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Dark Inside

(Dark Inside #1)

Jeyn Roberts (Goodreads Author)

3.92 · Rating details · 8,540 ratings · 1,083 reviews

Moments after several huge earthquakes shake every continent on Earth, something strange starts happening to some people. An inner rage has been released and some people cannot fight it. For those who can, life becomes an ongoing battle to survive - at any cost!

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Hardcover, UK, 368 pages

Published September 2nd 2011 by Macmillan Children's Books

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Average rating 3.92 ·

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· 8,540 ratings · 1,083 reviews

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Start your review of Dark Inside (Dark Inside, #1)

Jul 19, 2011 karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: why-yes-i-ya, from-publisher-or-author, upstairs-neighbors, jury-duty-book

yesterday i was in a discussion with some dude about teen fiction, and why it is so damn compelling and why we were lately reading it to the exclusion of all other literature,despite our grown status, and his reason was because of the instant gratification of it - that the pacing is such that it can generally be read in one sitting and you want to keep reading it. and it doesn't mean that it is mindless, like a lot of adult page-turner fiction, but that it is frequently too exciting to stop reading. ...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Emily May rated it liked it

Shelves: 2011, dystopia-utopia, young-adult

For me, what rescued Dark Inside from getting an extremely negative review was the fast-paced action and adventure, weird creepiness and what Tatiana likes to call "compulsive readability". The book had many faults, which I will go into, and it was on the whole not a great work of dystopian fiction.

Basically, there's this earthquake one day and suddenly people everywhere start acting weird... becoming possessed by a violent rage, turning on their families and friends, searching the streets for new victims to torture and kil ...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Kat (Lost in Neverland) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone who loves a fast paced, frightening story

Recommended to Kat (Lost in Neverland) by: Skyla (Skoyklha) Happy Go Lucky and Lost in Books

Shelves: blew-me-away

4.5 Stars.

Update: Fuck it, FIVE STARS!

THAT WAS FREAKING AMAZING.

description

An earthquake has destroyed most of the world.
Humans have been consumed by hatred and anger and have become the monsters that they truly are.
Surviving has never been this difficult.

We follow the perspectives of four kids.

Mason, whose mother has just died and he's fighting the madness inside of him.
Aries, who was caught in the earthquake that killed her best friend but was saved by a ...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalker Queen of the Undead rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I was soooo disappointed in this book. I love good, graphic novels where the blood is bloody, the bones are crunching, and the terror is terrifying! The book started off with a natural disaster (earthquake), some weird spooky supernatural stuff, and 4 protagonists that starred in our show, I mean book. The 4 characters see some seriously creepy stuff and basically, they don’t know whom to trust, were to go and what the hell is going on. Great setup right? Yup. It was soooooooo good. And then….. ...more

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Jul 12, 2011 Giselle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, bought-in-store, from-publishers, genre-zombies, 5-star, genre-dystopia, genre-horror, genre-survival, unsolicited, arc-physical

An unsolicited Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher for review. Quotes have been pulled from an ARC and may be subject to change.

The world has had enough. It wants to rid the earth of humans. One day an earthquake rips across the world and causes mass casualties. The enemy in this book is not vampires, werewolves, or ghosts. It is the people themselves. The Evil that creeps into each and every person’s mind causes normal human beings to rip and tear their own flesh and ...more

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Sep 22, 2011 Aly (Fantasy4eva) rated it really liked it

Shelves: pleasantly-surprised, fast-paced-and-engrossing, received-for-review, dark-and-gritty, uk-bookish-love, action-packed, swap

Well well, don't we have a bit of a stunner here. I started DARK INSIDE without any expectation, but I've been left completely surprised by just how wonderful this book is. And hey, it's hell of a fast read. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my fast paced reads? They totally rock my world, and DARK INSIDE is no exception.

After a series of earthquakes people completely turn on each other. There is no regret, no remorse. If the earthquakes haven't done you harm then these people wi Well well, don't we have a bit of a stunner here. I started DARK INSIDE without any expectation, but I've been left completely surprised by just how wonderful this book is. And hey, it's hell of a fast read. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my fast paced reads? They totally rock my world, and DARK INSIDE is no exception.

After a series of earthquakes people completely turn on each other. There is no regret, no remorse. If the earthquakes haven't done you harm then these people will make sure they finish the job. All we know is that for some unexplained reason people have flat out started going on killing spree's. Sparing not even their own families or children.

Let me tell you now. Although I found it pretty bearable, this will not be a easy read for some. Many innocent people die, and it does get graphic at times. Basically it's far from pretty.

But it's more than worth it.

We are lead into the lives of four particular teenagers. Clementine, Aries, Mason and Michael. But there is a mysterious fifth under the name "nothing". Although it wasn't much of a mystery who this was. As we watch on, each will struggle with their own inner demons and guilt. Let's just say they haven't survived until now without having to kill a person or two. But this is the perfect example of survival of the fittest. You either hide in a corner and wait for a bagger to find you, or think quick and come up with a plan.

