I don’t often find myself re-reading an author’s previous books all at once, but Marisha Pessl wrote such an intriguing book with her newest release, Darkly, that I had the urge to check my local library’s Libby collection and place holds on her previous titles that I’d read several years ago. None of Pessl’s other books are near as good, in my opinion.
So, what made Darkly so good? Lots of little things. I was fascinated by the imagery and mood that Marisha Pessl creates. There are ornate old buildings with secret hatches and hollow walls for creeping, soaking wet boat rides captained by a possible madwoman, and strange encounters within the game that could be someone out to get the group–keeping readers on the edge of their seat from the beginning.
Though we will eventually be introduced to a full cast of quirky characters, we first meet Dia, the protagonist, as she helps out at the floundering antique shop her mother and two elderly business partners own. Chaos might not be a strong enough word for what happens at the shop day in and day out, and Dia knows she may be the only thing keeping the business afloat. Yet with her mother making risky business decisions without asking Dia her opinion, she only has so much control over whether the shop stays open.
Dia has long been an avid fan of Louisiana Veda, the creator of the Darkly games, interactive and mysterious games of risk and chance that may or may not have clues to win hidden throughout. After Louisiana Veda’s death occurred, her games got even more popular and collectible. When an unbelievable opportunity arises for Dia to work for Louisiana’s estate alongside a small group of select individuals doing some sort of administrative work, it seems like it would be wrong for Dia not to apply. But she is not expecting to be selected, let alone to become entangled in a new game that she can only assume Louisiana must have been working on until the day she died.
As Dia continues trying to solve the different levels of the game with her small, loyal group of peers, they slowly uncover information that no one seems to know about Louisiana and her childhood. It soon becomes clear that some very sad situations, overshadowed Louisiana as a young girl the results of which helped shape her career and especially this latest game. It takes a bit of time to sort out what this newest game is all about, but once Dia and her friends are on the right track, clues start falling into place. There are a lot of moving parts in this story, and it is a little bit difficult to keep track of everything that is going on at any given moment. Often, multiple chaotic scenes are occurring simultaneously. Though many important scenes happen in the beginning, it wasn’t until the end of the book that the puzzle started to come into focus for me. So, of course, once I finished reading this story for the first time I went back and re-read Darkly to soak in all of the details.
Sometimes, I think authors put a lot of pressure on themselves when writing specifically for an adult audience. Then, when they decide to dabble in YA, they let loose and the best content comes from the creativity that is tapped into when writing for a completely different age group. Though this isn’t Marisha Pessl’s first foray into YA, I would have to say that Darkly is an indication of her finding and claiming her place in the teen market and I certainly hope to see more books similar in tone in the near future.
Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy from Random House Children Books
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 10 religious exclamations; 5 mild obscenities; 3 scatological words; 2 F-Word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: A woman is hinted at possibly having a tragic death; a woman is reported to receive a letter full of threats; a woman is reported to be found dead and her death is ruled a suicide; a report is made of someone trying to escape a fenced in area and cutting their arm up on barbed wire; a minor is reported to have gone missing; a reference is made to possible murder or assisted suicide; a minor finds a poster of herself among missing persons flyers and is studying it when someone pushes her from behind and runs away; a minor is mentioned to be exploring an old building when they lose their footing and a beam snaps, causing their leg to fall through the floor; a minor reports hearing screaming in a building and it seems endless but she can’t find where it is coming from; a brief scene occurs where a minor is reported to be injured and have some pretty bad bloody wounds from an unknown attacker, bandages are placed on wounds and later changed and the wounds are mentioned to be worse than previously thought; a short scene occurs where a woman makes several verbal threats to minors; a mysterious and slightly creepy scene occurs where a masked man all in black is reported to be leading someone in a multi-player real life game; a pen of doves with several dead doves seen is briefly mentioned; a minor falls from a height in a brief scene and stops the fall by grabbing onto some sort of cord with no injury reported; a minor is mentioned to be apprehended and shoved into a van by a masked figure; a dog is mentioned to bite someone’s ankle in a brief scene, causing some bite wounds; a bird hunter is seen aiming and shooting at a woman in a brief scene; a boy running through some woods trips and falls into a booby trap; a brief scene occurs where a fire at a library is discussed with the fire likely being arson; a woman speaks to a group of minors about her daughter going missing; suicide is referred to with no detail; a brief scene occurs where a gargoyle falls from the upper floors of a building and hits a young man who is standing below; a minor is described to fall from a tree while trying to escape pursuers; a report is made of a group at a secret gathering beating an infiltrator to death after they tried to reveal the identities of some group members; a chaotic scene occurs with several people chasing after a girl trying to apprehend her until she stumbles and falls off the roof of a building, no injuries are mentioned; a woman is reported to be standing on the roof of a building holding a gun and threatening to use it when someone shoots her and she falls to her death, some blood is mentioned.
Sex/Nudity: The love affairs of a woman are referred to; a young woman is mentioned to have an encounter with a boy she likes and they kiss in a brief scene; a nude portrait is mentioned to be on display in someone’s residence; a minor girl considers making out with a boy who likes her; a mention of a woman being promiscuous and in many men’s beds; minors kiss in a brief scene; a brief scene occurs where a minor male and female flirt and are seen kissing; a boy almost kisses a girl on the lips but decides to kiss her cheek instead.
Mature Subject Matter:
Death, murder, dangerous activities, suicide (mention).
Alcohol/Drug Use:
An adult woman opens a bottle of wine; an adult is mentioned to drink so much they get sick; minors are mentioned to possibly have a flask of stolen whiskey; a mention is made of the faint smell of pot; an adult woman is mentioned to smell like cigarettes; an adult woman is mentioned to have an open beer can in hand; a woman is mentioned to smoke cigarettes; a minor is depicted chugging a cocktail and getting drunk; a man is mentioned to pour himself a whiskey.
