Review: Five Out of the Dark (Five #1) by Holli Anderson

Title: Five Out of the Dark

Author: Holli Anderson
Series: Five
Genre: paranormal, fantasy, YA, MG
Publisher: Quriosity Quills
Publication date: August 201th 2013
Pages: 250 (paperback)
Source: received from publisher





Five teenagers who've recently discovered they have magical powers and are living in the Seattle underground feel it's their responsibility to protect unsusepcting humans from otherwordly foes. Things are going well until Johnathan, their unofficial leader and the boy sixteen year old Paige is in love with, is bitten by a changeling - the venomous saliva causing him to metamorphose into a ravening beast with each full moon. Paige vows that, no matter the cost, she will find a way to cure Johnathan of the evil that has embedded istself in his soul.
Johnathan's monthly transformations and dialy personilty roller coaster isnet the only problem they have to deal with. The Five are also gearing up to face their toughest and most dangerous enemy yet - a powerful and ruthless Warlock who will go to any means, including high school, to build his Dark Army.

- Goodreads -

When Paige discovered her powers she didn’t know what was happening to her. To be safe she had to run away, when she meets Jonathan here world gets even crazier. Like her Jonathan has powers of his own. Bit by bit they discover the truth behind their powers together with three other magicians their age.

I loved the setup of this book, Five out of the Dark was set in Seattle. Not something special you would think and you are right. But the characters lived in the underground, I didn’t know Seattle had houses and roads under the newer ones. So that was an interesting fact.

The characters were all likeable and the story was believable even with all the paranormal aspects that were interwoven with the story. The bond that develops between the different characters is interesting to see. Paige was an interesting character, I had a hard time connecting with her. She was a bit possessive over Jonathan and she could be quite bossy. But by the end of the book we could finally she her character grow. Maybe it would have been better if there was a dual point of view, and not only Paige’s. After all they are the Five so why not give them an equal voice?

The writing was rather fast paced, at times I felt it was all a bit rushed. When we were halfway through the book the pace finally slowed down a bit. I was glad since I could finally experience it a bit better. There were many twists and turns in the plotline and because there were two major plotlines the book kept your attention.

The book felt to me like a mix between Middle Grade and Young Adult. The darker aspects might have been too heavy for middle graders, but it was also a bit too light for young adult readers. Anyway this book was enjoyable and I’m looking forward to read the second book in this series.

El