Title: A Brush of Darkness Author: Allison Pang Pages: 343 Publication Date: Jan. 2011 |
Back Cover
The man of her dreams might be the cause of her nightmares.
Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and sexy-as- sin incubus searching for his sister, convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts. Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invade her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish, as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As she is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, Abby realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.
First Lines
"Cat piss and cabbages."
In a Sentence
With a fabulously funny protagonist and a creative mythological background, the only part of A Brush of Darkness I didn't fall completely for was the romance.
My Thoughts
I remember first adding A Brush of Darkness to my to-read list awhile ago when I read Tara's review of it at 25 Hour Books. Tara and I tend to have pretty similar tastes in books, so when she said that she really enjoyed it, I knew I'd have to give it a try. When I heard from Ashelynn at Gypsy Book Reviews that A Brush of Darkness was one of the free reads of the month at Pocket After Dark, I decided to give it a go sooner rather than later so I could take advantage of the free read.
A Brush of Darkness was one of those books that had me literally laughing out loud while reading it. The main character, Abby Sinclair, was hilarious. She's got this fun, snarky, devil-may-care attitude that just makes it a blast to read about things from her perspective. However, at the beginning of the book, I got the feeling that there was more to Abby than I was initially seeing. Turns out my instincts were on, because as the book progressed, I was able to see that Abby's humor and sarcasm, while definitely part of her nature, were also being used to cover up some serious underlying issues that she hadn't quite been able to work through yet. A Brush of Darkness revealed the facets of Abby's characters in waves, allowing the reader to learn about her little by little, but holding enough back to inspire curiosity.
Speaking of characters, I also really enjoyed what Pang did with the minor roles in this book. A Brush of Darkness comes with a cast of secondary characters who are, as their designation suggests, in the background for a lot of the book, but at the same time, their presence was one of the things that made the book so enjoyable for me. I especially liked the miniature unicorn Phineas, who added quite a bit of fun to the overall story.
The only issue I had with A Brush of Darkness is one that I wasn't going to mention at first, because I'm afraid it might have more to do with some frustrations I'm currently feeling with trends in the publishing world, and less to do with the actual quality of the book. However, since it's always been my policy on this blog to review books based on my personal reaction to them, I decided to mention this: I wasn't completely sold on the romance. Now, I've got to include some disclaimers after that statement. First of all, it's not like the romance was eye-roll-inducing or anything like that. I just didn't feel it. I didn't even mind Brystion as a character, but I found that I was way more interested in the plot than the relationship between Brystion and Abby. However, I do suspect that many fans of the paranormal romance and urban fantasy genres will have no problem with it at all. Like I said earlier, my little issue with it probably stems from the fact that I've been over-saturated with mediocre or unrealistic romances in the majority of the books I've been reading lately, so I've become a bit burned out (which probably means I should have waited to give A Brush of Darkness a go, but hey, it was free).
Nevertheless, I really did enjoy A Brush of Darkness overall. Abby was a great main character, and I had no problems staying interested in the story throughout the entirety of the book. I'm planning on reading the sequel, A Sliver of Shadow (which is scheduled for release February 28th), sometime in the future. I think the majority of PNR and UF fans will enjoy this book in at least some capacity, so you might want to consider adding it to your to-read list!
Links
Not sure about this review? Compare our tastes in books. (Goodreads)
___________________________________________
Rating
A few flaws but worth reading
Yay! I'm so glad you liked it. :) Sad to hear the romance wasn't your thing. I liked it. :shrugs:
ReplyDeleteWhat did you think of the world? That was one of my favorite aspects of it. LOVED the Dreaming and the Heart and even those paintings (!!!)
Can't wait for book two. <3
The world-building was a lot of fun! And like you, I loved the paintings and their underlying significance to the plot. Such a creative idea!
DeleteGreat review! The romance was a little disappointing but nonetheless still a great read. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I saw it on the shelf the other day (a few days early) at Barnes and Noble and almost grabbed it. Key word being almost. Score one for my self-restraint! Lol.
DeleteI've been reading a lot of really great things about this book. I downloaded over the weekend and now I can hardly wait to start reading it. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the romance portion of the story. To each their own I guess. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping you enjoy it! :)
DeleteSo far I really am enjoying A Brush of Darkness. Abby's got SASS!
DeleteGlad to hear it! Also, thanks for stopping back in to let me know! :)
DeleteOh noes! But a good romance is what I live for! I wonder if this book is considered more UF and that is why it was light on the romance. Bum deal either way, but glad to know you enjoyed it overall.
ReplyDeleteLol! Missie, I actually think you'd like this one. My problem (and it was a small one) with this was that it felt more paranormal romance to me than urban fantasy, and I was more in the mood for a book that was more in the latter genre.
