Draw the Dark

Jul 13, 2011 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: why-yes-i-ya

this is one of those three-star situations where i am giving it three stars for me, karen, and not for the larger world. i liked her writing a lot, and i liked the premise, but i have been around the literary block a few too many times for this story to own me. i am certain its audience; those far younger and less handled by literature, would like it more.

it would have made a fantastic amazing stories episode. (you see how old i am??)

without giving too much away, i think that some of the element...more this is one of those three-star situations where i am giving it three stars for me, karen, and not for the larger world. i liked her writing a lot, and i liked the premise, but i have been around the literary block a few too many times for this story to own me. i am certain its audience; those far younger and less handled by literature, would like it more.

it would have made a fantastic amazing stories episode. (you see how old i am??)

without giving too much away, i think that some of the elements could have been incorporated better into the narrative as a whole; it didn't feel as cohesive to me as i would have liked. but that's also what makes it entertaining, in a way, is the ambition of bringing together nazis in america, a little magic, a sort of dark narnia (or should i reference the fantastic movie the gate to further show my rings), and this family mystery all together in one ball. it's not perfect, no, but at least it's a little different. and again, a good "boy-book" for those reluctant readers; it might be a little challenging, at first, because she doesn't really lead up to the story so much as throw the reader into the story, but once it gets going, it was a good read.

i only read this because i saw all the fuss that her forthcoming book ashes was getting. i know w.d. had some complaints about it, but m.m. loved it, and maybe i will fall in between them. it sounds good to me, although i have come to trust w.d... so maybe you people will trust me. there are parts of this book that are a little predictable, but i liked so many of her descriptive passages, that i am eager to read more from her. so: three stars - solid, with promise, and more of a book that is perfect for its intended audience, but maybe not for the grown-ups, this time. let the kids have their own table for once, right?

and maybe that's it, maybe that's the problem. after the success in the adult market of books like the hunger games and, less deservedly, twilight, YA books are no longer being written for a teen audience, not really. everyone is trying to "write older" to attract the grown-ups, doubling their sales, but coyly staying in that YA market. i know this isn't news to anyone else, but i am still relatively new to the YA world, enough so that i am frequently still impressed and surprised and say things to myself like "this doesn't read like YA..." but you know what?? this one does. and more freaking power to it. come on, young'uns, this one is for you. and by that i don't mean that it is flawed or childish because it isn't, but i think it would be more fun for people who haven't already read every other book that exists. like i have.

by the way, i have a killer migraine right now, so i am not entirely sure i am making sense or being interesting at all. i am going to start a new subset of reviewing: MBRs. please contribute, internet...let's get this meme started...(less)

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Jan 14, 2012 Donna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-bitten, squeemers

Reading this book was kind of like riding the TGV train in Europe. It starts off kind of slow, just chugging along, until it gets it footing in wide open fields and starts barreling at its full potential: ramming down the countryside at 200 miles per hour and you're sitting there wobbling with the carriage enjoying the ride but somewhere deep in the back of your mind you're hoping the brakes are good.

This was such an amazing book. The more I read, the more I wanted to devour. I didn't want my lu...more Reading this book was kind of like riding the TGV train in Europe. It starts off kind of slow, just chugging along, until it gets it footing in wide open fields and starts barreling at its full potential: ramming down the countryside at 200 miles per hour and you're sitting there wobbling with the carriage enjoying the ride but somewhere deep in the back of your mind you're hoping the brakes are good.

This was such an amazing book. The more I read, the more I wanted to devour. I didn't want my lunch break to end because I wanted to keep reading. Would they notice if I went I few minutes longer? I just swallowed it up once I got over the beginning. It did meander a bit and it was a little slow to start. I felt getting into Christian's head could have been trimmed some because I was starting to feel, after a while, like saying 'get on with it.' Oh get on it did.

When I first met Christian I initially thought he was a little slow, mentally. Just the way he talked and the way he was portrayed as acting he just didn't seem like he was "all there," is I guess what you would want to say. But by the end not only was I totally over that notion, I thought Christian was actually a brilliant kid with a power that he didn't know how to wield so he functioned around it, not knowing how to control it. I loved him and felt for him and I was right there behind his eyes with him every step of the way.

I want to say this book is historical fiction but, technically, it doesn't fit the bill. But Christian relives the memories of people so much and I learned so much history about Winter through Christian's eyes that it's hard not to call it historical fiction. It also has fantastical elements too. It doesn't start out that way but once we start seeing that Christian isn't just strange but actually has the power to see people's thoughts, draw them out and tap into their darkest fears to actually destroy them, the fantasy starts coming out.

