Title: Dark Companion
Author: Marta Acosta
Standalone
Number of Pages: 364
Date Read: November 10, 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Supernatural
Rating: B
Synopsis (Found on
Goodreads.com):
Orphaned at the age of six, Jane Williams has grown up in a series of foster homes, learning to survive in the shadows of life. Through hard work and determination, she manages to win a scholarship to the exclusive Birch Grove Academy. There, for the first time, Jane finds herself accepted by a group of friends. She even starts tutoring the headmistress’s gorgeous son, Lucien. Things seem too good to be true.
They are.
The more she learns about Birch Grove’s recent past, the more Jane comes to suspect that there is something sinister going on. Why did the wife of a popular teacher kill herself? What happened to the former scholarship student, whose place Jane took? Why does Lucien’s brother, Jack, seem to dislike her so much?
As Jane begins to piece together the answers to the puzzle, she must find out why she was brought to Birch Grove—and what she would risk to stay there...
They are.
The more she learns about Birch Grove’s recent past, the more Jane comes to suspect that there is something sinister going on. Why did the wife of a popular teacher kill herself? What happened to the former scholarship student, whose place Jane took? Why does Lucien’s brother, Jack, seem to dislike her so much?
As Jane begins to piece together the answers to the puzzle, she must find out why she was brought to Birch Grove—and what she would risk to stay there...
My Review:
*May Contain Spoilers*
Hmmmm What to day about this book. I liked it and I didn't like it.
First off I'm not sure how I feel about the main character, Jane. When we first see Jane she is telling off the woman who ran the group home she was staying at. When I read that, I thought "All right- a kick ass character who doesn't take anyones shit". I couldn't have been more wrong. Its seems as if Jane changes when she gets to birch grove school. She lets Lucian aka "Lucky" (WTF is he a dog?)do whatever he wants with her and all she thinks about is him kissing her and touching her. She always says that she's not going to let Lucky treat her the way he does which is kinda like a bloodletting slave(He only wants her blood for his condition...see further down). However her resolve to teach him a lesson about his treatment of her goes out the window when he hasn't called or stop by her cottage in a few days. Then she's all "Oh I can't wait for him to come", "I hope he calls", "I miss him so much" and yadda yadda. She also goes as far as NOT going out with her friends so that she can stay by the phone in case Lucky calls and she'll be there in case he stops by. Talk about pathetic. However, the time where Lucky tries to do something sexual with her (becasue he thinks that's what she wants), she stops him and is like 'Oh i just realized.. I don't want Lucky after all... I want his brother Jack!" I mean gimme a break. This girl changes guys like she changes her underwear. After that almost sex scene, Jane is now completely in love with Lucky's brother Jack. Please.
Now on to Jack. I must say that I did like his character. He was funny, outgoing, silly and I liked the way he made fun on Jane by calling her "halfling" or "pixie" or "elf". I like the way he spoke, as if he was always joking but he wasn't and you had to look deeper in his responses to see what he really meant. I like how he looked after Jane and it was very romantic when he wrote/sang the song for Jane. Of course they end op together in the end which is stupid because of the way Jack overlooks the fact that Jane wanted his brother first before him. But whatever, I guess a happy ending is what the author wanted.
As for Lucky, he was spoiled whiny brat and a loser. He was supposed to be very beautiful but his description wasn't doing it for me. I thought Jack was wayyy better than him from the beginning of the story.
One character I really loved was Mary Violet. For me, her and Jack made the book. She was hilarious and I found myself laughing out loud at the things she said. I loved how dramatic she was and how she lived in her own world. She is very loud and seemingly superficial but underneath she's a really good friend and a good person. I loved the way she would say all these french words and then translate them into slang. Her poems were funny as well as how she described her mother's paintings. I think she and Jack should of ended up together. She would have made a better main character. In fact I don't think I've ever read a book with a main character like her.. someone should get on that ASAP!
I did find the whole story line about the genetic anomaly that most of the townspeople had, interesting. The people, like Lucky and his parents, were kinda like pseudo-vampires (Jack was adopted so he didn't have the anomaly). They were human but they had a gene that made them faster and stronger than normal humans; they had the ability to heal cuts and small wounds instantly; they were not able to go out in the sun without heavy duty sunscreen or a hat; and they craved human blood. Most of the time the people with the anomaly drank animal blood and ate red food, but at times they craved human blood. So to satisfy that craving they developed the companion program. Basically its where a normal human is chosen for one of these people to feed on. The two persons are bonded for life and the normal human is to give their blood to their bond companion whenever they want it. The normal human is compensated by being given everything they want (education,money, housing, trips)and being taken care of their entire lives by their bond's money. Jane was chosen to be Lucian's companion and she is given the choice to agree or not. By this time she is in lust with Lucky so she said yes, like a dumbass. She kept saying things like "I want to be there for him", "I want to help him" or "He needs me". I would not agree to let anyone drink my blood unless its is a real vampire who agreed to change me into a vampire. Other than that, my blood stays in my body. However, when Jane realized she loves Jack not Lucky, of course she now wants to back out of her companion agreement. The a whole bunch of other shit happens that came completely out of left field and it ends with the town's companion program being suspended, Jane gets out of her companion agreement with Luck and she ends up with Jack.