What the four will go through is horrific. Each will face their own journey and battle to stay alive whilst the so called *baggers* roam the streets. The freaky thing about the baggers is that they aren't necessarily all easy to tell apart. Although many of them are sloppy in their killings, some are more intelligent than others and can hold a conversation without you even suspecting. These are the ones that you really need to look out for. With rations scarce, the majority dead, hospitals, doctors and policemen practically nonexistent, there is no choice but to solely rely on yourself. No one is to be trusted, not even yourself.

There were so many moments where my heart would be beating furiously and I would be an anxious mess. When I think of a premise like this, this is exactly what I expect from a novel. Something gritty, a little gory to add a touch of realism. I got that from DARK INSIDE, and the fact that there were so many creepy/horrific moments really helped build the perfect atmosphere.

The story poses a strong question. Are we our own greatest enemy? Will the day come where we have so much power that we get carried away? I mean isn't that the reality of today? Isn't it us human who do most of the killing. May it be the environment, animals or each other. Will the time come when things go so out of hand that we destroy each other completely? DARK INSIDE makes you ask this very question, and as questionable some aspects of the book may be, you can't help but wonder - what if? As the story progresses and each character faces their own struggles, they are forced to question what or who is evil or good. Can you determine either and does it even matter anymore?

Although I grew frustrated by some the characters reckless decisions and mistakes, I found myself feeling guilty for judging them, because, for example: as much as Michael' cowardly tendencies cheesed me off, who's to say how I would have reacted if I was in their situation? Most likely, I would have not lasted as long as they have managed to. You see, each of them bring something important to the table, and it's enough at least to keep them alive, and that's what counts - no matter what their flaws. The ending is quite abrupt and leaves as many questions lingering as I had in the very beginning. Is there going to be a sequel? I would sure love one, but there is also something wonderful in leaving us readers with that big hovering question mark - in not knowing what happens to them in the world they are now living in.

For all you hopeless romantics, romance was pretty much non - existent. Oh there were feelings between certain characters, but it pretty much settled and stayed put around that line. So yeah, very tame and whatnot, and for some that may be a let down but it didn't bother me. It made sense actually and gave the book more of a realistic feel. I mean, where do you find time to make out/other things and such when creepy people are trying to kill you and the world is basically ending. So many books count on romance that it's refreshing to see that a book can hold it's own and the readers interest thoughout without it. Doncha think, eh.

Is is apparent that I loved this book?

Some who have read the book may not share my enthusiasm, but I, for one, thought it was pretty darn fantastic. ...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Eh?Eh! rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ah-ree-ell, babble-added, goodreaders-made-me

Even after 30 years in the US, my parents still have a very strong accent when they speak English. Eengrish. I'm able to interpret their pronunciations and grammar easily it since I grew up hearing it. But throw another accent at me - anything African, some European, or worst of all any kind of Asian accent other than Korean - and I can't tell you what the heck is being said without some knitted-brow concentration. And I notice I end up replying back in a louder voice, as if that'll help. I pfft Even after 30 years in the US, my parents still have a very strong accent when they speak English. Eengrish. I'm able to interpret their pronunciations and grammar easily it since I grew up hearing it. But throw another accent at me - anything African, some European, or worst of all any kind of Asian accent other than Korean - and I can't tell you what the heck is being said without some knitted-brow concentration. And I notice I end up replying back in a louder voice, as if that'll help. I pfft myself.

With this book, I find that my childhood "accents" of fantasy&sci-fi and the later piles of textbook logic make it difficult to enjoy the story. The half-a** explanation of why the bad thing is happening...I don't understand you!!

Maybe that's part of why I'm finding Literature so difficult?? Brainpower is another reason, but maybe I'm not flexible enough to take in stories that don't have some magic(-al realism?) or enough of a futuristic tone or satisfying explanations?

Back to this book, there is a huge earthquake and then some people, marked by savagery, lack of remorse, and black veins in the eye-whites, start killing everyone else. The book follows 4 teens as they see the collapse of society and try to survive.

We never learn just what caused all this. How are the earthquakes and killers connected? Why did some change and others not? What's up with the black veins? The few places where the teens think about or discuss what's going on, there's 1) too much to be intriguingly mysterious and 2) not enough to be clear. Both those points made me appreciate Whedon's Firefly/Serenity Reavers even more. With the tv series, such mystery! Who were these psychotic killers who roamed the universe and made even Jayne scared! A friend of mine once explained why she found it pretty cool, the thought that humankind could go to the edge of the universe only to see nothing/everything in the blackness and go insane. With the movie, such a great explanation! It was the government! Sadly, that's kind of believable (see, Tuskegee). And then we're treated to a small group making a mess o' trouble with some clench-worthy action and I laughed and I cried and I laughed and I sobbed...anyway. Back to the book again, it gave an unsatisfying non-answer. Was it a malevolent force?? Was it something in the water?? What?! I don't understand!!

