Dark Heart Rising by Lee Monroe **Review**

Review of Book one: Dark Heart Forever
Review of Book three: Dark Heart Surrender

Dark Heart Rising by Lee Monroe

Series: Dark Heart #2
Pages: 400
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Release date: 2nd June 2011
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Waterstones
Thanks to Hachette UK for my review copy

Goodreads synopsis:
Jane and Luca's story continues ...but not quite as they had planned. When challenges and threats from the immortal world of Nissilum rip the young lovers apart, Jane is bereft. Without Luca's dancing green eyes, and gentle smile, Jane feels lost, sad and alone. But then a trip to Paris with her grandmother thrusts her in the path of the amiable Soren - a kindred spirit who may be just the distraction she needs ...Meanwhile in Nissilum, Luca struggles with the loyalties and expectations that come with being a part of the immortal world. A world that is about to be shaken at its very core: rumblings of mounting unrest are spreading, and with rumours of an angel rebellion growing no creature is safe -- especially not a mortal girl who has fallen in love with a wolf boy...

I love how this series is progressing!
I mentioned in my review for book one, Dark Heart Forever, that the plot was quite predictable, and I had pretty much everything figured out, quite early on. The plot to this instalment in the series is much less predictable, you'll be glad to hear (although, I'll reiterate that the predictability of book one didn't really damage my enjoyment of the book).
I did work out basically what was going to happen in the end, but there were details that I hadn't guessed, and did come as a little surprise to me (although, I'll admit, not a huge surprise), and it took me a little longer to work out than the previous book. Again though, this did not really remove any enjoyment - in fact, I think I enjoyed this book more than book one!

Jane's character grew so much during this novel - she is certainly no plain Jane! She was still recognisably the same character as before, but she'd grown a giant backbone - and good for her! Despite everything that was happening, she tried not to let it get her down, and she tried to be happy for Luca, if he had truly decided to follow his family's wishes - but she also stood up for herself, when the occasions to do so arose. She stood by her own beliefs, and what she considered to be the right thing, and I really respected her character for that - I'm not sure I'd have been able to do the same, in her position!
I have to say though, I did have a chuckle to myself, at the image of Vanya dressing her up as a vampire - very daring!
Oh, and how glad I was to see more of Vanya. Her character is intoxicating - I LOVE her. She's almost certainly my favourite character in the series so far.
As for Luca, his loyalty to his family throughout this novel is both admirable and incredibly annoying, all at once. Yes, he's selfless, we get it - but he's supposed to be with Jane, damn it! I loved his character's turn around though, when he finally stands up for himself, and chooses his own happiness over the control and selfishness of certain members of his family. I'll be really intrigued to see what happens next!

I really enjoyed the narrative switches in this novel. I don't recall the narrative having switched at all during the first book, but in this one, we get to see, not just inside Jane's head, but inside Luca's and Raphael's too, which is really interesting and, especially with Raphael, gives us a much deeper understanding of his character - which is another of my favourites, by the way. Although, he doesn't beat Vanya - she's just way too cool.

I mentioned at some point in my review of book one, that I would love to learn more about Nissilum, and see more of that world - and this book definitely delivers! I'm thrilled that the majority of the book took place in Nissilum, and that the story dives deeper into the secrets kept by each of the families and species, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this will develop further - especially with Raphael and his new personal mission.
In fact, I'm just looking forward to seeing how everything will develop more!

Better than book one, and recommended for fans of general/urban fantasy & YA fiction.