Way Down Dark

Book Title: Way Down Dark

Author: J.P. Smythe

Date Started: June 24th 2015

Date Completed: June 27th 2015

Genres: Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Action
Quality Rating: Three Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

Final Rating: Three stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

Way Down Dark was a good, gritty sci-fi dystopian, but my problem was that I couldn't find much uniqueness or structure in the story. There might have been a few differences when it came to the social system, the setting, the violence - but in the end it echoed too many things I've seen time and time again (I think Dystopia as a genre suffers from this a lot due to previous successes and the growing reality of the premise in the real world).

I actually really liked Smythe's writing. We're given the story through a disrupted chronology and a somewhat passive first person narrator. Something I enjoyed about the first person was the freedom of the prose; personal narration often narrows the perspective of the world for no reason, whereas you can tell Chan isn't telling you everything but she's still explaining the world as we go along.

The biggest issue for me in the writing was the lack of atmosphere built up. I wasn't getting lost in the action of the drama because none of it really seemed real - even in the fictional sense. Even towards the climax or the plot reveals, they didn't surprise me because I wasn't really engaged in the world - the story I was able to follow and absorb, but it didn't make me excited or scared or anxious with anticipation.

The storyline was basically a mix of existing dystopians, albeit with a few little twists. But even the inclusion of 'Australia' as both the spaceship and the culture doesn't impact much in the long run. (Maybe it will in future books, but I stick to the principle that every book should be able to hold itself up alone.) Another issue focused around the repetition in the plot: the basically story is in two parts, and in both of them there was a serious problem with the same things happening again and again in each of them. This not only became quite boring, but it also made the story seem a lot more like day-to-day life, rather than a dramatic, tense story that was heading towards a climax.

The world itself I really enjoyed, and especially appreciated the exploration of the matriarchy. Pretty much every force on the ship is led by a woman, and not only was this a concept not often properly included, but was also just really nice and refreshing.

Although there was a good twist at the end, it didn't really shock me. I suppose partly because of how irrelevant it felt; the lack of tension; and how little it actually changed the situation (it might have affected the future of the trilogy, but it doesn't offer any answers for the first book). However, the cliffhanger was set up in the way that you do want to know what happens, and I probably will be continuing on with the story.

Characters were a slightly stronger aspect of this book, and I especially loved the inclusion of a wide variety of people, but also an awareness that you can only really properly develop a small handful of them.

Chan was an awesome protagonist who I liked from the offset. I've always liked strong, silent types, but having it from the daughter of an incredibly powerful, trusted woman in a world pretty much completely without governing or class. Admittedly, at times she was very stupid and didn't really get punished for it, but most of the time she had her priorities straight but also came across as an genuine person.

Although Jonah paled in comparison to Chan, it was interesting to see the effects of faith on the world. It wasn't particularly consistent or present in the whole book, and I think Jonah's personal experience could've been elaborated on, but it was still a nice addition in the story.

Somehow Way Down Dark ends up feelings both rushed and unnecessarily drawn out at the same time: the story is incredibly repetitive to fill up time, but then what seems like the important events feel very short. Strangely for the first book in a series, this novel feels a lot like a filler book. Smythe needed the characters to end up in a certain place, and despite needing to give all the exposition he only had a small amount of key parts of the book. The rest seemed to be filled with a similar day-to-day experience in the empty bits.

I have a lot of mixed feelings around Way Down Dark: overall it feels like a mature-seeming combination of lots of other dystopians with more to come from the story. There are some nice little differences, and a good amount of action, so if you're looking for more futuristic gritty adventures then you should pick it up.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25202767-way-down-dark