What I liked most about that, though, was that it's fantastical grounded in the realistic. We don't really know what's going on with Christian but we're in his head experiencing everything he is. But all of his visions are rooted in reality. He's not seeing Fey or ghosts but genuine memories from the past that help to solve a decades old murder and vindicate lives lost, both literally and figuratively.

The history that Bick draws on, Nazi prison camps in the US, just spurned my want to find out more. Really? Nazis here? I knew that our own government rounded up Japanese when we entered the war and relocated them to camps but we had POW camps? A quick Google search uncovered an extensive list of all the POW camps in the US just after World War II. One was about 20 minutes from where I live now, at the local airport. Reading, even fiction, enlightens us to historical facts sometimes. But in the midst of all of this, the strife that this caused this town of Winter (whether the actual events were real or not) is horrifying. A town populated by Jews are losing their jobs to Nazi prison workers. When they tried to unionize, the POWs took their jobs then too. Horrible.

The ending was bittersweet. It wraps up the overall story and the mystery aspect of the plot but at the same time shatters something so sweet and innocent it actually took my breath away. It doesn't end on a fluffy, happy note, but an empowering one. Christian has grown up. He's not seen as some weirdo that likes to draw and keeps to himself all the time. He saves people. He solves murders. And he still draws. He tried his hardest to break out of his own shell and let people in. But even at the end, whether he survives his own accomplishments is in question.

The writing is glorious, compelling, and will suck you right into your own sideways place. Maybe you'll want to crawl out and back into the light. Maybe you won't. But you'll go in there and meet Christian. You'll curl up in his brain and ride his life with him. You'll feel his pain, his fear, his anger, his frustration. And when the last page turns, you'll be feigning for more.

If you want a book that'll tug at your brain and your heart all at once, read Draw the Dark. It's a gripping historical fiction set during the present day and told through the eyes of a teenager with a miraculous and terrifying gift. Once you hop aboard the train, it'll take you away and while you might be afraid of the speed, you won't want to get off. You'll never want it to end.(less)

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Mar 27, 2012 Carmen Yeung rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-2012-advisory

This was the book i did my bookreview on, it was in a genre i said i really liked when i was in freshman year. I love horror, because i can think while reading and try to solve the mystery before the book tells me about it. Instead this book was filled with excitment and history. When i read the blurb, it said it was containing things from WWII. I didnt pick up much from the WWII, but it does connect with his drawings of dead people and histories that arent yet to be discovered but was dug up b...more This was the book i did my bookreview on, it was in a genre i said i really liked when i was in freshman year. I love horror, because i can think while reading and try to solve the mystery before the book tells me about it. Instead this book was filled with excitment and history. When i read the blurb, it said it was containing things from WWII. I didnt pick up much from the WWII, but it does connect with his drawings of dead people and histories that arent yet to be discovered but was dug up by the protagonist Christian. When Christian was younger, both of his parents had past away. He had this really pretty eyes just like his mothers, that is what kept him living and gave him a motivation. He had this really great gifted talent, he can draw things really realisticly. But too realistic that they actually was real, it is either the history he picked up from areas from the past or the mind of someone else's thoughts or even the sideway place where he believed his parents are trapped in. Even though he didnt find where the sideway place is, he was able to pick up information of us interaction with WWII, which i didn't understand as much, because i am not as fast in picking up facts from history :(. But it was really scary when i read the blurb for the first time, whatever he draws they tend to die. that is really scary. I really think it would be a bit more interesting if they actually describe more about the wolf eyes, because it really caught my attention and it was really scary how the eyes were evil and looking right through the souls of people. Over all i loved the book and the spooky-ness.
I think i sound really repetitive, but this book is really good, because it matched my style of reading. I feel sad, because in the library there arent much books with the tag "mystery" on it so i guess i will have to live reading books that are other genre :). If i were Christian, i would freak out if i wake up near those drawings that i obviously didnt know i drew over night and i dont think i would manage to live without friends, because thats is really depressing, having no one to talk to other than your own uncle that also is afraid of you. I really enjoy reading inside his mind or his thoughts, because they are really interesting and i can see how Christian is actually scared of himself, but never showed it emotionally. This book taught me to value my friends and family, because they can be gone anytime. Treasure your surrounding before its forever lost. (less)

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Mar 06, 2012 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, ya

Christian is a great protagonist, someone who can keep a reader's sympathy while he flails around out of his depth. He's trying to prove himself like any normal teen, he has a hard time fitting in, but if he could just learn how to use his abilities, he could be the most powerful of any of them. He's a genius who hasn't come into his own, but somehow his genius makes him more relatable. Maybe it's because he's very aware of how "weird" he appears to everyone else, or maybe I just have a fondness...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Dark Faerie Tales rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-by-macie

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick and Dirty: The mysteries that surround Winter, Wisconsin and Christian Cage make this an interesting and surprising read.

