Home About Policies Reviews Features

Monday, May 28, 2012

[Review] Dark Territory by J. Gabriel Gates

Title: Dark Territory (The Tracks #1)
Author: J. Gabriel Gates & Charlene Keel
Published: July 1st 2011 by HCI Teens
Genre: YA Fantasy, Paranormal & Romance.
Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads summary:
In the quaint town of Middleburg, an abandoned train yard and old railroad tracks form the dividing line between two rival gangs--the posh, preppie Toppers and the working-class Flatliners. When Raphael, the leader of the Flatliners, falls in love with Aimee, a Topper girl, the rival gangs prepare to do battle.

Emma's thoughts:

I started this book with NO idea what to expect. I mean, it sounds pretty innocent right? Rivalry gangs, cute romance, fights. And it was exactly that! For the beginning at least.

What I really enjoyed was the characters in this book. They were fun and relatable and the boys sounded damn hot! There were a few stereotypical characters, Rick, the bully, Maggie, the bitch, but even so, they were real. It was great that the story was told from all different points of views. It didn't stick with just one or two characters, but it told everyone's stories, even the not so prominent characters. From time to time, adults got their own little parts and it was just a breath of fresh air, reading from such a great range of perspectives. I gotta say though, I love Nass (Ignacio) and Raph! They were so cute (in lack of a better word)! Nass is hilarious and Raph is just drool-worthy! Totally jealous of Aimee right now...

The fighting in this book was awesome. Just plain, awesomeness. I love martial arts. I love watching guys fight. And not just some random punches flying around, but skilled fighting. The description of the action in here was just too good! I felt like I could see it, everything, being played out right in my head! And it's hot boys.♥

So, jump to the halfway point of the book and the creepy supernatural stuff starts to appear. And I mean creepy. I clearly haven't learnt my lesson (from The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer) to not read books like these in the dark! It's not horribly gruesome, but I definitely felt shivers. All the talk about endless black tunnels and strange monsters in the dark really isn't good for my current state of mind...

But this whole concept of time! Time time time! I just, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Time is something that's just always, constantly there. It ticks on and on and we all know we can't, yet still wish to pause, rewind or fast forward. But you know, maybe we don't need to. Anyways, I just want to praise Gates and Keel on this awesome concept of time. I won't spoil it for you, but READ IT. Your mind will be blown.

I am so excited to start the sequel! (Thank you, Netgalley! Review to come soon.) Needless to say, the end left me dying for more. Shit's about to go down in Middleburg...

Rating: 5 stars~ An endless, terrifying yet exciting journey!
First:
 Ignacio Torrez stepped into the Middleburg High School cafeteria at high noon, five minutes before the fists started flying.
Favourite:
 "I'd like to introduce my crouching tiger to her hidden dragon."
Teaser:
 "He looks like a monkey that took ballet lessons."

No comments:

Post a Comment