Dark Life by Kat Falls

Dark Life by Kat Falls
Dark Life #1
Release Date: May 1, 2010 (US)
Publisher: Scholastic
Rating: All Time Favourite

Dive deep into the vivid underwater world of Dark Life!

The oceans rose, swallowing the lowlands. Earthquakes shattered the continents, toppling entire regions into the rising water. Now, humans live packed into stack cities. The only ones with any space of their own are those who live on the ocean floor: the Dark Life.

Ty has spent his whole life living deep undersea. When outlaws attack his homestead, he finds himself in a fight to save the only home he has ever known. Joined by Gemma, a girl from Topside, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and discovers some dark secrets to Dark Life. Secrets that threaten to destroy everything. - Goodreads

Dark Life is action packed, and it wasn’t slow for a second. There was very little romance, which I enjoyed, although there was still some there. Kat Falls does an amazing job with describing the world, and I was so intrigued by how people were living after the oceans had risen. There are lots of new inventions, and the science fiction of the aspect of the book works really well with the main plot line.

There are also lots of twists and turns in this book, a couple of which I guessed and a few that I didn't. Even though I already knew a couple of the twists, it didn't ruin the story for me at all because it has amazing build up and the action doesn't stop.

Dark Life is told from Ty’s point of view, which I think is a brilliant decision by Kat Falls. I think he was a really good protagonist – brave, loyal, intelligent – and he had a great voice. He was really mature for his age, which I enjoyed because it helped lead the story.

I liked Gemma as a character too. She was very scared of a lot of things under the ocean, as it was a whole new world to her, but she battled her fears in order to find her brother. She was a strong character, yet she also had flaws and fears, which I enjoyed.

One of the things I most enjoyed about the book was the villain, Shade. He’s the leader of a group of outlaws, and he was everything that a villain should be. He was pretty scary, rough and mysterious and he had an incredible back story that we’re told about and I loved reading about him so, so much. I hope this back story comes up some more in the next books in the series too, because I’d love to know more.

This book has climbed to the top of my favourites pile, and I cannot wait to check out Rip Tide which is the next book in the series. I highly recommend this to just about everybody. Although this book is classed as middle grade, it does have a more mature feel to it and I think that anyone can enjoy it.