A Fractured Light

Gr 9 Up—After the explosive ending of A Beautiful Dark (HarperCollins, 2011), Skye wakes up to find herself fully healed from Devin's betrayal and assassination attempt. Now aware that she is descended from angels on rival sides of a holy war, she must decide whom she can trust and on which side she will fight. Though she pledges herself to Asher and the Rebels, she finds herself continuously questioning her own balance of powers and her intuition that Devin can be redeemed. As she learns more from her guardian about her parents' decision to fight and where her own human friends may fit into her life, Skye is forced to make some very tough choices. Her love may be strong, but her determination to find her true path will turn out to be even more powerful. While some readers might fear that this novel seems to have the most overdone tropes of the genre-a love triangle and a main character unsure of herself and led by others-those who stick with the story will be rewarded. Davies pushes through and delivers a main character who defies expectations and chooses her own path, refusing those blatantly offered. She neither neglects her human life nor allows herself to be blindly led into a new world by an amazingly good-looking boy. Readers will once again be left breathlessly waiting to see how Skye tackles the challenges set before her, but will find themselves confident that she will find a way to save the day-and herself.—Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT