Book Review
Title: Dead of Night (Aftershock #1)
Author: Carlyle Labuschagne
Genre: Sci-Fi/Dystopian/Romance
Rating: DNF
Review: So, all I know about this book is the synopsis: “In a dark and desolated After Earth, love still does exist, but the cost of bearing such a flaw is death. World War III has left Earth in utter turmoil. People’s beliefs are said to be the cause of the worldwide destruction. After the Clearing new laws are set about - to show certitude in anything besides the law is weak and chargeable as mutiny. To be illogical and have faith in religion is illegal, to be limitless is dangerous. And Illness is seen as a defect – all flaws that are inexcusable. But to love is the greatest betrayal of all mankind. It is a fault the world has long forgotten and punishable by death, a fatal risk Aecker and Opel are fully prepared to take - because in love there is freedom. But how far can they push back before it claims their lives and those they care about.” From this it reminds me a little bit of Delirium by Lauren Oliver which I really liked so I eager to jump into Dead of Night.
The opening to Dead of Night was very interesting. We are introduced to a girl being beaten until she is rescued by a stranger. We learn that this girl is a Tracker and a danger to those who oppose the society’s rule, however, the boy who rescued her is called Aecker and she has been stalking him for a while. Despite being told what she is, the girl has no memory about anything before being rescued by Aecker. We learn that Trackers are no better than beasts and are used to hunt down and kill Inborns and Outlaws like Aecker, his brother Dyllian and their cousin Noah. As she can’t leave until the storms clear the girl decides to called herself Opel and while she doesn’t want to believe she is a tracker, it makes sense considering all she has been told and what she feels the urge to do. So far, I was very intrigued by Dead of Night and its characters.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Opel seems to be growing closer to Aecker developing quite a strong bond between the pair despite not really knowing each other for long. So far, the context has been little, but it seems Dyllian is running the hideout and Aecker is supposed to take over, but he doesn’t want to, and he even suggests leaving with Opel but before anything can be decided their base is attacked. As Opel tries to flee she encounters Noah who tells her the people are there for her and he tries to kill her, but Opel’s instincts save her life but not for long as it is Aecker who comes to her rescue and helps her escape the hideout, but they now have to face the elements. I liked how the story isn’t all told from Opel’s perspective it does change to Aecker’s but not that frequently, it takes 6 chapters before we get the first chapter told from Aecker’s perspective. In a great exposition scene, we learn that Opel is actually the fiancé of the newly elected President and Dyllian turned her over to them but Aecker is determined to get her back and escape once and for all.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Aecker sets off on his rescue mission with the help of his brother which I wasn’t keen about as Dyllian betrayed him moments before, but we can’t dwell on it as we jump back to Opel’s perspective. In Opel’s perspective we see escape the men who took her only to be cornered again but she attempts to swim to safety without knowing how to swim it seems. So far, the pacing of this novel seems a little off jumping from one key event to another with nothing between them to break the story up. However, learning what Opel is was very exciting and the dodgy pacing doesn’t distract from the action or the story overall.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Aecker and Opel literally can’t catch a break. As they fight for their survival the action seems to clash instead of merge with the rest of the story giving it an odd feel. I also didn’t like how we are halfway through the novel and we have had very little backstory about the world and the characters especially Opel and the only focus the story has is Opel’s relationship with Aecker and the ST trying to get her back for whatever reason.
Despite trying I really couldn’t finish this novel, the writing was poor, the characters were one dimensional and there were so many issues with content and pacing that I just had to give up. DNF at 55%.
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