Opening Sentence: So. Everything I need to leave is here: My brushes. Paint. The wall.

The Review:

Christian Cage wakes up one morning after an intense dream about a kid pleading with his father with red paint covered hands, but no notion of how it got there. After being accused of vandalizing a barn with Nazi imagery despite not remembe...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Pamela Kramer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick is an unusual book for young adults. It's a combination of historical fiction, psychological fiction, fantasy and mystery all rolled up into one very interesting read.

The protagonist, Christian, is a different kind of kid. He has few friends, the townspeople think he's odd, and -- worst of all -- he thinks he's almost a kind of monster. Because he thinks he caused the death of his second grade teacher and his aunt (and perhaps he did), he suffers emotionally.

Christi...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

I first heard of this book from a tweet extolling the awesomeness of an "Ilsa Bick" twist ending. Being a sucker for such things, I checked out Draw the Dark from the library and read it in an afternoon, eagerly anticipating what the ending might be. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed...

(view spoiler)...more I first heard of this book from a tweet extolling the awesomeness of an "Ilsa Bick" twist ending. Being a sucker for such things, I checked out Draw the Dark from the library and read it in an afternoon, eagerly anticipating what the ending might be. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed...

(view spoiler)[I won't expose too much here, but I will say that I figured out most of the mystery before things were revealed, so nothing was too shocking. I agree with other reviewers that the beginning and end of the book seemed disconnected from the rest. I felt like Bick had the idea for the sideways world, used his parents' disappearance as back story, and then abandoned the idea for the rest of the book. The mystery, with or without the fantastical background, would have stood on its own without the "sideways place" rearing its head now and then. The plot moved along nicely until we hit the Halloween party, when we began the "tie up loose ends from earlier in the book" segment, mainly Dekker/Daecher and the sideways place. And I was pissed that Mrs. Schoenburg had to suffer head trauma for the sake of the plot.

I gave the book three stars because of said mystery being interesting, and in bringing to light a part of US history that has been overlooked. I had no idea we brought Nazis here...what happened to them? Did they just get set free?? Also, as someone who works in the medical field, I think Bick did a good job describing the hospital/nursing home, as well as the various disease states that were introduced (Alzheimers, Treacher-Collins, etc.). Her psychiatrist, Dr. Rainier, was the only character for whom I had a hard time suspending my disbelief. Surprising, as the author is a psychiatrist herself. I just didn't buy Helen's triple board-certified, patient-confidentiality-breaking, my-dad-was-an-axe-murderer, 'I'll believe anything Christian tells me' character. In its defense, while a little pandering at times, I liked how the book introduced the topic of religious tolerance.

All in all, I just feel lukewarm towards this story. The seizure/neuroscience/"increased right brain ability after a stroke" aspect of the book was so interesting, I wish she had made that the focus instead of a sort of evil Narnia that had eaten Christian's parents. He could have been a "receptor" without all that trauma/killing people with drawing and I feel that with the author's psych background she could have really expounded on that, and it would have been really original and unique. (hide spoiler)]

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Apr 06, 2011 Sarai rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, suspense, supernatural, mystery

It's taken me a while to write my thoughts on this book. I gave it four stars because by the end things had mostly been explained and wrapped up so that the book made sense to me, but I struggled through the first few chapters kind of wondering what I was reading. Are these real wolves? Werewolves? Or just people being called wolves? A child's nightmare turning a person into a wolf? Those were just my questions about one issue. I had lots of questions about other things.

I did kind of like the ma...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Chibineko rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley

Sometimes first impressions can be misleading. When I first took a look at this book, I have to admit that I passed it over in favor of other flashier titles that were out there in the YA categories on NetGalley. I kept coming back to it though- the idea of the book just sounded interesting. I have to keep reminding myself that sometimes some of the best books can be the most unassuming.

Christian would like to tell you that he's just your average teenager, but that'd be far from the truth. From...more Sometimes first impressions can be misleading. When I first took a look at this book, I have to admit that I passed it over in favor of other flashier titles that were out there in the YA categories on NetGalley. I kept coming back to it though- the idea of the book just sounded interesting. I have to keep reminding myself that sometimes some of the best books can be the most unassuming.

