House of the Rising Sun - Muse

Darkness Becomes Her
God & Monsters, Book 1

Author: Kelly Keaton
Pages: 273
Publisher: Simon Pulse (read through Pulse It)

Brief Summary:
Ari has a curse, one that might not seem so bad at first glance. Her hair is long and an incredibly pale blonde color; it can't be cut. Her eyes are aquamarine. Her looks attract a lot of unfortunate attention. Thankfully, her latest foster parents are bounty hunters and have taught her how to defend herself. Ari decides to go looking for information about her mother and her past. When she discovers that her mother committed suicide in a mental hospital shortly after giving birth, Ari is shocked. She is even more distressed to learn that every woman in her family had a baby and then died, often through suicide, by the age of 21. Turns out her curse is more powerful and awful than she new. To find out the truth about herself, Ari will have to journey into New 2 (New Orleans) and confront all sorts of crazy creatures.

Review:
Darkness Becomes Her was a pretty good read. The story was pretty fast-paced and held my attention. Ari is a powerful heroine, which is always a good sign. Seriously, she kicks way more butt than anyone else in the story, especially when it comes to close-range fighting. Ari is a pretty sympathetic character for the most part, although there was one chapter where she went to a vampire party that made me a bit irritated with her.

The story building was a little weaker. Taken in sections it's pretty cool, but, all in one book, it didn't really work for me. First of all, there is New 2. There was a series of devastating hurricanes that effed up New Orleans. Afterwards, the government abandoned the city as too costly to restore, so a group of nine wealthy families (The Novem) purchased the city. They fixed up some of the city and made it a safe haven for special folks, because the Novem consist of three witch families, three vampire families and three shifter families. Paranormal: check.

Then, as you read on about the curse and everything, you learn that there is another facet to the plot. Greek gods and other figures from mythology are totally running around and doing awful things. Definitely important to remember that Athena is not just the Goddess of Wisdom, but also the Goddess of War (which I always thought was a bit of a stupid combination, although wisdom is good for strategy). Mythology: check.

So basically, this story has every possible magical/paranormal/powerful being possible. While all cool, the combination really just didn't work for me. I think the story would have been a lot stronger with either just the first section or just the second. Overall, a fun, if a bit silly, teen read. A second book is in the works, judging from the ending of this one, and I do intend to give it a shot.

"There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
Well it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know, I'm one"