Marta Acosta

"It’s a mystery to me why extraordinary young women insist they are normal."

I don’t know where to begin with this review. Let me say now that I loved DARK COMPANION. I truly loved this gothic tale of an orphaned girl making her way in the world. And while I had some issues with how DARK COMPANION ended, that really didn’t undermine my complete fascination with this story and with its heroine, Jane Williams. I think my difficulty comes with trying to organize and articulate my thoughts, show more so bear with me.

"I like science and math because they’re always reasonable, logical, and fair. The rules apply no matter who you are, or who you know. They make sense."

Let’s start with Jane. She comes from the wrong side of the tracks, has been raised in the foster care system, and pulls herself out of a horrific group home by winning a scholarship to Birch Grove Academy, an elite private school for girls that dangles the promise of future success in front of her, and seems to be a way out of the rough life she’s experienced so far. Jane is an incredibly compelling YA heroine – orphaned, tough, completely independent, smart, driven, and ambitious. But she’s also lonely and, while she might not admit it, she wants to be accepted. She wants to be loved. Jane has a completely rational, scientific perspective on the world, yet this driving need for acceptance and love and finding a place in the world where she fits in, makes her accept some irrational things; leads her to make some questionable choices.

This is particularly true of her relationship with Lucien, the headmistress’s son, who Jane is tutoring. She is infatuated with him and it’s this infatuation that makes the rational, smart, independent Jane start to lose herself and ignore the signs that something isn’t completely normal about their relationship and about the things he is asking her to do. I wanted to shake Jane. My heart went out to her and it’s a testament to Acosta’s writing that she was able to craft such a compelling young woman who feels old and young, strong and totally vulnerable in a very real way, all at the same time.

Other aspects of the story that worked for me were the dialogue and the relationships with the supporting cast of characters. Her interactions with Jack, the headmistress’s oldest son, are cryptic, witty, and crackle with electricity. She wants to punch him but you know she probably wants to kiss him, too. I also adored Mary Violet, Jane’s best friend at Birch Grove. Mary Violet is hilarious, has a romantic outlook on life, and genuinely cares about Jane. She wants to “funnify” Jane, which is fitting since she provides some of the funniest lines in the book, particularly her French translations.

"You’re the crème de la crème. That’s French for “all that and a bag of chips.”

And,

"Grand-mere calls me Marie-Violette and she’s always asking me about my beaux, which is French for “players with trust funds.”

Finally, the gothic atmosphere of the school and the Brontesque touches that call to mind Jane Eyre were all elements that worked very well in DARK COMPANION. If you are a Jane Eyre fan, like myself, you will have fun picking out all the nods to that story – orphan girl, tutoring, how she first meets Jack, etc. It all works together to create a dark atmosphere where nothing is what it seems. In fact, the overall mystery is compelling as well – the headmistress and her family are hiding something and what Jane soon realizes is that everything comes with a price.

The biggest negative for me came at about 85% into the book (I read it on my Kindle) where the main storyline is tied up but new questions are brought forward that feel less integrated into the plot. There was a sense that DARK COMPANION, in the end, wasn’t sure what it wanted to be – a paranormal mystery or a mystery? I’m really hoping there is a follow-up to this book so I can get an answer to that question.

The only reason I’m not giving a five howl rating is because of the ending – it needed to be stronger. But the writing is so smart on so many levels that regardless of the ending, I highly recommend DARK COMPANION for anyone interested in gothic tales with romance, mystery, and tough, complex heroines that steal your heart.

**An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.** show less

Originally reviewed on A Reader of Fictions.

Initially, I wasn't sure if I was going to read Dark Companion. I watched the reviews for it roll in, and they varied so much as to puzzle me exceedingly. Gothic fiction has not traditionally been my favorite genre, so I was hesitant. However, it was obviously meant to be since I won a giveaway for it. Well, I am glad that I did, because I ended up really enjoying this particular reading experience.

From reviews that I've read, I know that some show more readers found much of this book quite boring, but that was not the case for me. So long as the writing is beautiful and the characters vibrant, a slow pace does not put me off a novel the slightest bit. Acosta's writing really resonated with me, striking a perfect gothic tone that matched the quotes from classics included at the beginning of each chapter while also maintaining a modern flair.

