{Review} The Dark Between By: Sonia Gensler

Title: The Dark Between
Author: Sonia Gensler
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Shelves: Young Adult, Paranormal, Mystery, Gothic
Recommended for Fans Of: Cat Winters, Harlan Coben

Synopsis (from Goodreads): A supernatural romance about the powers that lie in the shadows of the mind, perfect for fans of Sarah Rees Brennan, Alyxandra Harvey, and Libba Bray.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Spiritualism and séances are all the rage—even in the scholarly town of Cambridge, England. While mediums dupe the grief-stricken, a group of local fringe scientists seeks to bridge the gap to the spirit world by investigating the dark corners of the human mind.

Each running from a shadowed past, Kate, Asher, and Elsie take refuge within the walls of Summerfield College. But their peace is soon shattered by the discovery of a dead body nearby. Is this the work of a flesh-and-blood villain, or is something otherworldly at play? This unlikely trio must illuminate what the scientists have not, and open a window to secrets taken to the grave—or risk joining the spirit world themselves.

Review: Well this was a depressing book. And I should have seen it coming with all the ways it was similar to Cat Winters's In the Shadow of Blackbirds. However, while Cat's book made my list of top 10 read in 2013, I'm not sure if The Dark Between was on the same level as In the Shadow of Blackbirds.

Characters: Out of the three main characters that are introduced in this novel (Asher, Elsie, and Kate), Kate was definitely my favorite. She was wild and adventurous, daring and independent. Elsie was the complete opposite. I could not stand her! Elsie was obnoxious and desperate, throwing herself at every man that gave her a second glance. If she had half the amount of smarts and vivaciousness that Kate possessed, The Dark Between would have been a much better novel. Asher, on the other hand, was just an annoying, typical teenage boy. It was very clear that he was in LUST with Elsie, and was not thinking with his head if you know what I mean...

Storyline/Plot: One of the reasons I could not give The Dark Between a higher rating is because of the multiple storylines that just do not connect and flow as smoothly as a reader hopes. There were a lot of intertwined plot lines that just didn't work for me. Also, another huge problem was the amount of DEATH in this novel. It felt like everyone just DIED (like Les Miserables). Granted, no one major was killed off in this novel, but minor characters that I sort of grew attached to were suddenly gone. And that sucked. Big time. In some cases, death is essential to the novel, but I felt like the author just killed off WAY too many people in The Dark Between.

Writing: The Dark Between is told in an old-fashioned, Victorian style with lyrical writing. I think it was a good contribution to the novel, and the author did run the risk of the dialogue becoming a bit TOO confusing, but this didn't really happen. What did happen, however, was the lack of continuation. When I say continuation, I mean that the author did not finish or solve a problem, and instead, left the reader wondering what was going to happen, while more and more issues appeared. This bothered me because it gave The Dark Between a feeling of being unfinished.

Conclusion: The Dark Between definitely fell flat of both my expectations and my horror novel standards. If you are willing to give this book a try, I recommend checking it out from the library, or borrowing it from friend. The Dark Between was poorly executed in many ways, and not really worth the money you would spend on buying a book.