ARC Review: Darkness Comes This Way by Pixie Lynn Whitfield

Title: Darkness Comes This Way
Author: Pixie Lynn Whitfield
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy - YA
Publication Date: May 22nd, 2012

"Zarah Duncan is a Guardian. It’s an elite job that protects humans and the untainted vampires from the real monsters: those lost to the bloodlust. Rogues infest the city. Missing humans, unsolved cases…Zarah knows what the real cause is and she’s been trained since childhood to destroy them.
But she has a haunting past that catches up one day. Zarah was Rogue once, and until her, no one else has ever cured from the poisoned state of mind before. She’s been labeled a miracle, and the mystery only builds. She gets the awful feeling there’s more to it than just a lucky magical come-back. There are deep, dark secrets being kept. Maybe her boss Nathanial knows something? When she gets paired with a partner, Draven Kinsley, it only adds more difficulty. He hates her and swears that with a single look, she’ll poison him. To make matters worse, her Rogue brother has to show up, and he brings with him a shocking announcement. What Zarah learns from him rocks her entire world upside down. She not only begins to question who and what she is anymore, but it can possibly change the Vampire race forever.
The scary part: someone else knows too…and they’ll do anything to get her special blood, spelling disaster for the humans that Guardians have secretly been protecting for decades.
Vampires, fallen angels, war, betrayal, and romance fill this Paranormal/Urban Fantasy debut, the first book to a high-action trilogy" ~See it on Goodreads

Well it seems that I’ve been reading a lot of Vampire novels recently haha, I’ve been on a bit of a kick I guess. But each one of them has been completely different. I was lucky enough to get an advanced review e-copy of Darkness Comes This Way, and I was highly intrigued from the beginning of the story.

I really, really loved the premise of this story; I think it was unique, engaging, and unlike the other Paranormal/Urban Fantasy books I’ve read before. I loved the world building, it was realistic and felt like this could be something that’s really going on in the world right now but we humans are none the wiser. Which is a tad bit creepy if you think about it lol. The detail was extremely well done and I was able to imagine everything easily, I also liked the fact that there is some back story to it and you’re not just sitting there wondering how certain things (that I won’t name due to being spoilers lol) came about.

I really liked Zarah, she was tough, spunky, and intelligent. She wasn’t your perfect “mary-sue” type character, she has her flaws and they’re part of what makes her real and relatable. In the beginning she starts off not really letting anyone in but as the story goes on you see her start to grow in that area and let some of her walls down which I liked a lot. I liked Draven as well, although at first I was kind of tired of him being so stand offish with Zarah but I suppose he had his reasons lol. However, I would like to know more about his background though so I’m hoping in the next installments we’ll find out more about him. And while I still really like the other characters, I think as of now Thomas (Zarah’s brother), would have to be my favorite character. I loved everything about his personality, he’s got a bit of a sarcastic streak (which I always love in my characters lol), he’s loyal, smart, and cares about his sister’s well being.

There’s some romance in the story but it doesn’t seem out of place or take away from the main plot, I’m looking forward to seeing how it will play out in the other two books. The action was definitely not lacking in this book, there were several times when I couldn’t turn the page fast enough haha. I was thoroughly hooked all the way till the end, and speaking of the end it was kind of a cliffhanger and now I I’ll be anxiously waiting for the next book to come out!

I know this isn’t the longest review but I was trying not to go into too much detail and accidentally give away spoilers lol. But I will say that overall I really enjoyed this book, and if you’re a Vampire or Paranormal/Urban Fantasy lover, or if you’re just looking for a new series to get started on, I’d definitely recommend this book!

4 Stars!