The books seemed to be arranged around chapter-long horror setpieces, building up to each one and wrapping it up. I couldn't see why these 4 particular teens were the narrators, why a couple of them were supposedly natural leaders, why a hard-to-believe little love connection popped up near the end. The list of the 6 different kinds of killers was never well-explained (and really, you made the list 7 items long by including the title of the list as #1? I hope that was corrected after this ARC). One of the characters wanted to find her brother but the others had no drive for anything, nothing that made me care about them.

But this whole book felt like horror, not just survival or zombie or whatever. Maybe I don't understand its accent. ...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Reynje rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars

Here’s the thing about me and horror: it’s not so much the content as the source that bothers me.

Which is not to say I’m not terrified by scary things, because I am. Absurdly so. But always in the back of my mind is the question: where did this come from? It has always been much more disturbing for me to know that someone, somewhere, came up with whatever horrific scene is playing out on screen or on the page. That even the most unrealistic scenrios were born in very real places, and the most 3.5 stars

Here’s the thing about me and horror: it’s not so much the content as the source that bothers me.

Which is not to say I’m not terrified by scary things, because I am. Absurdly so. But always in the back of my mind is the question: where did this come from? It has always been much more disturbing for me to know that someone, somewhere, came up with whatever horrific scene is playing out on screen or on the page. That even the most unrealistic scenrios were born in very real places, and the most horrible things we can imagine were spawned in the human mind.

So if you ask me what I find truly terrifying, I guess I would say human capacity for evil. I find that idea infinitely more disturbing than say, a zombie apolocalypse.

And this is why Dark Inside worked for me as a genuinely scary story, because it’s about humanity unleashing their own evil upon the world. While this is immediately apparent in an obvious sense, as a suddenly released evil takes over much of mankind and causes them to become killing-machines, there is also a more subtle form. As those not overtaken and turned into “monsters” are forced to fight for their survival, they are also faced with situations in which their moral compasses are no longer effective. Previously unthinkable actions become necessity. And fear causes even the most well-intentioned do abhorrent things.

Dark Inside is told through five perspectives, which sounds unwieldy, but actually works fairly effectively for the story. Mason, Aries, Clementine and Michael are four teenagers battling to stay alive after the murderous rage (apparently instigated by a series of massive earthquakes) appears to have taken over most of the population. Their dawning cognizance of what is happening around them, and their reactions to it, essentially forms the bulk of the story; each of them trying to survive and navigate their way to relative safety. The fifth perspective, “Nothing,” gives a voice and context to the darkness enveloping the majority of humanity, while remaining eerily evasive and difficult to get a handle on.

This is a grim, violent book that doesn’t pull punches, particularly when it comes to individual characters’ actions. But it’s not just the brutality that’s depicted, occasionally the most shocking thing about this story is the choices the characters’ make, and then the consequences of those decisions. It’s not a predictable book, in that Roberts doesn’t shelter her characters, and she compels the reader to question them. They do unsympathetic things. They may or may not be or remain “good” people. There’s an intensely unsettling atmosphere about the novel, on the basis of this uncertainy around some of the characters, and it makes for fast reading.

While at a surface level this reads like an action-based novel, (which it is), I was surprised by how much Roberts was able to develop the characters in a limited amount of page time. Given the number of narrators and the rapid progression of the plot, a considerable amount of insight into each of the teenagers is provided, particularly through the choices they make to survive. Granted, it does at times feel very much as if this novel is laying the foundation, establishing the characters to be further developed as the series continues, but the charactersation is done well. The novel is written in the third person (with the exception of “Nothing”’s voice), yet Roberts manages to keep the characters distinct. It would have been easy for the viewpoints to blur in a novel of this pacing, but their storylines are substantial and fleshed-out so that they remain unambiguous.

Dark Inside sets itself from much of the apocalyptic YA fiction of late because it doesn’t adhere to the tropes and developments common to those novels. This book feels unpredictable, and almost unapologetic in its confronting content. There are no guarantees made, no assurances that things are going to turn out as expected. (By expected I mean as dictated by a lot of current apoc/dystopian YA – goodness prevails, love interests survive blah blah blah).

I’m curious to see where Roberts is taking this story, and while there’s a measure of closure at the end of Dark Inside, there are more than enough questions left unresolved to make me pick up the sequel.
...more

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Nov 16, 2017 Max Lau • Maxxesbooktopia rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-stars-books

“The stranger smiled at her. “Humanity has found a cure to a disease they never new existed.”- Dark Inside, Jeyn Roberts.

My thoughts: Introduction

Let us start off with the world-building and the atmosphere of this book. The atmosphere throughout this novel was crazily suspenseful. The constant pressure among the characters in the book filled the atmosphere with suspense- like I have said earlier, streams of tear-jerking tears and a spark of romantic vibes. All the atmosphere clung well together and that was wha ...more

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May 27, 2018 Dannii Elle rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction-sagacity

Actual rating 3.5/5 stars.

In making an attempt to pick up the oldest unread tomes on my shelves I stumbled across this book. With no real gusto I begun my reading and was quickly situated in a eerie dystopian landscape, immersed in intrigue, and ensconced in a terror of all the events depicted.

