Everyone thinks Paige Kelly is crazy, including her parents.
Her school peers call her "Bellevue Kelly" because she's
constantly talking to herself- or is she? Paige can see
ghosts and her best friend, Dottie, is always hovering
around her at school so they can chat. Now, something has
changed as demons have arrived at their school. Paige
suddenly finds herself under attack and in need of a
demonslayer. Will demonslayer Logan Bradley be able to
protect Paige or will they both lose to the denizens of THE
DARK WORLD?
I love the friendship that has developed between Paige and
Dottie. In fact, Dottie is probably my favorite character so
far in the series so I'm hoping she has a prominent role in
the second book! Cara Lynn Shultz does a great job at
providing interesting histories on each of her main
characters although I wish the secondary characters were a
bit more fleshed out. I want to know more about Travis,
Pepper, and Matt as they seem a bit one dimensional.
Cara Lynn Shultz touches on the deeper issue of bullying in
THE DARK WORLD. I like how she delves into the way bullying
can manifest, including rumors and name calling. We get a
perspective on how the boys and the girls treat "Bellevue
Kelly" that goes beyond the traditional fighting or hitting
to something that is far more insidious. Luckily, Paige has
a friend (albeit one who is a ghost and therefore invisible
to her tormentors) and a quick wit to help her navigate
through the nastiness of bullying.
THE DARK WORLD is the first book in a new series and boy,
what a wild ride it is! We have demons galore and a
stunningly dark new world to explore. THE DARK WORLD is
basically a very grim, demonic version of New York City with
a whole new set of rules and castes. I can't wait to see how
Cara Lynn Shultz develops THE DARK WORLD in future books in
the series!
Paige Kelly is used to weird—in fact, she probably corners
the market on weird, considering that her best friend,
Dottie, has been dead since the 1950s. But when a fire demon
attacks Paige in detention, she has to admit that things
have gotten out of her league. Luckily, the cute new boy in
school, Logan Bradley, is a practiced demonslayer—and he
isn't fazed by Paige's propensity to chat with the dead.
Suddenly, Paige is smack in the middle of a centuries-old
battle between warlocks and demons, learning to fight with a
magic sword so that she can defend herself. And if she makes
one wrong move, she'll be pulled into the Dark World, an
alternate version of our world that's overrun by demons—and
she might never make it home.