Christian would like to tell you that he's just your average teenager, but that'd be far from the truth. From a young age he's always been thought of as different. One of his first teachers hung herself because of what she saw in one of his drawings. His aunt suffered a horrible car accident after he drew something for her in a fit of anger. His parents mysteriously disappeared, although he doesn't think he had anything to do with that. So it's no wonder that most townsfolk view him as a freak. You see, he can't help but draw & many times his drawings show people an uglier side of themselves they'd rather ignore. When Christian finds himself in trouble for graffiti drawn on a barn belonging to the richest man in town he discovers that he's uncovered something truly ugly- something that the town's been hiding for years. Nazi prison camps, murder, & a door without a doorknob, Christian is about to discover that his peculiar talent might actually help save him rather than hurt him.

Bick manages to write a solidly entertaining book that crosses over several different genres & succeeds at thrilling the audience. Many readers will be surprised to discover that the USA hosted several Nazi prisoner of war camps instead of it being something Bick cooked up for the book. (I've always been aware of other types of internment camps, but not these.) This helps bring a much needed level of realism to the book that makes the more fantastical & supernatural elements of the book that much more effective.

The characters in the book are wonderfully written & many readers will be glad that Christian doesn't spend the majority of the book angsting or being emo about his predicament in life. That frees up a lot of time for him to wonder exactly what is going on with him & give the reader a nice look into his past & current ways of thinking. The only downfall is that the book does take a while to get started & some readers will have to give the book a little for it to establish itself. Once the book gets started the pace of the book picks up very quickly & you'll find yourself frantically reading just to find out what exactly will happen next.

I'll warn the reader- Bick leaves the book open-ended enough to where she could very, VERY easily write a sequel or three if she chose to. (I hope she chooses to.) This book was far better than I could have ever hoped & when I finally reached the last page, it was with a little bit of regret- I really wanted to know what would happen with Christian, his talents, & everyone around him.

(ARC provided by Netgalley) (less)

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Sep 26, 2010 Becky rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Wow. This was a fantastic read. Mysterious and intense and creepy, this YA novel is definitely not for younger readers.

Christian is a boy who is trouble and isolated, ostracised by many in town. But unlike many YA stories, he has the benefit of a loving and very present parental figure in his Uncle Hank. Hank may not always understand what Christian is going through-- it would take a leap of faith that a logical, law and order type like Hank has trouble making. But he always loves Christian and...more Wow. This was a fantastic read. Mysterious and intense and creepy, this YA novel is definitely not for younger readers.

Christian is a boy who is trouble and isolated, ostracised by many in town. But unlike many YA stories, he has the benefit of a loving and very present parental figure in his Uncle Hank. Hank may not always understand what Christian is going through-- it would take a leap of faith that a logical, law and order type like Hank has trouble making. But he always loves Christian and struggles with letting go and allowing him to fight his own battles, like many parents do.

There was a little bit of bait-and-switch in the mystery, however. The cover copy references Christian's parents, who disappeared separately when he was little. But most of the book focuses on an unsolved murder from 1945 and other strange events that occurred at that time, and Christian's frightening, unexplained abilities. The murder and other events are wrapped up through a combination of Christian's talent and the work of a forensics team. The issue of his parents is raised again at the end of the book as Christian steps out into the unknown. It's a satisfying resolution overall, and the mysteries that take up most of the book are very involving. They just aren't the mysteries that the first few chapters suggest.

While not a religious book, religious identity plays a part. How could it not when the history of a Nazi PW camp is discovered, and a whole Jewish community has disappeared? Also, Christian's only friend is a PK. (Preacher's Kid) It was refreshing to see that both faiths are treated respectfully in the story, with no one coming off as a caricature and no one viewpoint presented as The Truth.

There was one other big thing I loved in this novel-- the descriptions of Christian when he is drawing. As a writer I really related to how Bick described that all-consuming place you go when you create. I'm sure that anyone who has a passion, whether it's art or music or writing code or running or a million other things, will recognize it and relate to Christian in those scenes.

I definitely recommend this book. Engrossing and well written, the author pulls a lot of different ideas into a cohesive, entertaining story. A-.

And just to keep everything on the up and up, I received this book as a free digital ARC through NetGalley. No money or other goodies were offered or exchanged for this review. (less)

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Jun 30, 2010 Ian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, historical

I wanted to like this book a lot more, but I had two major gripes with it. But let's start with the good: the story is both an accurate portrayal of the growing pains of an outcast boy, someone who doesn't 'fit' with the mold and actually has odd seizure-like episodes, and an interesting murder mystery from the past, 1946 to be precise, dealing with the relatively unknown history of the US using German POWs as cheap labour during and after WW2.

