Amazing!!! A beautiful, haunting, exquisite read. A new favorite. I'll be reading everything this author writes from here on out.

I honestly cannot recommend this book any more highly. I know it doesn't come out until August or September, but this is one you must add to your wishlist and pre-order if you can. It is most certainly going on my favorites list and is one I know I will reread time and time again. I've already added the authors other books to my wishlist as I need more of this gorgeous writing and beautiful storytelling.

I'm sorry for not being able to read this book, but I appreciate the opportunity to provide a review. I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher.

Lora is a poor orphan who got lucky to be chosen as a new charity member of the elite school for girls nestled in a mysterious castle above the see shore.
She hears songs that nobody else can hear and as the story unwraps she will gain more magic gifts and find more about her heritage.

There is a love triangle of course and we will meat both of her suitors very soon after she arrives at the boarding school.
Both of the boys have magic in them as well,and as much as i was ok with Armand's secret talents,I couldn't really connect with Jessee's nature,it just didn't fit to the story..

I don't like first person narrative and here we have the constant shifting between 3 characters from 1st person to 3rd person -
i hated that and it made me confused at times when my concentration wasn't at the peaks.

The writing is indeed mostly beautiful, sweet prose and heartbreaking scenes but sometimes i had a feeling it is a bit to much ,
where the beauty of the moment could have been described with less adjectives.

This book was requested when I was young and requested more books than I could possibly read. Sadly, I no longer have access to this book and my tastes have changed. Thus I will not be able to give feedback on this title.

I'm sorry I was not able to read and review this book before it was archived due to serious health issues.

I thought the writing was very fluid and beautiful in this novel, and I am always interested in WWI and the period following up to it. But this book was just too much. Too much drama between the mean girls and Lora, too much hate of the head mistress to Lora, too much specialness that Lora was born with. It just didn't work for me. And the WWI tie in was weird and poorly executed. I did not enjoy this book, but maybe younger teens would.

This book took me forever to get into, but once I did I couldn't put it down! It was slow in the beginning, but then the actual singing starts and you find yourself flying across pages.

The Sweetest Dark was a relatively new take on the young adult paranormal genre, with its inclusion of dragons and star beings, and the combination of war-time England, paranormal beings, and swoon-worthy moments kept me reading. While not a perfect read, it was definitely an indulgent, enjoyable one for the most part. Read in 2013.

I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this, but never felt invested or captivated by the story. The characters and the plot fell a bit flat for me.

As it turns out, this is BOOK ONE of a trilogy. Had I known that when I ordered it from NetGalley, I might've passed on it. It's not that it wasn't good--it was excellent. But now I need to add two more books to my topplingTBR pile.

The book takes place in England during World War I, however due to the Gothic castle and the island seclusion of the setting, I had to keep reminding myself of it. It was only near the end, when the war intruded, and Lora had to use her newfound powers to defeat the enemy, that the time period felt real to me. Added to that were plenty of timeless, fantasy elements.

The Amazon description pretty much sums up what the book is about, and far better than I'd be able to do. I will say, though, that the book moved along at a very leisurely pace, with relatively little tension, which surprised me. The slow pace thoroughly grafted me into the story. But I was also surprised at how little happened in 354 pages. I guess when you're writing a trilogy, and if the quality of your prose is incredible (as Ms. Abe's is) you can take ten pages to say what someone else might've said in four.

This book was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book captivated me. There's no other way to describe it. Even when I'd been dreading what might come, I couldn't stop. And its good that I didn't because I would've missed Abe proving me so wrong.

Lora is such a strong heroine. She's a big part of why I could keep going. Even in the face of some truly terrible situations and the bullying she dealt with, she was sassy and strong

Then there was Jesse. I mostly loved his character even when I didn't understand his connection to Lora and his love for her. Each time there was a moment between the two my heart felt like it was being squeezed for all the emotions and the pressure in my chest wouldn't let up until I had read and reread those passages multiple times. (Or maybe I was unknowingly holding my breath.) Either way, they were my favorite scenes.

Armand was a character I liked, sometimes. He was a mystery waiting to be solved. (Though, to be fair, so were most of the characters.) His interactions with Lora amused. There was that hint of maybe-we'll-one-day-make-out. But there were also these great moments where propriety is forgotten and they needle each other with juvenile insults.

The only time I was kind of "meh" about the book was with all the foretelling. There was quite a bit of it. In general I don't like foretelling. And the perspectives were switched pretty abruptly at times. As I read on, it got easier to handle so it wasn't a huge problem. Overall the good outweighed the bad. This was a book I was glad I picked up. Anyone who enjoys a pararom should definitely give this a shot.

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. Originally posted on Book Munchies.

I had a hard time finishing this book. I gave up a while ago and haven't come back to it until now. I aologize for not giving a proper review, but this title didn't entice me to read a substantial part of the book so I feel as though a review would be premature, especially since this was so long ago.

Best of luck,

TKB