I felt that the book was too long with whole lot of nothing going on in them. There really isn't any action and the action that is there lasts for about a page. I feel that the ending was rushed and that the things that happened in the ending were thrown in to make a nice little wrap up for the book. It seems like Jane gets everything she wanted in the end which is not how real life goes.
First off I'm not sure how I feel about the main character, Jane. When we first see Jane she is telling off the woman who ran the group home she was staying at. When I read that, I thought "All right- a kick ass character who doesn't take anyones shit". I couldn't have been more wrong. Its seems as if Jane changes when she gets to birch grove school. She lets Lucian aka "Lucky" (WTF is he a dog?)do whatever he wants with her and all she thinks about is him kissing her and touching her. She always says that she's not going to let Lucky treat her the way he does which is kinda like a bloodletting slave(He only wants her blood for his condition...see further down). However her resolve to teach him a lesson about his treatment of her goes out the window when he hasn't called or stop by her cottage in a few days. Then she's all "Oh I can't wait for him to come", "I hope he calls", "I miss him so much" and yadda yadda. She also goes as far as NOT going out with her friends so that she can stay by the phone in case Lucky calls and she'll be there in case he stops by. Talk about pathetic. However, the time where Lucky tries to do something sexual with her (becasue he thinks that's what she wants), she stops him and is like 'Oh i just realized.. I don't want Lucky after all... I want his brother Jack!" I mean gimme a break. This girl changes guys like she changes her underwear. After that almost sex scene, Jane is now completely in love with Lucky's brother Jack. Please.
Now on to Jack. I must say that I did like his character. He was funny, outgoing, silly and I liked the way he made fun on Jane by calling her "halfling" or "pixie" or "elf". I like the way he spoke, as if he was always joking but he wasn't and you had to look deeper in his responses to see what he really meant. I like how he looked after Jane and it was very romantic when he wrote/sang the song for Jane. Of course they end op together in the end which is stupid because of the way Jack overlooks the fact that Jane wanted his brother first before him. But whatever, I guess a happy ending is what the author wanted.
As for Lucky, he was spoiled whiny brat and a loser. He was supposed to be very beautiful but his description wasn't doing it for me. I thought Jack was wayyy better than him from the beginning of the story.
One character I really loved was Mary Violet. For me, her and Jack made the book. She was hilarious and I found myself laughing out loud at the things she said. I loved how dramatic she was and how she lived in her own world. She is very loud and seemingly superficial but underneath she's a really good friend and a good person. I loved the way she would say all these french words and then translate them into slang. Her poems were funny as well as how she described her mother's paintings. I think she and Jack should of ended up together. She would have made a better main character. In fact I don't think I've ever read a book with a main character like her.. someone should get on that ASAP!
I did find the whole story line about the genetic anomaly that most of the townspeople had, interesting. The people, like Lucky and his parents, were kinda like pseudo-vampires (Jack was adopted so he didn't have the anomaly). They were human but they had a gene that made them faster and stronger than normal humans; they had the ability to heal cuts and small wounds instantly; they were not able to go out in the sun without heavy duty sunscreen or a hat; and they craved human blood. Most of the time the people with the anomaly drank animal blood and ate red food, but at times they craved human blood. So to satisfy that craving they developed the companion program. Basically its where a normal human is chosen for one of these people to feed on. The two persons are bonded for life and the normal human is to give their blood to their bond companion whenever they want it. The normal human is compensated by being given everything they want (education,money, housing, trips)and being taken care of their entire lives by their bond's money. Jane was chosen to be Lucian's companion and she is given the choice to agree or not. By this time she is in lust with Lucky so she said yes, like a dumbass. She kept saying things like "I want to be there for him", "I want to help him" or "He needs me". I would not agree to let anyone drink my blood unless its is a real vampire who agreed to change me into a vampire. Other than that, my blood stays in my body. However, when Jane realized she loves Jack not Lucky, of course she now wants to back out of her companion agreement. The a whole bunch of other shit happens that came completely out of left field and it ends with the town's companion program being suspended, Jane gets out of her companion agreement with Luck and she ends up with Jack.
I felt that the book was too long with whole lot of nothing going on in them. There really isn't any action and the action that is there lasts for about a page. I feel that the ending was rushed and that the things that happened in the ending were thrown in to make a nice little wrap up for the book. It seems like Jane gets everything she wanted in the end which is not how real life goes.
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