That said, I still don't know what to make of the p...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Megan Pieterick rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very likable main character interwoven with a creepy, interesting concept. It jumped between a sort of psychological thriller and a more mystery-paranormal sort of story. I find that I really like stories about digging up small town's old histories and uncovering secrets and the likes, and the added bonus of having an artsy, relatable protagonist only added to the effect.
I only wish that this book was longer. I feel like there was a lot going on: the Nazis, the Sideways Place and Christian's...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Tintenelfe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

„Was ich zeichne, wird lebendig. Und manchmal bringe ich damit jemanden um. So wie letzte Nacht.“

Die ersten Sätze des Klappentextes fassen grob die Einleitung des siebzehnjährigen Christian zu seiner Geschichte zusammen. Christians Eltern sind in frühester Kindheit aus seinem Leben verschwunden, seitdem zeichnet er die Augen seiner Mutter, mit der Hoffnung so sehen zu können, was sie sieht und einen Blick auf die andere Seite erhaschen zu können. Und manchmal bekommt er beim Zeichnen, für das er...more „Was ich zeichne, wird lebendig. Und manchmal bringe ich damit jemanden um. So wie letzte Nacht.“

Die ersten Sätze des Klappentextes fassen grob die Einleitung des siebzehnjährigen Christian zu seiner Geschichte zusammen. Christians Eltern sind in frühester Kindheit aus seinem Leben verschwunden, seitdem zeichnet er die Augen seiner Mutter, mit der Hoffnung so sehen zu können, was sie sieht und einen Blick auf die andere Seite erhaschen zu können. Und manchmal bekommt er beim Zeichnen, für das er eine außergewöhnliche Begabung zeigt, auch Visionen der schlimmsten Alpträume seiner Mitmenschen.

Eines Morgens wacht Christian mit Farbresten unter den Fingernägeln auf und entdeckt auf seinem Skizzenblock neue Zeichnungen, an deren Entstehung er sich nicht erinnern kann. Es wird angeklagt, die Scheune des reichen Fabrikbesitzers Eisenmann mit roter Farbe und Hakenkreuzen beschmiert zu haben, kann sich aber an nichts erinnern. Stück für Stück kommt Christian mithilfe seiner Visionen, deren Ursprung ihm zunächst unklar sind, und durch Recherchen im Stadtarchiv einem dunklen Geheimnis auf die Spur.

Ich bin auf dieses Buch aufgrund seines ansprechenden und geheimnisvollen Covers im Buchladen aufmerksam geworden, die Autorin sagte mir bis dahin nichts. Eine reine Zufallsbegegnung, über die ich mich im Nachhinein sehr freue. Die meiner Meinung nach ausdrucksvolle Aufmachung des Covers setzt sich im Buch durch die grau schattierten Kapitelanfänge fort. Meine Tochter fragte, warum die Seiten angekokelt seien, was mich schmunzeln ließ, da ich bisher auf dies Idee noch nicht gekommen war, aber inhaltlich passt es hervorragend.
Das Buch ist vorrangig aus der Sicht Christians geschrieben, in seinen Träumen wird der Leser aber auch in andere Personen versetzt, was einen Reiz des Buches ausmacht. Zu Anfang kam mir die Handlung der Gegenwart sehr konstruiert vor, als Mittel zum Zweck, die Handlung in der Vergangenheit erzählen zu können. Nach einer Weile verlor sich dieser Eindruck jedoch und das Geschehen schlug mich in seinen Bann und ich war begierig mit Christian die Geschehnisse aus früheren Zeiten zu rekonstruieren. Dass hier zeitliche Geschichte mit Übersinnlichem, Mystischem und Horrorelementen vermischt werden, fand ich einerseits überraschend, aber zum Teil auch recht passend. Was mich etwas störte, war die metaphorische Namensgebung, das war mir zu dick aufgetragen, wobei ich schon im Blick habe, dass Ilsa J. Bick eine amerikanische Autorin ist und sich vielleicht nicht unbedingt überlegt hat, wie das deutsche Publikum darauf reagiert.

„Der Zeichner der Finsternis“ erinnert mich im Nachhinein an Antonia Michaelis’ „Wolfsgarten“, ein Jugendroman, der ebenso Mystisches mit Historie verbindet.

