Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

Ari has been in the foster system since her mother died fourteen years ago and though she is now with a loving (albeit unconventional) family she searches for more information about her mother and father.The newest clue has sent her to privately owned and supernatural New 2, which in the past has been known as New Orleans. It seems that her mother left New Orleans before the hurricanes destroyed the city and she has ties to the elite Novem that now run the city. Taken in by a group of misfits, she becomes close to two: strange and sweet Violet, and gorgeous Sebastian. As she unravels exactly what she is, she discovers that she has found the only place that she truly feels like she belongs is also the only place that can protect her from a destruction from a goddess.

This book does a weird twist on Greek mythology, supernatural, and dystopian themes. It works, you wouldn't think it does, but it all comes together in this rather exotic fantastic way. I found Ari to be ridiculously intriguing, her thought process and experiences are engaging. She is the type of protagonist that I hope we see more of: smart, self-reliant, and capable. She is someone that obviously will be a leader but because of her age is coming into her own. She isn't a Mary-Sue, but she also isn't Wonder Woman. She is a well developed character. I found this quite refreshing.

Spoilers ahead...
Here's the thing, I liked how the different mythologies played out but I also felt that the Greek mythology was completely random. We find out about mid-way through that Ari is the way she is because she has been cursed by Athena and a descendant of the gorgon. What the what? I mean, it was well done but it also seemed a bit random. I am holding onto the hope that perhaps the whole history of Athena will be explained more in-depth in one of the following books.

The other thing that niggled me was the romance, I liked how it played out but it also seemed to spring out of no where (though lets be honest most young adult books are like this and I should really get over it). It seems that Ari falls for Sebastion because of his red lips and then never looks back. Not that Sebastion is your typical moody swooping in to save the damsel in distress hero, but I wish there had been a little bit more build up.

Other than these two little hiccups I truly enjoyed this book. It was extremely atmospheric. Kelly Keaton does a magnificent job creating a setting and dropping you in. I could feel the humidity, taste the food, and feel the Mardi Gras energy. Awesome. It really lent itself to the whole mythology theme she was going with and also the secondary characters she had developed. They had memorable personalities and none of them really felt like the fell into a stereotype. This was a strong start to a series.

The sequel A Beautiful Evil came out Feb. 21.