Lark Greene tries to sort through the events of her rescue
from Summer Hill and from the Light Witches who held her
there as she struggled to control her newfound Dark magic.
What she remembers isn't what everyone is telling her
really happened. Lark doesn't know who to trust and she
certainly can't trust herself. Her Dark magic is growing
and she's a threat to everyone around her until she can
learn to control it. But using her Dark powers will only
draw Lark deeper into the complex and treacherous world of
the State. Uncertain of her future, her growing powers, and
who to trust, Lark struggles to hold on to the one part of
her life that makes sense; Beck and his love.
NIGHTINGALE by Dawn Rae Miller is the second book in the
Sensitives Series and picks up directly after Lark's
devastating rescue from Summer Hill at the end of
Larkstorm. These are not stand alone books. In order to
understand Lark's confusion and much of the actions in
NIGHTINGALE, you should read Larkstorm first. The
tantalizing glimpse of the world exposed in Larkstorm
explodes into a large-scale political scene. It's a huge
shift in focus from the personal level of a tragic love
story to one of global significance. I'm not sure if
NIGHTINGALE succeeds in making this transition. Lark as the
main focus is still emotionally young and when portraying
that character against a global food shortage, a rising
Splinter group that threatens the government, and ever-
shifting political power, she seems hopelessly out of her
depth.
I really liked Lark's character in Larkstorm. She
was spunky and vulnerable. Here her character is more
unstable and she's being manipulated through the entire
book. Her actions are questionable because I can't tell if
she's choosing to act out of her own desires or if she's
being manipulated through magic to act in a specific way to
gain specific results. While I can understand the use of
such actions to further the plot and create conflict, it
doesn't really help me connect with Lark because she's not
a pro-active character with a compelling goal. Her love for
Beck kept her centered and gave her purpose in the first
book. In this second book, that focus is lost in the ever
expanding political intrigue.
That said...I'm more than willing to continue reading the
Sensitives Series in order see how Lark and Beck grow and
if they can ever be together. Dawn Rae Miller's prose is
fluid and evocative. She captures the tumultuous emotions
of betrayal and love beautifully. NIGHTINGALE's plot loses
sight of what made Larkstorm a compelling read, but the
spark is still there and I hope her next book can bring
Beck and Lark's love story back to the center where it
should be.
Depressed and confused after her rescue from Summer Hill,
Lark Greene trusts no one—not even herself. Cut off
from Beck, all she wants to do is fade away and forget
everything, but her mother has other plans: she wants to
teach Lark how to master her Dark magic and pair her off
with a new mate.
Lark is desperate to keep herself from going completely
Dark, while also keeping Beck safe, so she allows herself to
be drawn deeper into the dangerous, yet glamorous, world of
the State. But as the Splinter Group launches attacks to
wrest governmental control from the Dark witches, Lark finds
herself drawing on her Dark magic more and more.
As her magic spirals out of control, no one around Lark
is safe.
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