I initially assumed this to be a zombie apocalypse story but the fact that it wasn't was where much of my early enthralment lay. Just exactly what has caused the destruction of our ...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Jamie rated it it was amazing

“We would not go gentle into that good night.”

5/5

Wow-za.

I haven’t read many apocalyptic books in my time. Frankly the prospect scares the hell out of me, so why would I want to read about it? But I just happened across Dark Inside in my local bookshop and thought, why not? It looks good, looks all action-packed and has an awesome cover. So I bought it.
It was one of the best things I have ever bought.

I have to start off by saying that this boo “We would not go gentle into that good night.”

5/5

Wow-za.

I haven’t read many apocalyptic books in my time. Frankly the prospect scares the hell out of me, so why would I want to read about it? But I just happened across Dark Inside in my local bookshop and thought, why not? It looks good, looks all action-packed and has an awesome cover. So I bought it.
It was one of the best things I have ever bought.

I have to start off by saying that this book is tense. And I mean it. You know when you’re watching a horror film? And you know something is going to happen, but you just can’t figure out what? That’s what it’s like reading Dark Inside, and I found that so exciting.

The foundation of this book may not be exactly original, with the whole end of the world zombie apocalypse thing going on, but I feel that Roberts has managed to inject enough of her own ideas to stop the book from becoming tiresome or boring. I liked how some of the “Baggers” (the crazy zombie-like humans that go around killing everyone) were highly intelligent, often talking to the human characters normally, sometimes even tricking them into believing that they are human. I also found the different perspectives compelling, they kept me reading because the story was always fresh and I found that I had to go on to the next chapter because I needed to know what was going on since I left the character last.

Speaking of characters, there are four main ones in this book, with lots of others recurring. We have Aries, Clementine, Michael and Mason. I honestly don’t have a favourite. I loved them all so much. Roberts has masterfully interwoven the sub-plots into the main story, like when Mason meets the chirpy Chickadee, and how their relationship blossoms only to be cruelly taken away by a twist of fate that changes Mason. And like how Michael has to make a vital decision, to live or die, even if it does mean leaving others to perish. Even Clementine and Aries have moments and decisions that impact their lives hugely, but I don’t feel that they’re as exponentially gut wrenching as the two boys’.

There’s also the secrecy of this book that grabs you and doesn’t let go. Throughout, we’re confronted with a character simply known as “Nothing” who often speaks in riddles and gives hints as to why the apocalypse may have happened. The reader learns, (or they think they learn, I could be completely wrong) who this “Nothing” is. It didn’t surprise me, but I don’t think it was intended to be surprising, instead it just made me want to know more. I wanted to know why some people weren’t affected by the madness, why the majority were. Why is this elusive “Nothing” so perceptive, why do they know things that the others don’t? So many questions! I can’t wait to find out the answers.

This book is chock full of action and adventure. It even has a smidgen of romance. Some comedy, and some sadness all the same. It’s a crazy creepy book, but in a sense, it’s beautiful too. It gives you faith in humans whilst also ripping that same faith away.

Brilliant.

...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Crowinator rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, ya, dystopia-post-apocalypse, the-future

This cover might have been cool without the giant floating eyes at the top. The huge crack in the barren earth from the earthquakes, the hazy ruined city in the background, and the indistinct people walking all work with the story (though it reminds me a little bit of the end of a music video), and I like the title rising up out of the fog, too. Even though black-veined eyes are a thing in the story, they don't really mesh here and are in fact really distracting. Why are publishers so enamored w ...more

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Dec 27, 2013 Mia (Parentheses Enthusiast) rated it it was ok

Shelves: had-to-read-for-class, abort-mission, apocalypse

A brief synopsis of Dark Inside: Something something survival something humanity is bad something something darkness and death something something evil something killers something something something.

Yeah, it was basically a half-assed, sloppy, boring, poorly written stock apocalypse novel. So stale and uneventful, in fact, that I DNF'd about 65% of the way through.

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Aug 12, 2018 Zainab rated it really liked it

Shelves: apocalyptic

I have to say, that's one hell of a gorgeous cover.
If you like anything related to the apocalypse with a little bit of mystery, then this book is perfect for you. I honestly didn't even realize I reached the last page when I did because it is so so thrilling that you're just not able to put it down. Also, before you think it's just a typical zombie novel with those stupid drooling 'zombies' (I kinda prefer the term walkers because The Walking Dead ftw) they're not. The 'zombies' talk and ...more

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Jun 24, 2019 Cillian marked it as on-hold-or-partially-read · review of another edition

Shelves: pysstopia-futuristic-or-apocalyptic, ya, bloodbath, for-the-nook, gave-up-might-pick-back-up-later, library-humboldt

Giving up on page 123. A post apocalyptic book about people turning into raging murderers after an earthquake should be at least entertaining.
I can't even be fucked to give a single, lonely shit about anything that happens to its cast of faceless characters.