@Tintenelfe(less)

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Aug 27, 2010 Melissa (i swim for oceans) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-arcs

Since his parents mysteriously disappeared, Christian Cage has been living with his uncle in the sleepy town of Winter, Wisconsin. He's an outsider, an outcast, and he's labeled the weird kid because his only means for self-expression and comfort is his art. He's begun having vivid dreams though, and he finds that in these dreams, he's a boy named David, and he can slip in and out of time - learning his town has a lot of secrets, and many of them involve the Nazi occupation of Germany. As he sli...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Mandy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Christian Cage isn't a normal seventeen year old. He knows it and the town of Winter knows it. What he can do frightens people. They don't understand him. They shun him. So he is alone, most of the time. Except for the voices...

A small town just wants to forget, but something keeps haunting Christian. Visions of blood, the smell of hay and the cries of a child. What does it mean?

Christian's parents disappeared when he was a little boy. Ever since, he's drawn obsessively: his mother's face...her...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Heidi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

I almost gave up on this about 99 times, but I stuck with it since I really enjoyed two of the author's other books (Ashes and Drowning Instinct). Although it's a fine story and I'm glad I saw it through, I guess it just wasn't for me. Mostly I had a hard time connecting with the main character, Christian (who seemed more like 12 than 17 to me). But if you have an interest in art, or Nazis, or interdimensional travel, or the Midwest - this may be for you!

[Side note: One thing I learned that made...more

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Jan 13, 2012 FasterKillFastPussycat rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 30, 2011 Maureen Hoar rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love it when a book takes me by surprise!!! This book was awesome! I could really relate to the main character and his issues with being the outsider at school. I found his dreams and fears rivetting.
This is a story about a 17 year old boy, Christian, whose parents disappeared from his life at an early age. He lives with his uncle whose wife died when when Christian was 14. One of Christians teachers died. All of these he blames himself for. Christian is an artist. When he gets lost in his pa...more

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Aug 14, 2010 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Christian is a talented artist with some dark shadows in his past. His ability to "draw out" memories from other people onto paper has set him apart as a loner and a freak at school. When the process gets out of his control and he begins slipping into memories from the history of his small Wisconsin town, he has to turn away from his preoccupation with his own past in order to solve a 60-year-old mystery.

This is a great YA read: dark, with a strong historical background and fast-paced, compellin...more

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Aug 06, 2010 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, age-ya, horror, arcs

Pretty much from the moment I first saw this cover I wanted to read this book... and lucky me got the chance via Netgalley (it doesn't come out until October). Somehow the red barn looked really creepy.

Ever since his mom disappeared into the sideways place, Christian has been drawing on his walls, drawing things OUT. People in the small town of Winter, Wisconsin are leery of him since that incident with his first grade teacher... and his Aunt Jean... and now he's being blamed for painting a cryp...more Pretty much from the moment I first saw this cover I wanted to read this book... and lucky me got the chance via Netgalley (it doesn't come out until October). Somehow the red barn looked really creepy.

Ever since his mom disappeared into the sideways place, Christian has been drawing on his walls, drawing things OUT. People in the small town of Winter, Wisconsin are leery of him since that incident with his first grade teacher... and his Aunt Jean... and now he's being blamed for painting a cryptic note on the side of an abandoned barn, which he doesn't remember doing. But knows somehow that he did do.

Now Christian is uncovering a decades-old mystery that the town of Winter wants buried, drawing it out of the darkness. Years ago a man was murdered, but no one wants to talk about it. With flashbacks coming more and more frequently, Christian needs to find out the truth.

I loved the language of this book - it was very visual and I could see everything. The historical details of the murder were very interesting and introduced me to some information I hadn't known previously. The characters were also well done and I particularly enjoyed Christian's relationships with Uncle Hank and Dr. Rainier, although I wished that Dekker had more good in him. This was a creepy story somehow without there being ghosts or much that was paranormal other than Christian's ability to draw out people's pasts (or their nightmares). The play on the word "draw" was cool and unexpected.

