Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Review: Token of Darkness by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes


Title: Token of Darkness

Author: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Release Date: February 9, 2010

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Pages: 197

Finished Reading: March 19, 2010

Source: Library

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Cooper Blake has everything going for him until he wakes from a car accident with his football career in ruins and a mysterious, attractive girl by his side. Cooper doesn't know how Samantha got there or why he can see her; all he knows is that she’s a ghost, and the shadows that surround her seem intent on destroying her.

No one from Cooper's old life would understand what he can barely grasp himself...but Delilah, the captain of the cheerleading squad, has secrets of her own, like her ability to see beyond the physical world, and her tangled history with Brent, a loner from a neighboring school who can hear strangers' most intimate thoughts. Delilah and Brent know that Cooper is in more trouble than he realizes, and that Samantha may not be as innocent as she has led Cooper to believe. But the only way to figure out where Samantha came from will put them all in more danger than they ever dreamed possible.

In a Sentence: What happens when the ghost haunting you isn’t exactly what you think she is.

Overall Rating: 5

Plot Rating: 4.5

Character Rating: 4.5

Writing Rating: 5

Review: Reminded me of the first books that she wrote. A completely compelling story that I couldn't put down. The way that Atwater-Rhodes fleshes out her characters is an ability only the best writer has. The twist at the end of the story took me completely by surprise, but, in retrospect, Atwater-Rhodes led the reader to the answer long before she revealed it.

After a car accident, Cooper is left severely injured. He is also able to see a young woman named Samantha, who appears to be a ghost. As Cooper tries to solve the mystery of who Samantha is, where she came from and why he can see her, he finds out that there are dimensions to life that he could have never believed existed before his accident.

In the end, I think this story is less about the paranormal and ghosts than it is about friendship and the ability to adapt to your situation. Atwater-Rhodes took a fairly stereotypical popular athlete and put him in an unknown situation in which he had to face a new reality and join forces with those not quite as popular as himself. In the end, he learns lessons about himself, his reality and how to make friends outside his clique.

Cover: The cover is pretty, but doesn’t really have much to do with the story.

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