Dark Inside, sayoonara.

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Mar 28, 2016 Acordul Fin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: in-english, 2016-reads, ya, horror, series, american-lit, on-kindle, unputdownable, post-apocalyptic

I stayed up until 4 AM to finish it even though I knew it was Monday and I had to be at work in a few hours. But I couldn't stop reading. The book was fast-paced, griping and eerie. It's not a perfect book, I was pretty skeptical during the first few chapters, but after that I couldn't put it down. I probably shouldn't have read it in the dark (Kindle Paperwhite) as it was much too creepy. When I went to the bathroom I kept expecting something to jump at me from the shadows :))).

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May 17, 2018 Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle-books

Definitely an interesting and yes, darker read. I really enjoyed it and the whole darkness within us concept.

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Apr 25, 2017 Susan rated it liked it · review of another edition

So where to begin with this book....first off it's the first time I was sorry I went in totally blind on this book and didn't read the synopsis. I am not a zombie apocalyptic movie or book kind of girl and this book was zombie like people. In the end I ended up liking the book and wanting to see if anyone I liked died. Now I have to see what happens in the next book...uggg I hate my book OCD. I thought this book would show my wimpy side but it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.

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Jul 25, 2011 tonya. rated it liked it

Shelves: dystopian-utopian-post-apocalyptic, meh, ya, 2011, arcs

In a time when the YA market is so saturated with dystopia that it has all but become blase, Dark Inside offers a new and unique spin on the genre. (Though to be honest I don't even know if dystopia is the right descriptor to tag this with, but it's what the publisher called it so we'll go with that. ;)

For starters, rather than set sometime in the future after the apocalyptic event, Dark Inside is a contemporary novel, set at the advent of the shift. This is not a story that builds a new world o In a time when the YA market is so saturated with dystopia that it has all but become blase, Dark Inside offers a new and unique spin on the genre. (Though to be honest I don't even know if dystopia is the right descriptor to tag this with, but it's what the publisher called it so we'll go with that. ;)

For starters, rather than set sometime in the future after the apocalyptic event, Dark Inside is a contemporary novel, set at the advent of the shift. This is not a story that builds a new world out of the rubble of the old, but rather tells the story of how our current world breaks down. And the way it breaks down is people turning on people. Not through world wars or a military coup or nuclear weapons as with so many other dystopians, but with a dark and insidious voice that infiltrates and overtakes the majority of the population, turning them into psychopaths bent on killing anyone in their path.

There's a metaphor here, and a good one I bet, but unfortunately the way in which Dark Inside was written is so distracting, I can hardly grasp it.

The story is told in third person limited narration style, through the eyes of five different people. Five. In a three hundred and change page book, that doesn't give me much room to get to know anyone, especially when there is a larger issue in play. I never felt I knew any of the narrators well enough to become emotionally invested in what happened to them, and had a hard time keeping track of who was who. And while their stories did eventually intersect, it was not until the very end of the book and by that point, I was just ready to be finished.

I don't know if this is a series, but given the way it wrapped up I assume is has to be. It was not a cliffhanger, but it was very anticlimactic.

Aside from those major issues, I found there to be too many coincidences and conveniences that allowed characters to escape or hide or remain undiscovered. Dialogue felt flat and trite in many instances, and the narrator's voice never shifted between the characters--and also never felt like an authentic teenage voice.

In my opinion, this would have been a much better read if it had focused on one single character and had been written in first person. It needed the immediacy and the intimacy of being inside someone's head and going through the horrors with them.

A very generous three stars for a great concept and a very poor execution.
...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Alyssa rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: teen-fiction, bad-really-bad, dystopian

This book is a grim, violent, but mostly empty post-apocalyptic novel that disappoints throughout.

Because the narrative is split between 4 different points of view, the reader is forced to read the beginning of the novel 4 separate times. Each narrative shows a different story with different characters, but each is equally grim and disturbing.

However, what Dark Inside fails to do is to make its grim and disturbing content actually matter. There is little significance to be found when char ...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Misty rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: recieved-for-review, own

This book really dives into the action and had me on the edge of my seat, heart racing, from start to finish. It really makes your think about kind of person you'd be if the world was in an apocalyptic disarray and what you'd do to survive, as it follows four different characters on their journeys.

The book isn't sugar-coated either, terrible things happen that I didn't guess that made it feel realistic and though I suspect a supernatural element to 'the baggers' I think it really sho ...more

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Dec 23, 2016 Fleur (FranklyBooks) rated it really liked it

Shelves: darker-young-adult, read-in-2016, surprised

The reviews for this are WRONG. Well, not wrong but they mislead me a little.

See, all the reviews that I’ve read from people that I follow, are negative. They made me put off reading this book for a DAMN YEAR which was such a huge mistake. Especially since it was only £1 when I actually bought it.

