May 9th, 2025
Home | Log in!

On Top Shelf
Michel PrinceMichel Prince
Fresh Pick
THE GREEK HOUSE
THE GREEK HOUSE

New Books This Week

Reader Games


The books of May are here—fresh, fierce, and full of feels.

Slideshow image


Since your web browser does not support JavaScript, here is a non-JavaScript version of the image slideshow:

slideshow image
Wedding season includes searching for a missing bride�and a killer . . .


slideshow image
Sometimes the path forward begins with a step back.


slideshow image
One island. Three generations. A summer that changes everything.


slideshow image
A snapshot made them legends. What it didn�t show could tear them apart.


slideshow image
This life coach will give you a lift!


slideshow image
A twisty, "addictive," mystery about jealousy and bad intentions


slideshow image
Trapped by magic, haunted by muses�she must master the cards before they�re lost to darkness.


slideshow image
Masquerades, secrets, and a forbidden romance stitched into every seam.


slideshow image
A vanished manuscript. A murdered expert. A castle full of secrets�and one sharp-witted sleuth.


Since your web browser does not support JavaScript, here is a non-JavaScript version of the image slideshow:

slideshow image
Two warrior angels. First friends, now lovers. Their future? A WILD UNKNOWN.


The Darkness Rises

The Darkness Rises, April 2024
by Stacy Stokes

Viking Books for Young Readers
336 pages
ISBN: 0593327691
EAN: 9780593327692
Kindle: B0CBJGT9FM
Hardcover / e-Book
Add to Wish List


Purchase



"Tragedy Strikes When Doing the Right Thing Backfires in this Gripping Young Adult Thriller"

Fresh Fiction Review

The Darkness Rises
Stacy Stokes

Reviewed by Sandra Martin
Posted April 15, 2024

Young Adult | Fantasy Magical Realism

Whitney has known she is different from other people since age seven. She can see someone’s impending fate through a dark cloud that hovers and grows above their heads. Whitney tries to save them all, but when she saves a bullied classmate, she soon learns no good deed goes unpunished in THE DARKNESS RISES by Stacy Stokes.

The only other person who can understand Whitney’s gift is her grandmother, who always warned her that others would not understand. Whitney always felt her gift was positive, but now she’s not so sure. She saved the boy who later opened fire at a high school football game, killing eight and injuring several others. No one knows she knew the shooter, Dwight, who shared with Whitney that he had been bullied by her boyfriend Kevin and other classmates. Now it is a year after the shooting, and Whitney has kept this haunting secret to herself. She has quit the dance team and broken up with Kevin. As the anniversary of the shooting draws near, Whitney receives a threat in her locker, and later her car’s windshield is covered with a red substance. When someone targets her grandmother, Whitney knows this person is deadly serious. Do they know Whitney’s secret? Do they want revenge? Whitney can’t even share her secrets with her best friend Marissa or Isaac, the new boy who showed up at the beginning of the school year. Can Whitney figure out who is threatening her, and can she finally share the secrets and guilt she’s been hiding for over a year?

THE DARKNESS RISES is a captivating and suspenseful story of doing the right thing while also triggering a terrible subsequent event. Whitney can save people, but what happens when the person she saves goes on to hurt others? This gripping story throws readers into a complex moral dilemma and plays out against the backdrop of a school that is grieving after suffering a school shooting. The premise is intriguing, and the pacing is spot-on. There is never a dull moment as we learn more about what happened that night and Whitney’s role in the events. Topics such as bullying, suicide, and school shootings are explored. There are several red herrings to keep readers guessing about the identity of the person stalking Whitney and plenty of scary events that keep the suspense high. Well-written and compulsively readable, you won't be able to put THE DARKNESS RISES down until the very end.

Learn more about The Darkness Rises

SUMMARY

A gripping speculative thriller perfect for fans of Lauren Oliver and Ginny Myers Sain, about one girl with the power to see death before it happens—and the terrible consequences she faces when saving someone goes wrong.

SOMEONE WANTS REVENGE…

Whitney knows what death looks like. Since she was seven, she’s seen it hover over strangers’ heads in dark, rippling clouds. Sometimes she can save people from the darkness. Sometimes she can’t. But she’s never questioned if she should try. Until the unthinkable happens—and a person she saves becomes the perpetrator of a horrific school shooting.

Now Whitney will do anything to escape the memory of last year’s tragedy and the guilt that gnaws at her for her role in it. Even if that means quitting dance—the thing she loves most—and hiding her ability from her family and friends. But most importantly, no one can know what really happened last year.

Then Whitney finds an ominous message in her locker and realizes someone knows her secret. As the threats pile up, one thing becomes clear—someone wants payback for what she did. And if she’s going to survive the year, she must track down whoever is after her before it’s too late.


What do you think about this review?

Comments

No comments posted.

Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!

 

 

 

© 2003-2025 off-the-edge.net  all rights reserved Privacy Policy