Eternal Darkness - J.F. Johns

The world is divided between humans and cyborgs.

Scarlet Lock is neither.

She is a soldier created to kill on command. But her memory has been erased and when she awakens in a government facility she soon discovers that this new world is a dangerous place, full of government secrets and cruel experiments performed in the name of progress.

With the help of a group of cyborgs, Scarlet will fight to uncover the truth and transform the future of the new world she now lives in.

Blurb taken from Netgalley. 

*

I was really intrigued by this story, so was excited to start reading it. The blurb reminded me a lot of Cinder from the Lunar Chronicles series which I absolutely loved, and I was hoping this would be the same. 

And I did think the fictional world of Eternal Darkness was intriguing. There were a lot of questions I was looking forward to having answered, and the characters became more interesting. However, it was a really slow burn and I found it really hard work for quite a long time. It wasn't until the final quarter of the book that I really felt invested in the story, and be then it was kind of too little, too late. 

It's a shame, but I think a lot of other people would enjoy it a lot more than me.

Rating: ✫✫✫

The Story

The world os cyborgs and humans was really fascinating, but we don't get to find out enough about the world to really keep us interested. We're fed information in dribs and drabs which, although maybe easier for some readers to really get into the plot, I find quite dull. I like to know a lot about the world I'm entering, and having finished the book, I still don't feel like I had enough detail about that.

The characters were the same. I thought Scarlet was an intriguing character, if annoying at times. Eric, as well, added some much needed personality to quite a one-dimensional cast of characters. However, all of the interactions between them fell flat, which was a real shame. 

If I'm honest, I just wanted more! More detail of this unique world, more to the plot, and more attention given to the development of the characters. The writing was far too simplistic for my liking, and it fell flat for a lot of the book.

The Verdict

It's a real shame, because I think there are some really good qualities in this book, but I can't see me picking up the next in the series. Although by the end of the book I was enjoying it, it was far too much of a slow burn. I expected more action, and a faster pace, and it just felt like it stayed at the surface level. A nice book, but I wanted more.