Innocent Darkness

Gr 10 Up—This steampunk fantasy opens with 16-year-old Annabelle being pursued by evil Queen Tiana's faery huntsman Kevighn in 1895. She drowns herself rather than serve as a blood sacrifice to perpetuate the Otherworld's magic. Fast forward to 1901 Los Angeles, where 16-year-old Magnolia Braddock and her friend Steven "V" Darrow test drive and crash her missing father's flying Pixymobile, resulting in Noli's being sent to a cruel boarding school. A wish uttered one Midsummer night transports her to the Otherworld, where Kevighn tries to lure her into being Annabelle's replacement once he recognizes that she has the "Spark." V and his brother, who are actually exiles from the Otherworld who rejected their mother, Queen Tiana, and her insatiable lust for power, come to her rescue. Lazear's details of early-20th-century life ground her story in its historical time, even as the tale blends together different genres. Noli is a well-developed protagonist, and her friends Charlotte and "V" and antagonist Kevighn are interesting secondary characters. The novel is filled with fanciful words (e.g., "hoyden," dollymop," "bodger") and sexual episodes and references. Though the story moves at a good pace, it often adds unnecessary complications, and the all's-well-that-end's-well ending is predictable. Unfortunately, the book promises more than it delivers and ends up being little more than an excuse for the sequels it will spawn. Libraries should opt for proven gems such as Cassandra Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series (S & S).—Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, formerly at LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI