Review: The Deepest Night, by Shana Abe

Title: The Deepest Night

Author: Shana Abe

Genre: YA fantasy/historical fiction

Pub. Date: August 13, 2013

A rich portrait of post-Victorian England, The Deepest Nightseamlessly blends thrilling romance with riveting history and adventure—perfect for fans of Libba Bray and Lauren Kate.

It’s 1915, and sixteen-year-old Lora Jones is finishing up her first year as a charity student at Iverson, a prestigious, gothic boarding school on England’s southern coast. While she’s always felt different from everyone around her, now she finally knows why: She is a drákon, a rare, enchanted being with astonishing magical abilities.

As war hits Britain’s shores, and Lora reels from an unimaginable loss, she finds that her powers come with grave and dangerous responsibilities. At the request of Armand Louis, the darkly mysterious boy whose father owns Iverson, Lora will spend her summer at his lavish estate. To help the war effort—and to keep Lora by his side—Armand turns his home into a military hospital, where Lora will serve as a nurse. For Armand is inescapably drawn to her—bound to her by heart-deep secrets and a supernatural connection that runs thicker than blood.

Yet while Lora tries to sort out her own feelings toward Armand, fate offers an unexpected surprise. Lora discovers there is another drákon, a prisoner of war being held in Germany. And that only she, with her newly honed Gifts, will be able to rescue him.

With Armand, Lora will cross enemy lines on an incredible mission—one that could bond her to Armand forever, or irrevocably tear them apart.

Beautifully written, deeply romantic, and filled with daring adventure and magic, The Deepest Night is a mesmerizing novel of the enduring pull of destiny, and the eternal strength of love.

This truly was a beautiful read. A major improvement from the first novel, The Deepest Night excelled where The Sweetest Dark fell short.

Still lingering from the first novel are my feelings of confusion toward some aspects of the plot, but to a lower extent. Truthfully, the actual plot-line helped me ignore the fact that we had vital parts of the story left unexplained.

As with the first installment, the writing was nothing short of superb. The descriptions were spot-on, and it is obvious that the author did her research on the time period. I particularly enjoyed the conversations held between Eleanor and Armand, as their banter was humorous and lightened up the otherwise dark mood.

I liked how WWI took center stage and was more significant to the novel, not simply a sub-plot. I think it really was necessary to make the more complex and intriguing to read. I am kind of a history nerd and enjoy reading historical fiction, so this was a big plus.

Thankfully, there was minimal romance in The Deepest Night. Phew. Sure, I like romance, but I felt that the romance in the first book was kind of gag-worthy. (One word: Instalove)

Eleanor and Armand are much more likable, and believable. They felt real and I understood them better than I did in the first book. Like I said earlier, their banter was pretty fun to read, and personally, I think they complement each other better than Eleanor and Jesse.

Enthralling and unique, The Darkest Night is a book that I immensely enjoyed reading. The use of dragons, while not explained very well, made this an original read that is unique in its own way.

4 Stars!