Review: Dark Life by Kat Falls

Title: Dark Life
Author: Kat Falls
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Publishing Date: May 1st 2010
Pages: 304
Genre: Young Adult, Post Apocalyptic Dystopian
Series: Dark Life #1
Source: Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:

 Dive deep into the vivid underwater world of Dark Life!

The oceans rose, swallowing the lowlands. Earthquakes shattered the continents, toppling entire regions into the rising water. Now, humans live packed into stack cities. The only ones with any space of their own are those who live on the ocean floor: the Dark Life.


Ty has spent his whole life living deep undersea. When outlaws attack his homestead, he finds himself in a fight to save the only home he has ever known. Joined by Gemma, a girl from Topside, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and discovers some dark secrets to Dark Life. Secrets that threaten to destroy everything.


Review: 

When I first found this book at the library I thought it looked very interesting, another dystopian with a very different setting. Kat Falls did an excellent job at building the world where Dark Life takes place. Everything in the setting of the book screamed careful thought and extreme creativity. Most of society live in stacked apartments above sea level, the homes are cramped with many family members living squished together. The other part of society live under the sea. This started out as an experiment, trying to find more room for people to live. They author created such an amazing place in the ocean. The descriptions were vivid and unique. I was able to see the world clearly and I could imagine what it was like to live on the ocean floor, even though it feels a little creepy to me.


The story is about one girl from above, Gemma, and a boy from the ocean, Ty, Gemma has come below looking for her brother, the only family she has and Ty is living and working so that he can one day own his own piece of land underwater. They soon meet an have to join forces when they discover that Gemma’s missing brother the outlaws that are threatening the Ty’s homestead could be linked.


I really liked the characters Gemma and Ty. There was enough character building for me to like the characters but not enough for me to feel apart of their lives. Gemma stands out to me more. She is brave and loyal. She has never been in the ocean before and instead of the idea causing her to fear the journey, she embraces everything she finds. She is not afraid to walk right into the hands of danger either, not when it could lead her to brother. Ty fears nothing about the ocean. He has lived there his entire life. He is the first born under water and plans to live his life there. Ty is full of secrets and a little closed off.


The story was good. Full of mystery and adventure, some things were predictable but I found myself surprised at other times. I had a little bit of a hard time getting into the story at first, it was a little slow, but by the end I was really into the book. I will continue the series to see how it all plays out.


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