THE DARKNESS RISES, by Stacy Stokes, Viking Books for Young Readers, April 9, 2024, Hardcover, $19.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
A girl struggles with the aftermath of her power to see death before it happens in The Darkness Rises, by Stacy Stokes.
Someone wants revenge…
Whitney knows what death looks like. Since she was seven, she’s seen it hover over strangers’ heads in dark, rippling clouds. Sometimes she can save people from the darkness. Sometimes she can’t. But she’s never questioned if she should try. Until the unthinkable happens—and a person she saves becomes the perpetrator of a horrific school shooting.
Now Whitney will do anything to escape the memory of last year’s tragedy and the guilt that gnaws at her for her role in it. Even if that means quitting dance—the thing she loves most—and hiding her ability from her family and friends. But most importantly, no one can know what really happened last year.
Then Whitney finds an ominous message in her locker and realizes someone knows her secret. As the threats pile up, one thing becomes clear—someone wants payback for what she did. And if she’s going to survive the year, she must track down whoever is after her before it’s too late. —Synopsis provided by Viking Books for Young Readers
“The night was a sweaty palm clamped over my mouth.”
From the very first sentence in The Darkness Rises, author Stacy Stokes expertly sets the scene. And she does it in a comfortable, almost familiar way that makes it easy to settle in to her speculative thriller.
At the center of the story is Whitney, a girl who, since the age of 7, has the ability to see if a person is going to die. And that ability gives her the chance to rewrite history. Saving lives was something she was so proud of. But all actions have consequences. And now the consequences have come back to bite her in the deadliest of ways.
Whitney is a well-realized character, and most of the action plays out through her first-person narrative. She’s immediately the character that you want to root for.
The Darkness Rises is a story about death and, in particular, a school shooting. So, it deals with some pretty heavy stuff. Stokes does an excellent job exploring the emotions a trauma like that elicits. And she explores that trauma on multiple levels — personal, family of those killed, the schools, the community as a whole. It’s all encompassing, and the book is better for it.
The Darkness Rises is a fast-moving mystery, thriller with so many twists and turns, that the assumptions you make at the beginning are obliterated by the end. This one will keep you guessing to the very end.
Copyright © 2024 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.