Turns out, this book kicks ass. I mean sure, I get where those negative reviews are coming from. There are some faults with this book. I’m not denying that in the slightest. However, in my ...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Beth rated it liked it

Shelves: all-shook-up, oh-my-god-shut-up, disappointment, nothing-special, everyone-loves-it-but-me, loved-the-premise, great-expectations, couldn-t-put-it-down, could-have-been-better, mixed-feelings

2.5 stars

"Dark Inside" and I got off to such a good start. It's the kind of book that I have a great love/hate relationship with: the premise is so chilling and frightening but in an addictive, fast-paced way, but, like most people, I'm terrified of something so huge and inexplicable happening to my friends and family on a mass scale. In the opening chapters, "Dead Inside" lived up to its potential, with a hurtling, nauseous description of the four main characters getting into accidents, hav 2.5 stars

"Dark Inside" and I got off to such a good start. It's the kind of book that I have a great love/hate relationship with: the premise is so chilling and frightening but in an addictive, fast-paced way, but, like most people, I'm terrified of something so huge and inexplicable happening to my friends and family on a mass scale. In the opening chapters, "Dead Inside" lived up to its potential, with a hurtling, nauseous description of the four main characters getting into accidents, having their schools blown up, being randomly attacked and their families dying brutally. Like most people, this is pretty much all of my worst fears packed into several horrifying setpieces. As you can see, I read this long book in one day, probably my fastest read of the year, but, despite the fairly good pacing and the wince-inducing occurrences, looking back on the plot, I can't help but think that it's all a little...boring.

Don't get me wrong. It isn't, at first. At first, it's fucking terrifying. Law and order breaks down totally, utterly and immediately in a realistic and making-me-rock-backwards-and-forwards-in-my-chair way. Good people die badly. People turn on each other in the most vicious ways possible. And while I know that YA couldn't really go all-out with the nasty violence and that it would have all felt like overkill by the end of this book and I don't object to some off-screen action - Greek tragedy shows us that sometimes what happens out of the audience's sight is far more awful than anything a writer could pull on them - it all becomes more than a bit samey by the end of "Dark Inside." That, of course, makes me a horrible person, because a pregnant woman gets dragged away in the beginning and a little boy is almost murdered in the middle. Buuuuut it's all dampened by the fact that we know nothing about these people. Nothing. Not their names, not their families, not even their fate! By the end, it felt like shock value over substance.

Although, in all fairness, Roberts treats all her characters the same, even her main ones. Maybe it's just me, as an English person (we prefer our mundane names over here), but "Clementine" and "Aries" (especially the latter) bugged me throughout. Third person is effective in these kind of novels because it allows for a greater sense of world-wide breakdown (which is sort of used well within the narrative), and gives unpredictability (which really wasn't). We don't know much about these characters, and even what we do know is pretty stock. Mason (who I will mess up with Michael liberally throughout this review; I really struggled with which was which) suffers from archetypal Survivor's Guilt because his mother's death is what caused him to escape the bombing of his school in which all his friends died. Daniel is the hot, brooding, unlikeable boy with A SECRET!!! Clemetine has someone to live and look for. Aries is our archetypal moron. Third person, which could have been perfect for this novel, was used monotonously and repetitively so that none of the rhythm of the fight scenes were really felt.

Most of the characters were passable on the scale of Moron-->Genius scale. Mostly everyone was unrealistically lucky rather than totally moronic, with one very large exception: Aries. At first, she was understandably terrified and out of it. That is all fair enough. (I would be such a shivering, dribbling wreck in the sort-of-but-not-really zombie apocalypse that I can relate.) But, later in the book, when Aries is supposed to have got more clued up on survival tips to the point where she's actually the leader of her little group - right up until Daniel, the ~~prick~~ brooding hot boy who sort of saved her life by telling her to go to the high school at the beginning. Given what a mess she was, I can sort of understand being indebted to him. To me, the debt would have cleared once Aries risked her own life taking care of him for two days (a lifetime in the apocalypse). But oh no no. Apparently this not-very-special act of life-saving earned Daniel Aries's undying devotion, despite the fact that he is very shifty, has a habit of abandoning her and doesn't seem all that trustworthy. This gets to the point where she endangers all their lives - including her entire group's - by refusing to leave Daniel when he's essentially telling her to get the fuck out? He didn't want her, but ooohhhh noooo, Ariel thinks because she likes being in a group so much that Daniel will like it to. Ummm, what? Has she not seen what can happen to survivors in this apocalypse? Does she really want to pair up with a guy who doesn't seem all that fond of her? I can only assume by the description of her stroking his cheek and her heartbeat quickening that he is the Obligatory Love Interest. Shudder.

