Synopsis:
One, Two they’re coming for you.
Three Four, Lock your door.
Five Six, Darkling Tricks
Seven Eight will seal your fate,
Nine Ten they will kill again
The 1800’s city of Geneva is plagued by Darklings, cloaked figures who kidnap and murder its impoverished residents during the night.
While the rich hide safely behind their high stone walls the poor are forced to patrol their own borders to ward off the evil foes.
When a nameless, deformed indentured servant comes of age he is forced into the night to protect the city,
he becomes an unlikely hero that saves the mayor’s daughter from a Darkling attack.
But the nameless boy realizes there is more to the Darklings than the city’s residents have been told.
Joined by the mayor’s daughter and his only friend another local boy, he investigates the cause of the attacks.
What they uncover is far blacker than the cloaks of the Darklings…
Favorite Lines:
“It was the first time she smiled at him, and Lo felt an unexplainable sense of euphoria. There was nothing extraordinary about the girl, but he felt like everything would be okay at that moment.
“It’s nothing. Nervous laughter. I always laugh when I’m about to be hung.”
My Opinion:
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book follows a nameless boy who starts his story working away on a farm for his master and mistress before he realizes his purpose and is bestowed a name of his own by the friends he makes along the way. The strongest theme throughout this book is that of friendship and I think Comeau did an excellent job strengthening those bonds throughout the story. I would classify this as a coming of age story with notes of friendship, horror, fantasy, action, adventure, romance, and mystery all wrapped up in a young adult novel.
I did notice that all the women seemed to have red hair which may have just been a coincidence. Paragraphs also had a lot of the same starters such as “The boy” and “The madman” which I think caused a bit of repetitiveness when read that could have flowed more smoothly had the paragraphs been started differently at points.
I loved the cliffhanger that the ending left us on and will be interested to see where the author takes us next. It also made me wonder if there were Easter eggs that I missed that hinted at the cliffhanger had I known to look for them sooner. My question is: is the doctor the same one mentioned in the prelude 50 years prior? If so, how?
Summary:
Overall, this was a cute, coming of age story that I would compare to Harry Potter but with undead monsters and alchemy madmen instead of wands and magic (at least for now). If you like fantasy, horror, action, adventure, mystery, and young adult books then this book could be for you. Happy reading!
Nameless vs. the Army of the Dead
Likely Story 