Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe **Review**

Review of Book two: Dark Heart Rising
Review of Book three: Dark Heart Surrender

Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe

Series: Dark Heart #1
Pages: 384
Publisher: Hodder Children's
Release date: 7th October 2010
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Waterstones

Goodreads synopsis:
Jane Jonas is nearing her 16th birthday and troubled by unsettling recurring dreams where the same mysterious boy her age comes to her, telling Jane that they are each other's destiny. Her mother is increasingly anxious about Jane's disruptive sleepwalking episodes, but for Jane her dream world and reality are about to collide ... 


When she develops a friendship with an enigmatic stranger in town, the blond, uber-cool Evan, it's exciting, it's new, and Jane wants him more than she's ever wanted anybody - until her mystery dream boy gets in the way. 


Now Jane is caught between two worlds: one familiar, but tinged with romance and excitement; the other dark and dangerous, where angels, werewolves, and an irresistible stranger are trying to seduce her ...

I think what initially drew me to this book was the wolf on the cover of the book - the promise of werewolves (which are, by far, my favourite supernatural). I usually love the different takes on the werewolf that each author takes, and this version is no exception.
I love the idea of the Werewolves being part of an entirely different world to Earth, and it's definitely something I've never seen before in a book like this one.

I really loved the world-building in the novel, both on Earth, and the separate world of Nissilum.
On Earth, the novel is set in Bale which, despite living in England, is a place I hadn't known existed until reading this book. I'll admit, I had to research it to even decide whether or not it is a real place, and have discovered that it's in Norfolk (well, you learn something new every day, I guess!). My geography was never really any good!
But despite not knowing that Bale was a real place, Lee did such a good job with the place descriptions, that it felt very rooted and natural in its setting, and I could really imagine my way around the town and the mountain (although, whether or not there is actually a mountain in Norfolk, I'm definitely unsure!). I'd definitely go for a nice milkshake in Fabio's, if I could!
I also really enjoyed learning about Nissilum. This is obviously an entirely fictional place, and that made it all the more interesting. It's built up as a kind of idealised, fairy-tale setting, but it has some dark and dangerous, hidden secrets, that are only just beginning to emerge!
I love the concept of so many paranormal species (werewolves, vampires, witches, wizards and angels) all co-existing in this place of apparent peace and serenity, under the ruling of the angels. The first in the series only just scratches the surface of this magical world though, and I have a feeling that Nissilum is going to prove to be anything but peaceful. I can't wait to learn more about this world and its species as the series develops.

I am going to take a moment to mention a couple of minor irritations with the book - just for a moment. I do feel that these can be overlooked, and the first I'm going to mention could be even be fixed, just by changing the apparent age of a character.
This character was Dot, Jane's younger sister, who is apparently 9 years old. We discover her age on the very first page of the first chapter, and it ended up sticking out like a sore thumb, for me. I got to know her character very quickly, which is a good thing, and I did really love her character (she's bubbly and a great source of amusement on many occasions - definitely one of my favourites), but she definitely came across as older than 9. I think, for me, she was at least 12 or 13 - not even a mature 9-year-old would speak as she does. Her actions, I suppose, did reflect her age at times (for example, she was a very clingy character, hanging off Jane's arms etc), but this was the only thing that really reflected her age consistently.
I was able to overlook this though, by changing her age in my mind to around 13. Then I was able to get on with her character much better.

My other little problem with the book was that the plot was quite predictable. I can't really recall anything that came as a huge surprise to me. I won't mention specifics, obviously - you know how much I hate spoilers! - but at around page 50, I wrote down three predictions for the end of the novel, and all three were correct. There were, obviously, little details between these that were more difficult to predict, but I had the basics of it worked out.
Saying this though, it wasn't a huge problem. I read this book as a light, fun read - more as an escape, than anything - and it was really good for that, so don't take too much negativity away from this - it's still a really great, exciting and gripping read.

Jane and Luca's relationship is something I feel would be worth mentioning. Luca is the first of the guys in the novel that we encounter, and in many ways, even though Jane feels immediately more comfortable with him than Evan, he is much more of an enigma, and I think that makes it difficult to believe in their relationship, at first.
But the further I got into the novel, and the more times I saw them together, Jane and Luca's relationship seemed much more natural, and I found myself hoping that they'd be able to be together. I can't wait to see how their relationship changes again in the next book!

I'd definitely recommend this book to all lovers of the fantasy, romance and YA genres! It's a fun, light and gripping read, that will eventually have you hooked!