Darkness Becomes Her

March 7, 2011
Keaton's first book for teens (the author writes for adults as Kelly Gay) blends urban fantasy and Greek mythology. Given up by her mother at age four after they fled their hurricane-destroyed home in New Orleans, Ari Selkirk (now 17) is determined to sort out the puzzle of her past. A box of clues drives her back to the now privately owned city-region known as "New 2," where Ari finds that the rumors of the city being a sanctuary for the paranormal are true. Aided by a clan of self-proclaimed freaks and weirdoes, Ari looks for answers: why are the powerful families that own New 2 interested in her, and who is her father? More importantly, after learning the gods are real, why is one of them pissed off at her? Keaton's writing is vivid, yet the amalgam of goddesses, voodoo, vampires, and witches somewhat muddles the intriguing plot surrounding Ari's origins and the mysterious curse that has befallen her family for generations. Still, this is a page-turning story with a multidimensional heroine and an atmospheric near-future setting. Ages 14–up.

January 1, 2011
Blending tropes currently popular in teen fiction, this predictable supernatural romance portrays a society of vampires, shape-shifters, witches, monsters and gods in the post-apocalyptic ruins of what was once New Orleans. Seventeen-year-old Ari travels south to visit a mental institution to search for information about her birth mother and is drawn into the annexed city, now known as New 2. There are some likable elements in this light read—endearing, if clichéd characters and a pleasingly tough heroine among them—but it suffers from clunky language. Florid descriptions of the rotting splendor of New 2 clash with the tone of the dialogue, uneasily skipping from phrases like, "the setting sun blinded me for a second as it sank down into the black horizon of the shimmering river and the swamp" to "Until a fucking dickwad came along and ruined things," on a single page. Readers familiar with Greek mythology will have worked out the mystery of Ari's history long before it is revealed. Also unsurprising is the cliffhanger ending, leaving no doubt that there will be a sequel. (Supernatural romance. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Fast-forward a generation. New Orleans, now called New 2, has been decimated by natural disaster. Nine prominent families have banded together to buy the city from the federal government; all that used to be New Orleans is now considered "beyond the rim," an area rumored to be riddled with supernatural beings and happenings. Enter Ari. Inexplicably abandoned by her mother soon after the city's fall, she is now a hardened 17-year-old living in Memphis. When she visits a sanitorium near the border where her mother spent her last days, her discoveries lead her deep into New 2. In search of information to help solve the puzzle of her origins, she soon realizes how intricately intertwined her fate is with that of the city and that it will be up to her to lift the curse that has plagued the women in her family for centuries. Darkness Becomes Her is part "Lightning Thief," part "Twilight," and part "Maximum Ride." Unfortunately, Keaton reveals the specifics of Ari's mother's delusion at the book's start, something if left uncovered until later would have packed a much greater punch. Yet, to write this title off as a predictable "been there, done that" experience doesn't do it justice either. For fans of any of the above-mentioned popular series, it's an excellent suggestion for a next read. Keaton paints richly detailed scenes of the New Orleans landscape and crafts fully realized, sympathetic characters. Ari's journey from loner to wary member of a band of misfits and her fall for one of them spins a compelling thread through her quest. Darkness Becomes Her will leave many readers clamoring for the next installment.-Jill Heritage Maza, Greenwich High School, CT

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2011
Grades 8-10 *Starred Review* In her first novel for teens, Keaton, who writes adult fiction as Kelly Gay, offers an immediately and consistently compelling tale of a near-future New Orleans that has been cast adrift from the rest of the U.S. Seventeen-year-old Ari goes searching for the mother who abandoned her 13 years earlier. In no time, she has to defend herself from a gigantic warriorfortunately, her foster parents are bail bondsmen, and she has been trained in some great defensive and offensive movesand then goes beyond the Rim into New 2, the abandoned New Orleans, to find that the city is now owned and operated by witches, clairvoyants, and vampires. But this is no cheesy horror story, and Ari must bargain with these nonhuman creatures, aligned in a triumvirate of families, in order to be released from an ancestral curse of her own. Keaton creates a New Orleans setting rife with gothic rot and decay and allows Ari to discover, articulate, and explore a range of political and ethical questions without ever striking a didactic note. Deft character descriptions not only humanize the creatures but also help to individualize characters who suffer a variety of physical and emotional challenges. A great choice for a book-discussion group willing to take on another round of vampires. The cliff-hanger ending promises a sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)