Dark Storm by Sarah Singleton

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 352pgs

The Story

Ellie is staying with her maternal grandparents for the summer, while her recently bereaved dad takes off on holiday with his new girlfriend. Upset by his apparent callousness, missing her mother, and jealous for her dad's attention, she begins to spiral into depression.

Her grandparents suggest she joins a local theatre group, to meet people her own age and get away from the dark thoughts that threaten to engulf her. But then she gets roped into a seance at the theatre, and is the only one who actually sees a real ghost.

Now a spirit is contacting her from beyond the grave - and as the dead boy's story unfolds, Ellie finds herself falling in love with him. But if she solves his mystery and helps release his soul, will he be lost to her forever?

The Review

This is the first book I've read of Sarah Singleton's and on a whole I thought her next book DARK STORM was a very enjoyable read for me. With a love of ghost stories, this book was already appealing to me before even opening the book and with a setting of a small sea side town in England, there's this somewhat fantastic dark and eerie vibe about this book that I loved so, so much, and I couldn't wait to fly through the pages. But with that said, there was still a few problems I'd encountered.

Initially the beginning of the book was the hardest part to get through. It was slowly-paced - which isn't necessarily a bad thing - and there was the main character who was straightaway moping around for all good reason mind you (but I still don't like too much moping for a character). But despite those small things and while the storyline eventually picks up the pace and you would soon learn about the mysteries the main character is trying to discover about, there was still another problem I couldn't seem to forget nor ignore in the back of my head . . . that being the characters. The characters were easily likeable, especially when it came to the characters Ellie and Alex, but the major character I didn't like whom I thought I would like was Henry. Okay, so I understand Henry is your ghost in this particular story and he was definitely intriguing like all ghosts are of the past, but I just couldn't understand the connection lying between the main character, Ellie, and Henry. Their relationship seemed unhealthy and was uncalled for through my eyes, and right from the beginning of their first meeting I'd already knew their relationship wasn't going to work out in the end . . . so that was the only real downer for me. But as for Ellie and Alex . . . they were likeable enough to make me continue on with this book because it does it better.

There isn't a fair lot I can say about this book without giveaway spoilers, except that overall this book was an entertaining read and a delightful little ghost story that will certainly appeal to a lot of readers longing for a quick book. DARK STORM as far as I know is a standalone novel and towards the end of it it quickly delivers an ending that ties up all loose ends, and I would definitely recommend giving it a go when you get the chance to because it's something great to read for a one sitting read!

The Rating

3/5 stars