Light In My Dark

Beyond the Wall #1

by Jean Gilbert, William Dresden

Two boys love her. Two worlds need her. Only she can save them both. Sixteen-year-old Harper Deveraux has longed for an adventure ever since her mother died of cancer four years ago. Much to her dismay, she is stuck in Glen Eden, a small mountain town in upstate New York that does little to fuel her hopes and dreams. Another year of high school has begun, and with the Moon Dance only a few weeks away, Harper suddenly finds herself torn between the affections of two her best friend Jack, and a new boy from the City named Knes who might not be from this world. Strange things begin to happen in Glen Eden when Harper uncovers a mystery that involved her mother and a realm shrouded in darkness that lies beyond the wall... A realm that Knes intends to take her to. Only Jack stands in his way. Light In My Dark, is an action-packed modern YA fantasy, filled with dark forces, love, and self-discovery.

Genres: Fantasy

402 pages, Hardcover

First published January 10, 2017

About the author

Jean is an award-winning author. She writes modern science fiction and YA fantasy books, short stories, and non-fiction. Her books include the Vault Agency series, the Beyond the Wall series, and her latest, THE PICASSO MIRROR - an in-depth look at living with Face Blindness.

Jean has branched into screenplays writing for streaming media, movies, and promotional work, including writing assignments.

Also, Jean mentors student writers through programs run by Young NZ Writers and independent services to New Zealand schools. Besides the youth programs, Jean heads the Speculative Fiction group for the central North Island under SpecFicNZ.

Reviews

[Kat valentine ( Katsbookcornerreads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of the light and the dark. In this book we meet harper a young girl who's mother used to tell her of a place called non,it was a fairytale world that was beyond the wall. Little did harper know that non was real and she along with her best friend jack were about to find out that things are not always what they seem. When a new boy comes to their school harper is attracted to him right away harper feels like she knows knes from somewhere. As knes pulls harper away from this world into the world of non ,jack will fight to save harper ,from the darkness that wants to use her powers and will stop at nothing to have them. Loved this book!!!!

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book throws us into a fantastic land, with a mysterious history that was left out of our books. While Harper tries to help the newcomer Knes integrate, she is dragged into his world and tries to figure out the connections between him and her dead mother. Harper's best friend Jack sees some potential danger in the good looking guy from the city. Fueled by jealousy and concern for the girl he liked, he decides to uncover Knes' story.

There are a lot of descriptive passages which sometimes are welcomed since they bring light to life on Noes, but there were also some scenes which did not need to be precisely told. There wre times while reading it when I felt tired. But since half way through the book I still didn’t know much of the story, I went all the way till the end.

I liked how the authors decided to introduce Harper to the world beyond the wall, before Knes' confession. So when he tells her the truth, she goes with him, more for her mother than for him. Jack goes head-on into the stage land, but lucky for him there are some on his side.

The characters are quite nice, Jack is my favorite since he's trying to be there for Harper, even if she is clueless of his true feelings. He supports her decision of helping Knes integrate and even after she dumps him on the school dance to go with the "intruder", he still doesn't have any mean thoughts towards her. Harper and Knes make an intriguing combination. She feels some kind of attraction for him, but there are still some cells in her brain that ring "Danger".

Well, it was quite a nice book to read. Hope you like too. Pop in to leave a comment or simply chat on my blog!

[Michael Thal · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Harper Deveraux was a small child, her mother, Isabelle, told her fairy tales about the magical land of Non, which existed in a forever twilight with flowers that glow in the dark.

Now, sixteen-year old Harper is desperate to leave boring Glen Eden, a sleepy town at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. Her best friend, Jack, can’t understand her discontent of their hometown. He adores the mountain peaks that glow with the rising sun and Moon Lake that is dotted by small islands at the edge of town.

Prior to their high school’s Junior Prom, Jack manages to scrape together the courage to ask Harper to the dance. She accepts, but a new boy at school, Knes Hedemann, a transfer student from New York City, really has her attention. His bright blue eyes, pale blond hair, and chiseled good looks cause Harper’s face to flush. So when he asks her to the Prom, her promise to Jack is forgotten. (Besides, they are just friends, aren’t they?)

During the dance, Knes manages to convince Harper to ride in his gorgeous black antique Jaguar where he takes her back to his family mansion. Meanwhile, Jack doesn’t believe Knes is who he says he is and beats the couple back to the house to investigate the interloper for himself.

When Knes and Harper show up, Jack hides only to discover that the strange boy has the power to travel through a portal to another world where he takes Harper, who is more than happy to have the adventure. Jack stealthily follows and the real excitement begins.

The writing team of Jean Gilbert and William Dresden create a thrilling fantasy in their novel, Light in My Dark. The world of Non is unique—for it lacks a sun, stars, and is void of light except for an unexplained twilight. It is also haunted by an indescribable entity of evil plotting to control all of Non, and attempts to do so by controlling others. The authors’ characters are well developed, the plot exciting, and the surreal settings are described beautifully.

Light in My Dark is one novel readers of YA fantasy, romance, and adventure will have trouble setting down on their bedside nightstand.

