In Darkness by Nick Lake

Name: Karishma R. Grade: 9

Title & Author: In Darkness by Nick Lake

Impression: Okay

Recommend: No

Favorite part: My favorite part was the ending where Shorty finds out that his sister was dead all the time, but his mother never told him because she wanted him to remain hopeful.

Favorite character: My favorite character was Maeguerite because she is was the one to keep everyone hopeful, during the hardest times.

Summary: The story begins with Shorty being buried under a collapsed hospital. He is visited by a spirit named Toussaint l’Ouverture that takes him to the different periods through Haiti. Throughout the story he tells you about how he got there and what he was trying to do.

In Darkness by Nick Lake

Name: Christine A. Grade: 12

Title & Author: In Darkness by Nick Lake

Recommend: No

Favorite part: I don’t have a favorite part in this book

Favorite character: I didn’t have a favorite character

Summary: Gang member, Shorty, is trapped under a pile of rubble after an earthquake strikes Haiti. We relive Haiti’s past through the view of Touissaint L’Ouverture, a revolutionary that lead a slave uprising nearly 200 years ago. This story is also read through Shorty’s point of view. Dark magic of voodoo and dreams, which is connecting Shorty and Toussaint together, presents itself as Touissaint L’Ouverture remerges into the boy’s body and comes out from the darkness.

Additional feedback: I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. It seemed to drag on and it instantly made me fed up with the story after the first couple of chapters. Although I love history, I hate it when it hinders on and on, which is why I stopped reading the book half way. If you are truly into history and fiction, be my guest and read this book but otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend it.

In Darkness by Nick Lake

Name: Naorin H. Grade: 11
Title & Author:  In Darkness by Nick Lake
Impression? AwfulRecommend? No
Favorite part?   I had no favorite part.
Favorite character? Why?  I had no favorite character.
Small summary:  Shorty gets stuck alive under the rubble from a hospital that collapsed during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. He tells his story of how he got to that point as he dreams of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitian rebel who led the slave revolt 200 years ago.
Additional feedback: This book was so boring that I couldn't finish it, which means it must be incredibly boring because I always make an effort to finish a book no matter how much I dislike it. It was much too slow and just kept going on and on about things rather than moving forward. The Then chapters were especially boring because they were all historical and I'm not a fan of history.

In Darkness by Nick Lake

Name: Natalie   Grade: 11

Title & Author:  In Darkness by Nick Lake Impression: Awful

Recommend: No

Favorite part: The cover was nice...

Favorite character:   None...

Summary: It was as dry as a dessert.

In Darkness by Nick Lake

Name: Joey B.,  Grade:  11

Title & Author :  In Darkness by Nick Lake
Impression: Okay

Recommend: No
Favorite part? The part when he met the guy from the past for the first time
Favorite character? Why? Shorty because he was very outspoken
Summary:  The book is about a haitian boy trapped under the rubble of a hurricane and he dreams of a man from a long time ago
Feedback:  I didn't like the wording and it jumped around too much

In Darkness by Nick Lake

Name: Jake F. Grade: 9

Title & Author: In Darkness by Nick Lake

Impression : Okay/Awful

Recommend: Yes

Favorite part? I did not really have a favorite part because the book was quite dull, but I would have to say that I did enjoy the part when Shorty and Marguerite were traveling with the baby they found because it was somewhat of an adventure. And I really enjoy reading adventures.

Favorite character? Why?  My favorite character was Marguerite. Marguerite, according to Shorty, was a kind person and would be a kind hearted and good girl. It seemed as if she had no evil in her at all; she even took a baby out of the garbage and carried in her arms, with the help of shorty, until someone would help her. Overall Marguerite was an interesting person to read about and I wish she could have been in more of the book......

Summary:

The book takes place in three different times; the past, Shorty's past, and the present. The main character is Shorty, he is a Haitian boy who is trapped in a hospital by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. He tells the tale of Haiti's past in the 18th century how Toussaint l'Ouverturefreed the slaves from the French. And how he ended up in the hospital. Shorty's tale involves gangs, adventure, true life history mixed with voodoo myths, or truths, and mystery. The gangster life had taken away Shorty's father and sister Marguerite and he doesn't stop searching for his sister and gets involved with the gangs and himself, becomes a gangster and befriends the man who killed his dad. Will Shorty ever get out of the hospital alive? Read to find out.

Additional comments:

When I first started reading this book I was interested to read it. All the summaries and reviews that I read prior were all pointing this book in a positive direction. It even won the 2013 Printz award. Despite all the positive backing this book had, I was very disappointed to find that it was a dull and slow moving story that was confusing to understand. A note that I must make before I go and trash it is that a friend explained some parts of the book, and my interest seemed to perk up again. She said she listened to it and thought it was fantastic, I don't know for sure if I was reading it wrong or the author just wrote in a dull way, but I was not interested while reading. However, if I ever get the chance, I think this book deserves on more try. :)

In Darkness by Nick Lake

Name: Hannah C. Grade: 9

Title & Author: In Darkness by Nick Lake

What was your impression of the book?: Awful

Recommend ? No

Favorite part? I don't have a favorite part because I gave up reading it after the first 40 pages. In my opinion, the book was dry and its style just didn't pique my interest or grab my attention.

Favorite character? Why? Like I said, I didn't finish the book but I did like Shorty's twin, Marguerite. A person who can find hope in the midst of poverty and violence is an automatic favorite of mine.

Summary:

Shorty is trapped under the ruins of a hospital destroyed by the 2010 earthquake. As he struggles to survive, his story begins to intertwine with that of a slave from the past named Toussaint. Toussaint's spirit sort of appears to Shorty and helps keep him alive long enough until help can get through the rubble.