BOOK REVIEW: Pretty Dark Sacrifice by Heather L. Reid

Heather L. Reid knows the importance of friendship. As a world traveler and native to both Great Britain and America, she experienced the pang of losing touch more than once in her lifetime. As she has gotten older and travels more, her group of supportive and unwavering friends in the wake of many forwarded addresses has grown tight.

She explains how her real bunch of friends seeped into her novels:

"My character Teresa (Reese) is named after my best friend from college. And yes, that’s her nickname too. We now live a thousand miles apart, but if one of us needed anything, we would drop everything to be there. I will say that though Reese is named after my friend Teresa, they are not the same. Reese in the book is a combination of several of my close friends; she is her own person and the perfect balance to Quinn. I’ve also had a lot of guy friends throughout my life. As a lover of video games, Star Wars, and Dungeons and Dragons, sometimes the girls didn’t always know how to relate to me. Besides, being ‘just one of the boys’ when I was a teenager gave me a unique insight into the mind of boys. Marcus and Aaron both have traits from some of my best guy friends. Today, most of my close friends are other writers. We understand each other in a way that non-writers don’t. We hold each other up, encourage one another, celebrate and push each other to be better. I don’t know what I would do without them." (x)

• TITLE: Pretty Dark Sacrifice
• AUTHOR(S): Heather L. Reid
• SERIES: Pretty Dark Nothing #2
• PUB INFO: July 28, 2015
• ACQUIRED HOW? ARC 
• BOOK RATING: Cherry Pie

Pretty Dark Sacrifice doesn't have the raw vulnerability like Pretty Dark Nothing had, however, Quinn is no less likable or open to the pain of loss. While the first book in the series felt more frantic, more frayed with fear and panic and paranoia -- in Pretty Dark Sacrifice -- we see the edginess of anxiety and rage as Quinn struggles to come to terms with Aaron being gone and her friends' anger over their desire for normalcy in the wake of their loss. What they forget though, and later realize since they never truly abandon Quinn is that the loss they feel is even keener, sharper to the girl, who is alive because of Aaron's sacrifice. Quinn develops powers, harnesses them and is intent on getting Aaron back. Now she just has to find a way to him.


QUOTE ME: While Pretty Dark Sacrifice does suffer a bit from the 2nd book syndrome, and has been a long time coming, so that many fans will need to reread Pretty Dark Nothing; it fits nicely into the timeline and easily draws readers back into Quinn's nightmarish existence. As you accept the new reality that Quinn must fit her life into, the pacing, the anxiety and the anger at her plight feels just as in the now as it was in Pretty Dark Nothing, which I personally think is one of the best things about the horror in these books. Excellent pacing and plotting with a romance to die for, as a in-betweener book, since there will be more... Pretty Dark Sacrifice couldn't be a better choice for an eerie, demonic love story where the angels aren't always looking out for you. A wonderful twist on guardian angels, demons in the night and pandora's box. 

SYNOPSIS:

It’s been five weeks, two days, and eight hours since the demons forced Quinn to throw herself into the raging river, since Aaron sacrificed himself to save her, since his body disappeared without a trace.

Everyone wants Quinn to move on, but she can’t, not after a spirit appears to her at Aaron's memorial, convincing her he’s still alive. When a mysterious box materializes on the very spot Aaron disappeared, Quinn finds she’s at the center of an ancient prophesy of betrayal, revenge, and sacrifice that takes her to the depths of the underworld to face Lilith—Adam’s first wife. 

If Quinn can stop Lilith from unleashing the demon horde Eve, trapped inside the box during the Battle of Eden millennia ago, she will save the human realm and free Aaron from an eternity in torment. 

All it will cost is her blood.

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