The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of in the writing was some of the slang, which I felt went too far and entered the realm of the absurd. If there was a name that could be made into a swear word, that happened, like with these: Charlotte becomes harlot, Pritchard becomes Bitchard, and Helmsdale becomes Hellsdale. Thankfully, this trailed off as the book continued but it was really overused at first. Acosta also came up with other lingo for these characters, like using coitus as a swear word, going so far even to change OMFG into OMCG. I get it, but am not amused.

Jane also speaks and thinks in a very particular manner, using as many pretentious words as she can. This will likely alienate some readers, but I liked it, because, well, I'm a snob like that. Plus, Jane does that as a method of studying, which fits her perfectly, because she do desperately wants to escape her tragic past (group home, scars, best friend in prostitution, other best friend dead of meningitis).

Jane, through her own determination and hard work, manages to obtain a scholarship to the fancy schmancy Birch Grove Academy for Girls, which helps her obtain emancipation as well so that she can escape the horrid group home in which she was living. She leaves Hellsdale and heads to Greenwood for school. At first, everything seems to good to be true. No, really. This school would not exist. She gets there and the headmistress Mrs. Radcliffe (nice reference btws) shows her to her PERSONAL COTTAGE to live in BY HERSELF and takes her shopping to BUY HER ALL OF THE CLOTHES. No school would do this; she would at least have to share the cottage with one other girl. It had a full kitchen and everything! Also, Jane went back to the mall later, returned a bunch of clothes, and got money back. Why let Radcliffe by those clothes for her if she didn't want them? That was weird to me.

In case you're concerned about the fact that Jane's going to a girl's school, because that means there are limited sexy boy options, don't worry. Conveniently, Mrs. Radcliffe just happens to have two hot sons, one a junior like Jane, Lucian aka Lucky, and one two years older, Jack. As you may have guessed, a hot mess of a love triangle ensues. A lot of the things that happened in the love triangle-y part upset me, mostly because Lucian was a little shit and Jane's self-esteem issues make me want to shake some sense into her. Still, Acosta did manage to wrap things up nicely and she does write fabulous kissing scenes.

Several of her characters really mattered to me. Jane, dear plain, outspoken Jane, mousie Jane. I could not help but see her as a sort of Jane Eyre figure, with her unloved childhood, her fear that no one shall ever care for her, her vast intelligence, her determination, her strength in a crisis, and her stern perception of her own qualities. Needless to say, I loved her most of the time. Jack, of course, is scruffy and adorable, if, admittedly, a bit frustrating at times. Mary Violet, or MV, turned out to be a surprise favorite of mine, with her love for anything violet, even to the detriment of her grades when she refuses to turn in papers in anything but her trademark violet ink, and her ridiculous explanations for what foreign phrases mean. Though somewhat annoying, MV is a true friend, and I love finding those in YA novels.

The paranormal elements in Dark Companion are blessedly minor. They are important, yes, but they don't take over the story. In fact, the story feels as though it's mostly set in the natural world, a bit more magical realism than straight up fantasy. Not only that, but she did some really cool things with the paranormal bits she used, putting nice spins on some overused ideas.

The conclusion, admittedly, is not as strong as it perhaps should have been. It feels a bit rushed and overly optimistic, pairing characters up like the ark's about to sail. I didn't mark down for this rather cheesy conclusion, though, because of all of the Shakespeare references woven throughout. The ending just tells you that Dark Companion is a comedy, not a tragedy. I'm a sucker for Shakespeare references.

Though not a perfect read, I thoroughly delighted in every bit of Dark Companion. This is a good read for those who appreciate literary references and a gothic feel. show less

Hilarious, and I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. Love the literary commentary, love the latina protagonist, love that she's pissed at the loss of her curvy chichis.

I liked the author's writing style - her turn of phrase. However, any time an author creates a character that's competition for the affections of the heroine they run the risk of making the rival a more interesting character. That's what drove me crazy about this book. Ian, the rival, was charming, smart, sexy, and dangerous. A temptation that could maybe be avoided but...he seemed to have really good chemistry with the heroine. The hero, by contrast, seemed like a cold fish throughout the show more book as well as the second book in the series. Ugh! I'd love it if the author made a spin-off series with the Ian character. show less