The thing is, the plot is nonsense. We don't know why this virus/disease/personality disorder/THING has come over these people, or why it only affects some people. And that's okay. It fits very well for the book to evoke the chaos and confusion that can come with true, absolute ignorance, and fits so well with Roberts' horror mould of things that are beyond our control (total? EVERYTHING). It's totally fine. But accepting that the entire plot is based around very unlikely contrivance comes, to me, with the unspoken promise that the rest of your plot will concern very likely events. Roberts is good at this to begin with, what with society crumbling in an inevitable, horrible way, but, as time goes on, she seems to throw any mini semblance of logic to the wind in an attempt to craft surprises. For example: to begin with, the virus seems to be more or less uncontrollable, a brain-eating disease that takes away everything about you, including your free will. Then suddenly it's possible for some people to retain their (amazing) intellect and articulation, despite the fact that these zombies are supposedly governed by nothing but pure bloodlust-rage. Why? Who the hell cares. It just makes a good twist. My next point is a fine line to walk but it did bug me that every single one of the survivors'...survival skills were based on 99.9999999999% (more often than not, 100%) luck. Of course a massive degree of luck is required to survive any major disaster, and I could forgive all of the luck that happened in the immediate aftermath of the apocalypse, but afterwards, it was stretched to breaking point. Aries's team manages to collect an amazing amount of supplies, including stuff like bicycles, despite the fact that most of the zombies seem to be at least a little logic and capable of plotting, as the killing technique of most of them seems to be surrounding buildings and setting them on fire, to either burn everyone inside or catch them as they ran out. If the zombies are at least pretty smart - and some of them are shown to be incredibly so - why wouldn't they burn down all the supply shops to kill off any remaining humans? Well, because then it wouldn't be possible for Roberts' characters to survive. I swear this pattern repeats itself about a thousand times in the novel:

1. Get attacked by 'bagger'
2. Fight off 'bagger'
3. Do something incredibly stupid
4. Amazing luck and/or the 'bagger's' amazing stupidity facilitate escape that previously seemed totally impossible.

This leaves "Dark Inside" with a grand total of Not Much Plot At All. I sort of think I should stop reading books that are going to be the first in a series/trilogy. Because, I'm sorry, this was not a story at all. This was a thorough exploration of the jumping-off point for a story, i.e. the beginning, so this wasn't even a novel. It was a third of a novel. I have no idea what the next book will be about; sure, we left our characters hanging - not the cliffhanger kind - but I can't see where "Dark Inside" could next go except for a lot more of the "walking for miles and miles" and "repetitive fight scene" combination. There is no intrigue, no sequel hook, no real reason why I should read on except for the world-building (which was good!) and the fate of the characters (who were skimmed over, bland and not remotely interesting enough to pull me back in). Ultimately, nothing really happened. Oh, sure, there were a lot of fight scenes, and lots of minor secondary characters got killed off. But I honestly can't think of one plot thread that I am excited to read about in the next book, or one revelation of importance that could tie the 'arc' (this is a trilogy, right? Surely it has to have an arc of some sort?) together.

The most annoying thing about all of this is that the best moments of "Dark Inside" come when Roberts injects a cold syringe of substance into her ass-kicking plot. Twiggy, a Sociology professor turned zombie, theorises that the virus comes about because of the '"push-button" generation', and the innate frustration and repressed loathing - both of self and particularly others - are freed by the virus, but that they were also there are all along, as a product of urban rage and hatred. Twiggy's speech about how all great civilisations destroyed themselves from within eventually, and now it was our turn, was chilling and amazingly fascinating. Maybe it's a little trite, but that kind of widespread emotion is a dark and almost endlessly interesting place for a YA zombie novel, of all the things, to mine. Best of all, it's amazingly plausible; in a hyperbolic, science-fictiony way, there it's a wild but not stratospheric leap between road rage/the race of people who will kill each other over something as mundane as Thanksgiving turkey and the rage-fuelled automatons that mostly populate "Dark Inside." It's just a shame that this dark gem is hidden inside such a bloated, monotonous plot. ...more

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Oct 20, 2011 Jessie (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, horror-and-gore, reviewed, arc, creeeeepy, owned-copy, zombies-oh-my, dystopia-or-postapocalyptic, ya-fiction, 2012-reads

Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!

Dark Inside was a number of firsts for me. It was the first zombie~~ish/esque~~ apocalyptic novel I've read. It was the first horror novel I've ever willingly completed (I gave Stephen King a try when younger. I think my delusional line of thought was: "go big or go home." I guess you could say I "went home". . . but I digress.) This is also the first time in a long time that I have enjoyed being scared (and disturbed) so much. Unfortunately, all is not perfect in Ms. Roberts' talezombie/>Dark ...more

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Feb 12, 2011 AM rated it it was amazing

I absolutely loved this book, and it's not a genre I should read.

and I'm going to tell you why.

The Four POVs:

Yes. I like them.
It's sort of funny, I know a lot of people who read it, did not like the four POVs. I feel a lot of it's sort of bias, though. A few of them say, they instantly dislike it because it was four POVs. That's not giving the book a fair chance.