[Lora Shouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light in My Dark begins with a fairly normal high school girl, Harper, and her best friend, Jack. One morning a new boy shows up at school – one of those kinds of boys. All the girls are instantly in love with him, but he appears to be attracted to Harper. Jack, who has been in love with her but is afraid to tell her so, is, naturally, jealous.

In just a few short weeks the new boy, Knes, who lives in the local haunted house, has convinced Harper to go with him instead of Jack to the Moon Dance. They leave the dance early to go to Knes’ house, where he leads her through a dark place in the wall to another place he calls Nön.

Nön is a beautiful but disturbing twilight land. It has no sun, moon, or stars, and is lit entirely by bioluminescent plants and various forms of fire (candles, campfires, etc.). All indications are that Harper’s deceased mother, Isabelle, has been to Nön before her.

At first, Harper loves Nön, and she loves Knes. But she is repeatedly warned that forces there just want to use her for her power, and her own uneasiness tells her to listen to these warnings. When she learns that Jack has followed her there, and hears Knes, who, it turns out, is the King of the place, order his soldiers to hunt Jack down and kill him, she begins to understand what the warnings were all about.

A beautiful story about a beautiful but deadly place, populated by interesting but mysterious people.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the young characters, there was a struggle between them to find where they truly belonged. Attracted to the new guy in school Knes, Harper finds herself learning more about a place that she only believed existed in her mother's fairytales. Her best friend Jack and Harper struggle to find exactly what it is about the land Nor that seems off. It is a fast paced fantasy that at times reminds me I am not a young girl with romantic aspirations.

The characters are interesting and they make you question the truths that they believed in the beginning. It is a good story that held my interest. I might have been a little too old to really get caught up in this as intended. It was a well-written book with a well-defined world. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to my granddaughter who loves a nice battle with dark and light characters.

[Books And · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsical fantasy meets a dark evil force

Ever wonder what hides in the shadows? Do you swear your childhood fear of the dark is because there is something sinister using the darkness to get closer to you? This may just confirm all your fears.
The first is what appears to be a series begins with Jack and Harper living in a small lakeside tourist town. Jack has been in love with his best friend for years and on the eve of the school dance decides to tell Harper how he truly feels but is it too late? Knes, a stranger from the city, suddenly shows up in town to reside in the family mansion by the lake that has been empty for decades. With him he brings secrets and a mysterious hold over Harper. Harper has felt like an outsider in her own home since the death of her mother when she was a child, but suddenly she feels an instant connection to the handsome stranger in town. Will he choose her long time friendship with Jack or this new stranger who is more then he seems? Light and Dark, Good and Evil, Love and Hate; all these contradictions are played out in a beautifully described story written to take you to another world.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Debra Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 stars

Harper Deveraux is tired of being stuck in the small town of Glen Eden and longs for adventure. One of the best things about being stuck there though is her best friend Jack, that is, until a new boy Knes moves to town. Harper is instantly attracted to him and she's clueless of Jack's true feelings for her. As Knes pulls Harper away from her world and into Non, the only one standing in the way is Jack. Without a second thought, Jack dives through the wall in order to save the love of his life.

I applaud the authors on a well-written book. The descriptions of the world of Non brought the strange world alive and the constant struggle between Light vs Dark, and Good vs Evil kept my interest. I have a few slight criticisms of the book and why it's rated only 3.5 instead of a solid 4 rating. The first one is the length. I thought some of the descriptions went on far too long and I found myself skipping a lot of paragraphs because of this. I also thought Harper was a bit immature. It could be that I don't usually read too many YA books, but aside from these, the book will certainly become a favorite of YA readers.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received Light in My Dark as a free copy from the author. The gifting did not determine the review/rating, which reflects my honest opinion. This is a good story that could use another proofread for grammar, and careless word usage (ruin used instead of rune, and bare instead of bear, for example). Light in My Dark was definitely a YA read and the authors did a fine job of worldbuilding, creating an alternate world with unusual elements. Although the plot was somewhat transparent, the characters were well-drawn, so I was more forgiving of the protagonists overlooking the obvious villains. A fine 3.5 read, down-rated due to repeated word errors (which imply the authors aren't familiar with the proper use of the words they selected, rather than making a random mistake). This could easily be a 5-star read with a tighter edit and some of the redundant explanations removed.

[Niki Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic YA read! I am constantly in search of a new fantasy/sci-fi book and/or series and when I came across this one, I was excited to begin reading it and was not disappointed. It did take a little while to dive into the meat of the story, but once you arrive, it's a difficult book to put down. I was reading as fast as I could, delighted by the twist of events and thrill of the ride!

Although the main character, Harper, was a bit adolescent for my taste, all of the characters were well described and came to life in my own imagination. I loved Jack's role and the person he grows into being by the end of the story. The authors did a fine job of building the story and world of Non, as well as giving fantastic description of all the characters. I have fallen in love with the world of Non and I'm excited to read whatever these authors put out next! Keep them coming!

[Rachel Lynn Delaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

Love the plot and imagination that went into it. It had me hooked from the start and kept me until the end.