I will say that there was one major thing that disappointed me about this story. It begins talking about the sideways place and wanting to find his mother, and I expected a trippy journey to the sideways place, something reminiscent of Stephen King's The Talisman or The Dark Tower. I don't think this story will have a sequel, and I can see why it ended the way it did, but I just wanted that crazy horror show that the sideways place would have been. With the violence and language I'd recommend this for high school age readers and up.(less)

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Jan 02, 2011 Kendra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hmm...this is a really crazy book, and I really liked it. I can't give it 5 stars though because the writing style is a little random and might be hard for some people to get through. The main character, Christian, is a teen boy who lives with his uncle because his mom and dad both disappeared under strange circumstances. Christian is struggling with voices in his head and mysterious images he is compelled to paint or draw while asleep or in sort of waking comas. Yes, it's weird, but it turns ou...more

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Aug 15, 2010 Alisha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, arc-s, fantasy, e-books-i-ve-read

Draw the Dark is a fantasy young adult novel unlike anything I've ever read. No, seriously, the idea behind it was just so unique that I really couldn't help but want to get back to this book immediately. Does it really get any better than a guy (our hero) who can draw your death? Okay, so realistically I'm sure it must suck for the drawee and it definitely must suck to be the drawer since he has no idea what's going on with this power most of the time, but for us as readers, it's really pretty...more Draw the Dark is a fantasy young adult novel unlike anything I've ever read. No, seriously, the idea behind it was just so unique that I really couldn't help but want to get back to this book immediately. Does it really get any better than a guy (our hero) who can draw your death? Okay, so realistically I'm sure it must suck for the drawee and it definitely must suck to be the drawer since he has no idea what's going on with this power most of the time, but for us as readers, it's really pretty awesome.

So, YA Fantasy tends to be a hit or miss with me with, unfortunately for me, more being misses. But maybe it's because Draw the Dark has a male protagonist or because it was just so different, I ended up enjoying it. And man, did I feel for Christian. I would not want to suffer from not even one percent of the guilt he was feeling. The main thing that I loved about Christian was the he wasn't going on thinking "This is my burden to bear and I'm going to bear it alone! Oh woe, how nobody understands me! I'm going to be the hero!". He didn't have that sense of self-importance that I've seen with other male-driven YA novels. When things were getting serious, he accepted help. He wasn't as naive to think that he could do this alone; he knew he couldn't. I loved him for it. He was a team player.

I have always loved awesomely creepy books and boy was Draw the Dark awesomely creepy! I was a bit relieved that I read it during the day since I knew I would've been too creeped out to sleep with the lights off. When Draw the Dark wasn't creeping me out, it was filling me with dread for all of the characters. And when it wasn't doing that, it was astounding me with all of the knowledge that I was gaining by reading this. I had no idea that the U.S. housed POW from WWII (a gaping hole in my education perhaps?) and I love it when a fiction book teaches me about something I was wildly ignorant about. It wasn't just the WWII element, but the psychology as well (I'm a psychology major so I love all this type of stuff) and the ESP. The facts were given in a way that there were far from dry and really added to the story.

So, anyway, I have to say that Draw the Dark is one of the best fantasy novels I have read to date. It was filled with everything I love in a book: intrigue, horror, wisdom, knowledge, and it was wonderfully twisty (I was really blown away when everything unraveled...in a completely good way). This made me turn the pages (or click in my instance) at a frantic speed. It's highly recommended.

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Feb 07, 2012 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have glorious news everybody. I'm in love! I know. It's a beautiful thing. Let me explain before my husband reads this over my shoulder and gets the wrong idea. After reading and reviewing Ashes fairly recently, I kept my eyes open for more of Ilsa J Bick's work. When I saw Draw The Dark on Audible I had to make it my own! After listening to it, I've decided that I'm in love with Bick's writing.

You all know my love for Stephen King runs deep and I think one of the things I love about Bick's p...more I have glorious news everybody. I'm in love! I know. It's a beautiful thing. Let me explain before my husband reads this over my shoulder and gets the wrong idea. After reading and reviewing Ashes fairly recently, I kept my eyes open for more of Ilsa J Bick's work. When I saw Draw The Dark on Audible I had to make it my own! After listening to it, I've decided that I'm in love with Bick's writing.

You all know my love for Stephen King runs deep and I think one of the things I love about Bick's prose is that it reminds me of King. I'm not saying she's derivative at all! For me, one of the highest accolades I can afford an author is to say they remind me of Stephen King. An example of this echo is in the way Bick creates her protagonists. They're real and flawed and confused and wonderful. Another similarity is the way she creates her antagonists. She dreams up the types of villains who are so horrible and so utterly beyond redemption that they seem to crawl under your skin and scratch their fingernails along your nerves until you find yourself gritting your teeth every time they're on the pages.

I loved Christian Cage, the first-person protagonist of Draw The Dark. And I adored the narration by Joshua Swanson. Seriously... that guy's got a voice that makes you feel all tingly and warm. I don;t often choose books based upon narrators, but I'll be keeping my eyes open for more books read by him. But anyway, back to the protagonist! The first person narrative really allows the audience to get inside Christian's head. He sees his flaws and puts them under the microscope while Bick's writing allows us to see how many of his flaws are forgiveable sins. That takes some seriously good writing.