I dunno. Maybe I'm bias cuz I usually love books with multiple POVs.I feel as if I'm reading f/>The ...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Michele at A Belle's Tales rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Although I was tied up with other reading obligations, I bought Dark Inside after it came highly recommended by Christy's Love of Books. I told myself I would NOT begin reading it until I had taken care of all the things on my to-do list. But then, I decided to take just one little peek to see how it started out. Before I knew it, I was turning the last page and scrambling to buy book two, Rage Within. This is not a read-a-little-here-and-there kind of book. This book consumed me, and I still ha ...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Stephanie (Stepping out of the Page) rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2011, really-good, young-adult, sci-fi, horror, library-read, zombies, dystopian, apocalyptic

Dark Inside was a fantastic yet disturbing read. Although I shouldn't judge books by their cover, it looked a bit boy orientated which I found a little peturbing after finding Gone disappointing. The story was interesting and easy to follow. Right from the beginning, I was thrown into a world that had been completely shaken up by an earthquake and the consequent turning of a group of humans into zombies. This is my first zombie novel and it surprised me how much I liked it. The zombies weren't described a ...more

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Dec 13, 2017 ⭐Anni⭐ (Book Princess) rated it really liked it

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, own, survival

4.5 stars
I went into this book knowing barely anything and ended up really loving it! If you like a fast pace, post apocalyptic read you should definitely pick this book up!

In this version of the apocalypse, after several earthquakes people start going crazy, driven mad by some kind of inner rage that makes them attack and kill other people. They're not zombies, but sometimes they resemble them. Nobody knows why they turned into these 'monsters', and you never know who's gonna ...more

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Apr 10, 2017 Melissa **Just Really Loves Musicals** rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, read-2017

*4.5 stars*
A great zombie series. I adore zombie books, and this was a great example of it done well. It had that edge-of-your-seat suspense, so much action, and a good range characters that you really feel for. Definitely an enjoyable new series that I would recommend to all.

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Mar 16, 2011 Stacey (prettybooks) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-after-university, young-adult-fiction, read-in-my-twenties

The publisher describes Dark Inside as “28 Days Later meets The Road” and another reviewer described it as “Zombieland meets The Crazies”. That’s EXACTLY what Dark Inside is. It’s a post-apocalyptic survival novel with zombies. These aren’t your typical zombies, they don’t look that different from us, which makes them even more dangerous. They’re ‘normal’ people that have become infected with some sort of disease that causes them to break out in a murderous, destructive rage. They travel across towns, cities an The publisher describes Dark Inside as “28 Days Later meets The Road” and another reviewer described it as “Zombieland meets The Crazies”. That’s EXACTLY what Dark Inside is. It’s a post-apocalyptic survival novel with zombies. These aren’t your typical zombies, they don’t look that different from us, which makes them even more dangerous. They’re ‘normal’ people that have become infected with some sort of disease that causes them to break out in a murderous, destructive rage. They travel across towns, cities and countryside tearing people apart and calculatingly destroy everything in their path.

I really, really loved Dark Inside. I’d stay up until the early hours of the morning reading it (not recommended – I was terrified) because I wanted to find out what happens to each of our four main characters: Mason, Michael, Clementine and Aries, travelling separately and unbeknown to each other, but with the same goal – to survive. The stories are distinct and memorable, and Jeyn Roberts strategically reminds us in every chapter about which story we’re reading so we don’t get confused, but it never seems forced. I identified with, and loved, each of the characters. I originally thought I’d finish the book with a clear favourite but I ended up rooting for them all equally. There’s the addition of a mysterious character in some chapters – “Nothing” (who we’re introduced to in the very first chapter), which makes the book even more eerie.

Dark Inside is also another case of a book being portrayed as dystopia even though there’s nothing dystopian about it, so bear that in mind if you’re thinking it’s a young adult dystopian novel (and I’ve referred to it as that previously). It’s not, but it’s definitely worth reading. I cannot even think of anything that I disliked about this book. It’s one of my favourites of this year so far (and I’ve read 63!). It’s exciting, emotional, thrilling, and it even has its humorous moments. It’s just so good.

Thank you Macmillan Children’s Books for sending me this book to review!

Dystopian or Not Dystopian? Not Dystopian

I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. post apocalyptic fictional trilogy about a girl who survives a bus crash, with a boy, she falls in love, the town is under the mind control. [s]	12	545	Mar 30, 2019 06:27PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Apocalyptic YA; two of the MCs are named Ares and Mason; apocalypse spreads a disease that makes eye veins turn black; cover had a picture of infected eye and dry cracked ground; title is something like Dark Minds? [s]	7	29	Dec 28, 2018 10:59AM
Crazy for Young A...: Pair 5: Trisha and Susan (April Besties)	20	17	Apr 28, 2017 08:41PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. people are turning evil, group of kids are trying to survive it [s]	8	70	Nov 20, 2014 02:21PM
Fans of Dark Inside	3	31	May 29, 2014 06:39AM
♥Calling All Fang...: Dark Inside	2	5	Nov 02, 2013 01:01PM

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About Jeyn Roberts

Jeyn Roberts

705 followers

Jeyn Roberts (pronounced Jen - the Y is silent)grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and started writing at an early age, having her first story published when she was 16 in a middle-grade anthology called LET ME TELL YOU.

When she was 21, she moved to Vancouver with dreams of being a rock star, graduating from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Writing and Psychology. For the next ...more