DeleteI just finished this a couple weeks ago and felt the same. I think the main issue is that it was marketed as urban fantasy, where it probably should have been a paranormal romance, but the presence of the frisky tiny unicorn makes me forgive a lot of sins.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY! Phineas was possibly my favorite part of this book. So awesome!
DeleteI love your honesty. I remember reading a great review of this book on Wicked Pixie last year. I have yet to read it. A funny, snarky read is what I need to get me out of the dystopian funk. I love that you were honest about the romance part. I am sure I will likely agree with you, I am a take it or read it gal as far as the romance goes. I am still going to try and read this sometime.
ReplyDeleteI tend to be EXTREMELY picky with my romance, so you might want to take that into consideration, but I really did like everything else about this book. I'm glad to hear you might give it a shot in the future though. Definitely a quick, fun read that's worth the time!
DeleteI'm starting the second book now. I loved the first book. Can you say... PHIN?! I loved that horny little unicorn! I would love to have a phin of my own. :D
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo... I can see what you mean about the romance, but then again, it sort of made sense to me. The humor though... blew me away. Loved the humor. :D
Oh, you'll have to let me know what you think of the sequel. I'll be waiting for your review! :)
DeleteI haven't read this book (yet!) but I've seen it around and love the cover. I definitely find myself having more eye-rolling moments, though. If I see one more book published about an angel, a half-angel, a half angel, part human something or other...lol...some of them are good, no doubt, but when I read the premise, I do have to control my eyeballs...lol...
ReplyDeleteI read this one for review back when it first came out and I remember laughing a lot too. And Phineas was awesome! I'm having a hard time remembering the romance though... I think I liked the world quite a lot but it seems like maybe it was a bit complicated. I'm def hoping to get my hands on the second one soon though!
ReplyDeleteAllison Pang is on my list to try---I just couldn't get a clear read whether this was UF or PNR. I didn't want to go into the book with unrealistic expectations.
ReplyDeleteI read this when it first came out last year, and when I saw your review pop up yesterday, I instantly had fond memories of Phineas :D He was such a great comic relief! I forgot all about the paintings - those WERE genius. The romance part - I can see where you are coming from, but I did not share a similar response - I did think, however, the ending in THAT department was rather different and, for me, disappointing :/
ReplyDeleteI am curious to see what the sequel holds. I think it could be interesting!
---
Related to Felicia's comment, I can never quite tell the difference between Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Fantasy... and is Paranormal = Supernatural? Is there really a difference?
In response to Felicia, I think this book was marketed as UF, but to me, it felt more like PNR. Cecilia, the difference between the two genres is a very fine one. There are a LOT of aspects that both UF and PNR share, but from what I understand, UF is frequently considered to have less focus on the romance (though there might be some romance in the book), and it is often seen as grittier and/or darker than PNR.
DeleteThere's a very well-done post addressing this question HERE at the blog Heroes and Heartbreakers, if you're interested!
LOL Natalie!! That first line had me laughing out loud! x) I'm starting to get to that stage where a book has to grab me right away or I put it aside for the moment in favor of reading another review book I have to catch up on (really bad, I know!), so this one sounds perfect! :) I can already tell that this book is going to be so much fun, especially with a heroine as awesome as Abby!
ReplyDeleteAmazing review, Natalie! I LOVE how you're always so honest with your reviews because that makes me trust your opinion even more. :) <3 And it's that same reason that I want to read this book because, despite the romance issue, it sounds really great!
"Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer..." I'm sorry, I stopped reading at that point. I don't care about the rest. I WANT It NOW! Haha!
ReplyDeleteOK, this sounds FUN. Hmmm... I so know what you mean about burnout... I'm actually on a little bit of a YA burnout at the moment, and it's why I started reading Karen Moning's Fever series... but I'm glad you liked it despite the romance not working. It sounds FUN!
I feel so odd as an adult to say I really don't read too many adult books! Shame on me haha this one definitely sounds intriguing though...perhaps not perfect, but definitely entertaining :)
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts, Natalie!
love the first sentence...this looks like good read..great review!
ReplyDeletethis looks like good read..great review!
ReplyDeleteUmm... yes, please. The cover is.. how shall I say it... hot! haha. Seriously, a tiny unicorn? This sounds like all kinds of fun. I totally understand the romance stuff, but I'm giving this one a try .. romance or not. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely considering adding this to my tbr list. Sounds great! I like the cover a lot. The characters sound fun. I love books that are funny. Fab review!
ReplyDeleteThis one looks good - I may have to check it out :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked this one! To be honest, I can't remember the romance. I received this and the sequel in the mail today and plan on reading them both soon.
ReplyDeleteI've heard the next book takes a turn towards a more fantasy feel that some readers didn't like, but I don't think it will bother me as much since I'm a fan of that genre as well.