The semi-love-interest of the book was the only aspect of the book which irritated me. I couldn't warm to her as she seemed to lack empathy for Christian's plight. She was shallow and irritating. But then... she was a seventeen year old girl. I'm not saying all seventeen year old girls are shallow and irritating. What I'm trying to say is that she wasn't this perfect, smart, beautiful-without-knowing-it, Bella Swan type! She was kind of annoying at times, but she really did seem to want to do the best by Christian.

The premise of the book was one which I didn't think I'd be able to engage with. I'm not really that "in to" the cold case sort of mystery explored in the novel. I am a big fan of the "otherworld" idea. Again, Bick's writing drew me in (...he he he..."drew"...). I was fascinated by Christian's narrative and was honestly gripped by the story.

Some of the psychology discussed in the book made me wonder about Ashes. There's a passage where brainwaves and sleep are discussed and I wondered as I was listening if I might have been listening to the light-bulb moment for that book's creation. I like that sort of inter-connectivity of books, (like the intertextuality of King's work. See, another similarity).

Overall, I loved this book. I'm going to hold back half a star because I can't see any mention of a sequel anywhere and I bloody well want one!

Lx(less)

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Aug 16, 2010 E. Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Christian Cage lives with his uncle, the town sheriff, since his parents disappeared when he was young. He's an outsider, picked on at school for being the weird kid. He's socially awkward and his only release is his art. He's an amazing artist, but he has a secret -- he believes his art is responsible for some of the bad things that have happened to him and his family.

Lately Christian has been having vivid dreams, so vivid that they almost seem like visions. When he sleepwalks himself out to th...more

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Sep 04, 2010 Bibliotropic rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley

I am a ghost in a land of phantoms and remembered nightmares.

To be perfectly honest, the only reason that this book didn't get a 5-teacup rating is because of the method of narration toward the beginning of the story. It was written as people talk, complete with an overuse of "well," "like," and an ellipsis ended every third sentence. That thankfully ended after the first chapter or so, but while it was there, it was bordering on painful to read.

The rest of the book was pure dark deliciousness....more

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Sep 06, 2010 Ziaria rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. In fact I enjoyed it so much, I'm not sure how to even put into words why.

Draw the Dark starts off slow and it pulls you in, steadily weaving the story. Wrapping itself like vines around you and not letting go until the very last page. It has a very realistic feel yet there's some fantasy included as well. It's hard for me to explain really, mostly because I'm not sure how it all fit together so seamlessly.

I found myself liking Christian immediately and feeling sympathy and wo...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Alicia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: boy, historical, holocaust, magical, odd, religion

I can appreciate Bick's angle for understanding a little know historical fact that there were prisoner-of-war camps in the United States and more than a few in Wisconsin, though Winter in this story is a fictional village. In any case, Christian has visions and fits of artistic outpouring that make him more than a little odd in his town where he's being raised by an aunt and uncle. Through a series of chapters, italicized explanations, and trying to understand Christian's abilities though, I cou...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Sara rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was a strange book. The plot itself wasn't bad, and I liked the characters well enough, I guess I just didn't like the writing. Ilsa Bick occasionally used words that were "SAT words" for lack of better explanation. I'm all for expanding vocabularies, but even as a well-read adult, occasionally I had a "huh?" moment with her language. She also shows her age several times, bringing up things like Natalie Wood (who died even before I was born, and I'm way older than her target audience), whic...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Alissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal, suspense, teen-books, guy-friendly-reads, just-plain-wierd

This one started off awesome and had all the elements of a fantastic suspense story: dark setting, twisted characters, creepy concept (a boy who can draw someone's worst nightmares is very Stephen Kingesque). I was all set to give this one 4 or even 5 stars. Then I read the last few chapters, and the whole thing just kind of went..."meh." It seemed the author maybe got tired of writing at some point or just wasn't really sure how to wrap things up. The ending was kind of lazy. Also, there were f...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Totally forgot to write a review for this one, though I had quite a bit to say. This book was really annoying in that I think the author had ideas for several books and instead of actually writing several books she crammed all her plots into one. For instance the plot regarding the "sideways place" or whatever the heck it was called really only showed up at the beginning and end and for the rest of the book it remained mostly unmentioned. And Christian being able to draw death didn't really furt...more

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English 11 1B/D: Draw the dark	3	6	Oct 04, 2012 05:59am
Draw the Dark	2	10	Dec 17, 2011 01:33pm

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