Review: Dark Souls by Paula Morris (and Giveaway!)

Dark Souls by Paula Morris

Welcome to York, England.

Mist lingers in the streets.

Narrow buildings cast long shadows.

This is the most haunted city in the world. . . .

Miranda Tennant arrives in York with a terrible, tragic secret. She is eager to lose herself amid the quaint cobblestones, hoping she won’t run into the countless ghosts who supposedly roam the city. . . .

Then she meets Nick, an intense, dark-eyed boy who knows all of York’s hidden places and histories. Miranda wonders if Nick is falling for her, but she is distracted by another boy — one even more handsome and mysterious than Nick. He lives in the house across from Miranda and seems desperate to send her some sort of message. Could this boy be one of York’s haunted souls?

Soon, Miranda realizes that something dangerous — and deadly — is being planned. And she may have to face the darkest part of herself in order to unravel the mystery — and find redemption.

Review:

Dark Souls was a delightfully creepy and haunting ghost story. Paula Morris knows just how to write a ghost story with the right amount of creepy and entertaining factors. She obviously did a lot of research about both past and present day York. The setting definitely added a lot to the book and I loved reading about York's dark and mysterious history. The plot took a lot of twists and turns that kept me on my toes, and the last chapters, especially, had me gripping the book, anxious to see how things would turn out. I liked how there wasn't an incredibly wide range of characters. There were only a few and we got to know each and every one of them very well by the end of the book.

Miranda was an incredibly likable main character who was dealing with a lot. Back home, she had recently been in a horrible car accident with her brother and best friend. Haunted by the tragedy, Miranda's family rents a flat in York, England to try and put everything behind them. Although Miranda hoped to escape the ghosts of her past by moving to England, she encounters a lot of actual ghosts once there. Little children, beautiful women, injured men.... Miranda sees ghosts around just about every turn. But until Miranda meets Nick, a mysterious boy who knows more about the dark histories of York than anyone, does she start to feel less alone. Miranda was very brave and although she sometimes made foolish choices, I admired her and how strong she was in the face of danger. Nick was another interesting character and he was so puzzling. I never knew what he would do or say next and he rarely discussed his own family and past.

I liked how large of a role Miranda’s family played in Dark Souls. So often in young adult books these days the parents are minor characters who are almost stuck in the background. Miranda’s parents were very involved in her and her brother’s lives and they had fascinating careers themselves that played important parts to the storyline. Sally and her parent’s pub also had an intriguing role in Dark Souls.

My favorite aspect of Dark Souls was the mystery and suspense. No one was as they seemed and the reader never quite knew the truth about certain characters and how they were connected. There were a lot of mysterious happenings going on in York and Miranda worked hard to figure out the truth.

I wish that the excitement and plot twists had started happening earlier, though. The first half of the book moved a little slowly and I was never entirely captivated by the story. Once I hit the mid-point though it was almost impossible to put down. Particularly the last few chapters. I just had to know what was going to happen!

In all, Dark Souls was a haunting and gripping read that I enjoyed quite a lot. Ghost stories are some of my favorite and there really aren’t enough out there. I’m eager to read Paula’s previous release, Ruined, as soon as I can

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

August 1, 2011/Point/292 Pages/Young Adult

Source: Publisher and Publicity Firm

Other books by this author: Ruined

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GIVEAWAY!

I also have two copies of Dark Souls to giveaway thanks to Scholastic and Big Honcho Media.

Fill out THIS FORM to enter.

US Only. Ends September 23. Good luck!