The Dark Light-Sara Walsh

Stars: 4.5

Mysterious lights have flickered above Crownsville for as long as Mia can remember. And as far as she's concerned, that's about the only interesting thing to happen in her small town. That is, until Sol arrives. Mia's not one to fall for just any guy, but she can't get intense Sol--or the brilliant tattoo on his back--out of her mind.  Then Mia's brother goes missing. Mia's convinced that Sol knows more than he's sharing. But getting close to Sol means reevaluating everything she once believed to be true. Because Sol's not who Mia thought he was--and neither is she.

Mia is having a normal life in her boring little town of Crownsville when all of the sudden, children start disappearing. Not just in her town, but some of the surrounding ones as well, and her brother happens to be in the age area of the children they are  taking. It doesn't help her that she has to go to school, work, have a social life, and take care of her brother by herself because her only living family is a drunkard and rarely returns home sober, if he returns home at all.

Then Sol shows up.  A hunk with an immediately apparent bad attitude, Mia and some of her friends can't help but wonder if he's tied to the missing children.

While at the beach one day, Mia and her friends see Sol walking along shirtless, and whoa are they surprised to see the huge tattoo on his back, but Mia's reaction is a bit different. She's seen the tattoo somewhere else, that being on her brothers ankle. Oh, was it a surprise to find her brother went missing soon after that, could Sol really be tied with his disappearance?

As soon as I saw this on the shelf, I knew I had to read it. Although, I have to admit, I never expected it to go where it did, and I am grateful for that. I am really astonished at how original this plot was, no angels, no werewolves, no vampires, no ghosts even. The demons were an exception, seeing as the entire story wasn't about them.

The protagonist, Mia, is kind of well, a mean person. She has no idea of the real circumstances of her or her brother's situation, and so she puts it upon herself to go and screw everything up. I admire her determination to get her brother back, but I suppose it's understandable considering he's the only real family she's got.

Another thing I love about Mia, is she's a quick learner. Not unrealistically quick, but it's nice not to have a dirt slow pathetic main character. I've had enough of those. She gets the concept, and while she makes a few mistakes, she doesn't do anything without a reason.

Onto Sol. I was expecting Sol to be a kick-ass hero, yet still a jerk. He wasn't. He was actually very protective of Mia, and very rarely rude or disrespectful. He was like the unsung knight in a t-shirt and jeans. But Sol won't ever let Mia see him fight, which plays out to be a very big deal in the end, cause he's got a few tricks on his back. I don't know if that was a spoiler, but hint hint!

One of my favorite things about this book is the pacing of it. The action was perfectly timed out out, and (Thank the Lord) there was no instant love going on.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was when her father came on. Her father, who abandoned her, was trying to make things right with her, and only after he saves her does she forgive him. Seems a bit like it was a thank-you-for-saving-me kind of forgiveness rather than a I-forgive-you-for-what-you-did-and-let's-be-friends kind of thing. You know, the kind of forgiveness that lasts about a month before everything goes back to the way it was.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it a thousand times over. :D

xxAvalon