Title: Dark Star (Dark Star #1)
Author: Bethany Frenette
Release Date: October 23, 2012 (hardcover)
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 368
Source: Copy provided by publisher

Overall: 3.5 Stars

Summary:

Audrey Whitticomb has nothing to fear. Her mother is the superhero Morning Star, the most deadly crime-fighter in the Twin Cities, so it’s hard for Audrey not to feel safe. That is, until she’s lured into the sweet night air by something human and not human—something with talons and teeth, and a wide, scarlet smile.

Now Audrey knows the truth: her mom doesn’t fight crime at night. She fights Harrowers—livid, merciless beings who were trapped Beneath eons ago. Yet some have managed to escape. And they want Audrey dead, just because of who she is: one of the Kin.

To survive, Audrey will need to sharpen the powers she has always had. When she gets close to someone, dark corners of the person’s memories become her own, and she sometimes even glimpses the future. If Audrey could only get close to Patrick Tigue, a powerful Harrower masquerading as human, she could use her Knowing to discover the Harrowers’ next move. But Leon, her mother’s bossy, infuriatingly attractive sidekick, has other ideas. Lately, he won’t let Audrey out of his sight.

When an unthinkable betrayal puts Minneapolis in terrible danger, Audrey discovers a wild, untamed power within herself. It may be the key to saving her herself, her family, and her city. Or it may be the force that destroys everything—and everyone—she loves. 

My Thoughts: 
The thrilling book cover for Bethany Frenette's Dark Star featuring a girl fearlessly standing on the ledge of a high-rise building drew me in right away. When I read its just as awesome plot premise, I knew I just had to get my hands on a copy of the book! Dark Star is very much an introduction to the series, with lots of pages dedicated in the book to explaining the secret world of the Kin who protect humanity from Harrowers.

Audrey is really great at throwing herself into dangerous situations, she's just not so great at getting out of them. Because she has been raised ignorant about her Kin heritage and only discovers it in Dark Star after mysterious murders begin to occur, there's a lot of world-building information that often slows down the plot. Audrey has always believed her Mom to be the famous superhero Morning Star who stops crime at night, but she actually fights much more frightening adversaries.

Leon and Audrey were seriously adorable together, and you can easily tell from the very beginning that he cares much more for her than he lets on. Audrey tries to view him only as her mother's infuriating sidekick, ignoring the pattering in her heart whenever she's near him. The romance is light in Dark Star, but the moment when Audrey finally admits how deep her feelings have become for Leon is well worth the wait.

Too often in YA novels, the presence of adults are unnoticed or don't play a strong role, but this isn't the case with Dark Star. Audrey acts out as a rebellious teenager when her Mom tries to keep her safe and out of danger, but you also realize just how much Audrey's mother has sacrificed in the past and why she isn't exactly forthcoming with answers.

While I really enjoyed and liked reading Dark Star, I still thought the book could have been better once I finished it. I'm definitely hoping for faster pacing and a less dependent heroine who needs rescuing in the next book in the series. Bethany Frenette has envisioned an intriguingly dark world which I can't wait to learn more about in the sequel, Burn Bright!  

Thanks so much to Hachette Book Group Canada for providing this review copy! You can learn more about Bethany Frenette's Dark Star on Disney-Hyperion's unRequired Reading website, and if you're not already doing so, don't forget to follow HBG Canada on Twitter and "like" their Facebook page!