Author: Megan Thomason
Genre: Young Adult SciFi, Dystopia
Format: Paperback, 324 pages
Published by: Createspace
Published: November 26th 2012 (first published November 13th 2012)
Buy it: Amazon
Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Earth’s benevolent non-profit by day, Thera’s totalitarian regime by night. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance™. Reality: the SCI subjects Second Chancers to strict controls and politically motivated science experiments like Cleaving—forced lifetime union between two people who have sex.
Meet Kira Donovan. Fiercely loyal, overly optimistic, and ensnared by the promise of a full-ride college scholarship, Kira signs the SCI Recruit contract to escape memories of a tragedy that left her boyfriend and friends dead.
Meet Blake Sundry. Bitter about being raised in Exile and his mother’s death, Blake’s been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. Current barrier to success? His Recruit partner—Miss Goody Two Shoes Kira Donovan.
Meet Ethan Darcton. Born with a defective heart and resulting inferiority complex, Ethan’s forced to do his SCI elite family’s bidding. Cleave-worthy Kira Donovan catches his eye, but the presiding powers give defect-free Blake Sundry first dibs.
Full of competing agendas, romantic entanglements, humor, twists and turns, daynight is Megan Thomason’s debut young adult dystopian novel and first in the daynight series.
PRAISE
“Sure to win over YA readers looking for a dangerous, dystopian adventure story” —Kirkus Reviews
“Gripping young adult dystopian novel; compelling conflicts; high stakes; powerful narrative; surprises keep coming; strong writing; page-turner; engaging characters; Readers will be hungry for the sequels.”—BlueInk Review (starred review)
“The writing is impressive and the story is a real page-turner. So many twists and turns… I’m hooked… I can’t wait for the next installment to come out…4.5 out of 5 stars”—Self-Publishing Review
“Delicious humor, intelligence, and sparkling dialogue” —Amazon reviewer
“Strangely brilliant and imaginative”—Amazon reviewer
“Grips you from the first page and keeps you wanting more”—Amazon reviewer
“Plot twists kept me reading till late at night”—Amazon reviewer
“Every page a thrilling experience”—Amazon reviewer
“Hooked from the first chapter and could not put it down”—Amazon reviewer
“It's like a CW fantasy TV show in a book with a really interesting environment.”—Amazon reviewer
“I'm a little tired of dystopian novels, but Daynight has a unique and fresh story line that didn't have any trouble keeping my interest.”—Amazon reviewer
REVIEW
I've always been interested to read YA dystopia novels because I think most often than not they have the key elements I look for in books: romance, adventure, (plenty of) twists and turns, and fantastic imagery. daynight met my expectations and more!
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS. I'm not going to lie. What got me gripped was the instant attraction between Kira and Ethan. It was so genuine without going overboard turning to insta love... it's not like Ethan could do anything about it though, but I'm not about to spoil that part for you. Ethan... is it me or are hot guys named Ethan? Ha. Ethan seemed perfect right off the bat and I enjoyed their initial chemistry.
But then Blake came into the picture and I got confused as hell! Seriously. It's been a while since I've read a novel with a love triangle in it. If I remember correctly the last one's Twilight and I've read that years ago. But Megan Thomason just had to torture readers. She made two equally swoon-worthy male leads and I couldn't choose a "team." I really don't like the whole "I'm on Team ____" thing but at 60% I was all, "Is this the part where I choose teams?" I liked that even if they were polar opposites, I wasn't forced to like one over the other. You know how some books do that? That didn't happen here. Sure, some things were total deal breakers but it wasn't like they were out of character so I wasn't left frustrated.
All throughout the story Kira's relationship with both guys deepened as they experienced more in Thera and I really loved how they both became Kira's support system. I loved Kira's tender moments with Blake and they way she was able to loosen up and enjoy whenever she was with Ethan. Now before you get the wrong idea, she wasn't dating both of them at the same time. It's... complicated. But of course, you'll know when you read it. It's not a Bella complex. It's just all part of the bigger story.
THE BIGGER STORY. This is where the all the fun starts. Somehow just when I start feeling like I have the slightest idea how the story's going to turn out, a new development comes up. It's typical in dystopia stories to have an oppressive government that has to be overthrown. But I think what made the difference in daynight was the multifaceted story line, essentially all leading to the same cause. I think that contributed to the story's richness. There are so many twists and turns in daynight but it was quite enjoyable! Everything fit perfectly in the story line.
All throughout the story Kira's relationship with both guys deepened as they experienced more in Thera and I really loved how they both became Kira's support system. I loved Kira's tender moments with Blake and they way she was able to loosen up and enjoy whenever she was with Ethan. Now before you get the wrong idea, she wasn't dating both of them at the same time. It's... complicated. But of course, you'll know when you read it. It's not a Bella complex. It's just all part of the bigger story.
THE BIGGER STORY. This is where the all the fun starts. Somehow just when I start feeling like I have the slightest idea how the story's going to turn out, a new development comes up. It's typical in dystopia stories to have an oppressive government that has to be overthrown. But I think what made the difference in daynight was the multifaceted story line, essentially all leading to the same cause. I think that contributed to the story's richness. There are so many twists and turns in daynight but it was quite enjoyable! Everything fit perfectly in the story line.
AND SHE WRITES LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW. This is actually what made me rate this book 5 stars. I really enjoyed Megan Thomason's writing style. If you read the author bio below, you'll see she's fluent in sarcasm and boy am I glad! I liked that the characters spoke like real people but I especially liked their sense of humor. Even the notorious Brad Darcton had his fair share of funny lines:
"And how often do parents get to catch their grown son having a sleepover with his female 'friend'? I just love those awkward situations, don't you?"Aside from that, I loved that the story's written in three different POVs. It helped me understand the story and the characters better. I really liked the flashbacks. Even though some were quite long, they were described so vividly; no time or page is wasted. Furthermore, the entire world and government of Thera was explained and described gradually which I think was a good move. I think if Megan just dumped everything in one chapter, that would've been incredibly boring.
OVERALL. daynight is definitely a must read. It was quite long but if I wasn't so busy with school work I think I would've been able to finish it faster - it's that engaging! It's the right combination of romance in a dystopia setting written wonderfully in a well-paced, mindblowing story. I can't wait for the next book!
My Rating:
(Refer to rating system)
About the author
Megan Thomason
Megan Thomason lives in paradise aka San Diego, CA with her husband and five children. A former software manager, Megan vastly prefers writing twisted tales to business, product, and marketing plans. When she isn't typing away on her laptop, she's reading books on her phone—over 600 in the last year—or attending to the needs of her family. Megan’s fluent in sarcasm, could potentially benefit from a 12-step program for road rage, struggles with a Hot Tamales addiction, loves world travel & fast cars and hates paperwork & being an insomniac. Daynight is Megan's first published novel, but fourth written one.
CONTACT INFORMATION
***I received an e-copy of this book for review.***
This review is based solely on my opinion.
BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY
$50 Amazon Gift Card
Signed copy of Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Signed copy of daynight
Ends 2/7/13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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