by

Dark Eyes by William Richter

darkeyes

Wally was adopted from a Russian orphanage as a child and grew up in a wealthy New York City family. At fifteen, her obsessive need to rebel led her to life on the streets.

Now the sixteen-year-old is beautiful and hardened, and she’s just stumbled across the possibility of discovering who she really is. She’ll stop at nothing to find her birth mother before Klesko – her darkeyed father – finds her. Because Klesko will stop at nothing to reclaim the fortune Wally’s mother stole from him long ago. Even if that means murdering his own blood. But Wally’s had her own killer training, and she’s hungry for justice.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for teens, this debut thriller introduces our next big series heroine.

Plot: 3 out of 5

The action in Dark Eyes started right from the beginning and didn’t stop. The book was fast paced and really enjoyable. While I could have done without the police officer’s POV, the twists and turns? I didn’t even see them coming. I was impressed with how the author handled everything.

At times I felt as though the plot didn’t seem believable, but this is fiction and made to keep the pages turning. That could be just me though. This really is your typical YA novel with a ton of twists. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it just isn’t anything brand new or really original. That doesn’t stop it from being doo though.

Characters: 3 out of 5

I really didn’t like Wally at the start of this book. She seemed bratty and far too sure of herself. I had my doubts about her as a character, but when the story started to progress? She really changed for the better. Wally was so real and driven. I loved her for that.

The characters all went through so much and I felt really attached to them. Dark Eyes was really gritty and raw. The author didn’t sugar coat any of the scenes of street life, so I’d advice young teens to stay away from this one.

Overall writing/setting:  3 out of 5

The writing wasn’t the greatest in my mind. I felt like the author was trying to hard to make the main characters seem tough. I also hated the amount of language sprinkled through this book. I get that people swear, but every single character seemed to have foul mouths in this book. Maybe that’s just me being a prude though. It just seemed forced at times.

I also felt like the author did a whole lot more telling then he did with showing. However, he had plenty of action and heart breaking twists that almost made up for it. I just think Dark Eyes could have been edited a wee bit better.

I’m giving this book  three of five stars. Recommended for ages 16+ due to violence and disturbing adult content involving teens. You can buy it on Amazon here.

I checked this book out of my local library in order to read and review it.

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