was once again incredibly fascinating and had tons of potential, but, like I mentioned, I feel like parts of the book didn't quite live up to what it could've been. The characters continued to be realistic, and we get to see a huge change in Quinn's character. In the first book, I found her a little annoying and whiny; but throughout this book, she really transforms into a more mature character that can seriously kick some demon butt. I love that she grew and changed so much - especially in a positive way - and I enjoyed watching it happen in the story. Aaron's in the book as well, and we get to see his character also grow and mature into the person he's meant to be. Quinn and Aaron's relationship was bumpy and realistic, but I loved to watch it grow into something really beautiful. 

I loved trying to figure out what was really happening during the story - before Quinn learns all of the answers to our questions. It kept me on my toes and eagerly reading each page. The paranormal aspects of the story were amazing and I wished that we got to learn more about everything. The story goes into detail about some of the things that happened and will possibly happen, but I wanted to know all that I could about everything paranormal. Which would take up a huge amount of space and probably detract from the actual plot, so I get why the author had to stop at some point.  Like I mentioned, this book has serious potential and I'm still hoping that the next will come into it's own, and have all the kinks worked out so the compelling plot can shine brightly through like it should've been during the first two books. The writing itself was well done and had a fast pace that kept me reading - and guessing - as fast as I could. One of the other things that irritated me a bit was the use of descriptions. Normally, I love detailed descriptions and lots of imagery that allow me to slip inside of the story almost naturally. In the case of this book though, it felt like the descriptions were too much and a lot of it seemed unnecessary. The story and characters are great, but at times it felt like the overuse of description - which could be kind of cliched - took over and everything else was muddled underneath it all. There are definitely things left wide open at the end of the book, which I'm guessing will lead to a third book - if not more. I like the characters and how they're evolving, and the plot line is almost hypnotizing at times because it's so intense - so I'm really really hoping that the next book will have ironed out the kinks we saw in the first two books. With those pesky little problems out of the way, it will be so much easier to dive headfirst into the story and get lost inside of Quinn's world. I also think that by fixing these issues, readers will be able to truly grasp the plot and then be blown away by it. Everything that it needs to be a huge hit is in there - and with some adjustments - it will be able to break free and shine like it's meant to. I'll definitely be waiting for the next book - I'm not giving up on this series. I want to see it through to the very end, and I also want it to become the beautiful novel (and series) it's supposed to be.

Heather L. Reid is both American and British and has called six different cities in three different countries, home. Her strong sense of wanderlust and craving for a new adventure mean you might find her wandering the moors of her beloved Scotland, exploring haunted castles, or hiking through a magical forest in search of fairies and sprites. When she’s not venturing into the unknown in her real life, she loves getting lost in the worlds of video games or curling up by the fire with good story. For now, this native Texan is back in the Lone Star State, settling down with her Scottish husband and writing new tales of fantasy and horror. 

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Giveaway: (5) Winners will receive a digital copy of Pretty Dark Sacrifice (Pretty Dark Nothing #2) by Heather L. Reid - Open INT! (Ends August 21, 2015)

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