Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Pages: 329

Intended Audience: Mature Teens

Genre: science fiction / dystopian / horror

Notes for Parents: Contains graphic violence and scenes of horror. Not for sensitive readers!

The Back Cover

An ancient evil has been unleashed, and it’s turning friends into murderous strangers. For those who survive the brutal earthquakes and the first wave of the killing, the world is a different, deadlier place. Society has fallen apart. No one can be trusted. For four teens struggling to stay alive in a world determined to kill them, it means all they have is one another—if they can trust one another—and the hope that their future holds something greater than mere survival.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a series.

What’s good?

This is a brutal and graphic story of survival in what quickly becomes a darkly violent and horror-filled world. The desperate plight of a group of teens fighting to stay alive is told with a frantic pace with practically no down time. Around every corner, evil lurks and letting your guard down for even a moment can mean a horrible, torturous death. Man’s capacity for evil is exploited with an explosive force as man’s will to survive is equally tested. There’s a deeper philosophy at work that carries great potential if it can be sustained throughout the series and will have readers wondering what they would do in the same situation.

Best Part: The bust reference from Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret on page 69.

What isn’t good?

Basically this is a sophisticated end-of-world zombie story. While the bad guys are more refined and calculating than your average zombie, they’re just as robotic and deadly. I didn’t enjoy jumping between five different character points of view—it was disorienting—and the mysterious person called “Nothing” was…weird. Hopefully that will make more sense in subsequent books in the series.

Worst part: “Take it back!” I thought this was a phrase reserved for 8-year-olds. Lame!

Recommendation þþþþo

The part of me that was hooked by the desperate pace and heart-pounding action wants to give this book a five. The part that values originality, flow, and character development would give this a three. So, four checkmarks it is! This isn’t quality literature, but it’s a great story. Recommended.

Roberts, Jeyn. Dark Inside. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.