Becoming Darkness

August 17, 2015
In this ambitious but muddled trilogy opener, first-time author Brambles postulates a world in which WWII ended when the Nazis unleashed a virus that wiped out much of humanity, transforming the survivors into vampires, except for those who now live on the tiny island nation of Haven, refuge of the Immune. Nearly 60 years later, 17-year-old Sophie Harkness is a Haven native who gets swept up in a deadly conspiracy when her best friend is murdered. In
her obsessive quest for the truth about Camille’s death, Sophie uncovers devastating secrets behind her family’s complicated legacy and the delicate peace that exists between Haven and the vampires. The idea of Nazi vampires in a crumbling post-apocalyptic setting, combined with the illicit paranormal romance between Sophie and her vampire beloved (who previously courted her grandmother and mother, no less), sounds great on paper, but fails to reach its true potential. The plot takes a long time to reach obvious conclusions, and Sophie, while resourceful, is more of a lightning rod for disaster than a full-fledged protagonist. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

July 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-An elaborate vampire saga that includes an alternate end to World War II in which Nazi experiments in germ warfare spin out of control. As a result, Gomorrah-an airborne virus that turns nearly all of humanity into "vamps"-was released. Hitler has survived. The entire world is under the shadow of the Third Reich, and electric cars, zeppelins, and wire recorders are state-of-the art technology. In this upside-down world, one island, Haven, allows humans to carry on. A truce between the immune humans (whose blood is fatal to vamps) and the Third Reich allows the groups to exist in their separate domains. Enter Sophie, who is secretly dating a vampire. Her beau appears to be in his late teens, until it is revealed that he has previously dated Sophie's mother and grandmother. The pacing of the novel accelerates and morphs into a mystery as one deception after another is unveiled. This work is overly ambitious. The story is well conceived, but the twists and turns in the plot come too quickly, leaving characters and relationships underdeveloped. Still, die-hard vampire fans will find much to be excited about. This weighty tome reads quickly and offers a new spin on the whole genre. Whispers of a second generation leave the door to a sequel wide open. VERDICT A definite addition for young vampire fans thirsting for fresh meat.-Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 15, 2015
Dark secrets abound in the last human enclave two generations after the Nazis created vampirism and took over the world. Sophie lives in Haven, the Pacific island nation where humanity retreated after the truce with the undead Third Reich (if there were prior residents, they're invisible in mostly occidental Haven). Sophie adores her secret vampire boyfriend, Val, to whom she smells "intoxicating." Val hides secrets of his own: as a human, he was engaged to Sophie's grandmother; later, he had a fling with Sophie's mother. More important than Val's incestuous affections is his knowledge of who is murdering everyone Sophie loves. He won't tell her, so Sophie's willing to investigate even into the Third Reich, if she must. Bramble's New York-Gestapo-controlled, vampire-overrun-shows no sign of the evils to be expected of even a human Fuhrer, aside from one appallingly unconcerned mention that nearly all Jews have been murdered. This book's moral compass is seriously skewed. As Sophie adventures with cinematic intensity, she knows she's unlike the prejudiced Havenites, for she comprehends morality in shades of gray. Why, this sophisticated miss understands that human misdeeds in the fight for survival against total annihilation are comparable to the horrors of Auschwitz, an equation drawn with a straight narrative face. A world ruled by Hitler ought to evoke at least a smidgen of horror, but this overstuffed slog overwhelms the horrifyingly real vileness of Nazism with vampiric banalities. (Science fiction. 13-15)

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September 1, 2015
Grades 8-11 The Third Reich is in its seventieth year, having won WWII by developing and then releasing Gamorrah, a virus that turned most of humanity into vampires. The last human enclave is Haven: a vaguely Orwellian Pacific Island nation founded after a truce between the vampiric Nazis and the humans. Here the official age of adulthood for girls is 17, and women are partnered with government-selected husbands if unmarried by age 26. Seventeen-year-old Sophie is conflicted; she, a human, is in love with Valentine, a vampire who works in the embassy of the Third Reich on Haven. When the people closest to her begin getting murdered, Sophie turns to Val for answers that he refuses to provide. Traumatized by the violence and determined to uncover the truth, Sophie embarks on a dangerous investigation that leads her into the heart of the Third Reich in North America: New York City. Layers upon layers of conspiracy, moral ambiguity, Faustian pacts, and gore make this an engrossing, if overwrought and somewhat predictable, mash-up.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)