Pretty Dark Nothing (Pretty Dark Nothing)

by Heather L Reid

• ISBN10: 0985327812
• ISBN13: 9780985327811
• Publish Date: 23 July 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Month9books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 230
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I find dreams and nightmares to be completely fascinating, so I knew I had to read Pretty Dark Nothing, especially since it has a paranormal twist. Quinn has been plagued with extreme nightmares ever since her dad walked out on her two years prior. Now the demons from her dreams are making appearances in her waking life. Is she just hallucinating from lack of sleep or are the creatures from her nightmares real? What could have been a creepy paranormal tale, turned out to be a teenage dramafest as Quinn’s relationships with her ex, Jeff, and new boy, Adam, take center stage. I was very disappointed.

Pretty Dark Nothing alternates between Quinn and Aaron’s POV. For most of her chapters, Quinn is pining after her ex-boyfriend and shooting death glares at his new girl-friend. She’s also struggling to keep it together in public now that she has demons following her and whispering rude remarks in her ear. Aaron is the new boy at school who was brought back from the dead. Now he’s telepathic and can enter Quinn’s nightmares. Unfortunately, this ability isn’t explored much, since he and Quinn spend more time fighting with each other than anything else.

They are the most dramatic non-couple ever! They argue like they’re dating, even though they’re not, and Aaron points this out several times, but it still continues! The most annoying part is that most of their bickering could have been avoided with one simple conversation: “My phone malfunctioned and I didn’t mean to hang up on you!” No need to mention that demons were the ones causing the phone problem, but still. Communication is important.

As for the plot, it felt better suited to a YA Contemporary novel than a Paranormal. The dating drama dominated for most of the book and Quinn’s demons were just in the background. In the beginning, it was interesting watching Quinn fall apart from getting no sleep and trying to keep the demon voices out of her head. I was hoping that Aaron would swoop and help her battle her demons, both literal and figurative, but that didn’t happen. Then all of that dropped off when her cheating ex came crawling back causing even more over-the-top high school drama. I do think it all could have been very interesting as a contemporary novel about mental illness and relationships, rather than demons and….whatever Pretty Dark Nothing was about.

The last 10 percent of Pretty Dark Nothing was the biggest mess of all. The paranormal aspect final returned, but the best way to describe it is WTF?! It was beyond weird and confusing. I have no idea what just happened. People die, angels appear, deals are made, and the book just ends. It’s not really a cliffhanger, more like the book just ends mid-scene. I hate that.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[bookishzelda]

I really liked the characters in Pretty Dark Nothing. Our main leads Aaron and Quinn are both very strong and likeable. Reese and Marcus were hilarious and definitely supportive friends.

Quinn has the perfect life, good grades, captain of the cheer squad and perfect boyfriend. Things start crumbling rapidly starting with her break up with Jeff. I don’t even know how to describe what Quinn goes through. I felt myself addicted to reading it like a drug hoping to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Quinn’s life is completely spinning out of control and she does actually try to fight off the demons whispering in her ear. She is sleep deprived, popping pills and drinking red bull like it’s her best friend. At first the demons stay a little more at bay, only attacking her in her dreams but then they become more aggressive and keep pushing and picking away at her to make her break.

Aaron is our knight in shining armor. I really liked his character and sometimes I would get frustrated that he wouldn’t try to save Quinn but it was understandable. She would treat him like crap and then find herself in a crazy situation, in the beginning Aaron would save her without thinking about it but then as the book goes on he gets less and less willing to just jump in. He has the brooding musician thing going for him but he just comes off as an all-around good guy. Aaron has a near death experience that causes him to lose all his memories, in place of them he ends up with some powers. Not like he is shooting lightning bolts or anything but he is able to reach into people’s minds, send them kind of calming vibes and things. With Quinn the connection seems to run even deeper this is part of why he can’t seem to stay away from her.

Marcus and Reese would often steal the show. They would sometimes say really outrageous things that would take the edge off the craziness. There were times that I would feel like I was losing my mind along with Quinn and they were kind of the grounding characters. Like oh ya there are normal people who don’t have demons following them around.
There is sort of a love triangle in the sense that Quinn is still hung up on her ex when she meets Aaron. She can’t deny she is drawn to him but she has this long history with Jeff and he broke her heart in a way with no closure. When things come to light about the breakup I’m not surprised, I suspected something along the lines. It’s kind of interesting though how it comes out.

I’m not sure how I felt about the ending. I’m still up in the air about it. It made sense, it explained some things but there is a part that made my heart do a little flip. The song “Watched you Fall” by Meredith Brooks popped up in my brain as the book was reaching its end point.

The book moved fast and I never felt like it got dull. There are some very cute moments with Aaron and Quinn and I loved that it was from both of their perspectives. The demons were so creepy, I really wanted to crawl inside the book and help Quinn in some way. If you are looking for something on the darker side I would definitely recommend it.