Dark Companion [Hardcover]

Marta Acosta (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 3, 2012

Jane Eyre meets Twilight in Dark Companion, a lush and romantic YA gothic tale about an orphaned girl who attends an exclusive private school and finds herself torn between the headmistress’s two sons.

Orphaned at the age of six, Jane Williams has grown up in a series of foster homes, learning to survive in the shadows of life. Through hard work and determination, she manages to win a scholarship to the exclusive Birch Grove Academy. There, for the first time, Jane finds herself accepted by a group of friends. She even starts tutoring the headmistress’s gorgeous son, Lucien. Things seem too good to be true.

They are.

The more she learns about Birch Grove’s recent past, the more Jane comes to suspect that there is something sinister going on. Why did the wife of a popular teacher kill herself? What happened to the former scholarship student, whose place Jane took? Why does Lucien’s brother, Jack, seem to dislike her so much?

As Jane begins to piece together the answers to the puzzle, she must find out why she was brought to Birch Grove—and what she would risk to stay there….

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Dark Companion:

“Compelling and romantic; a Jane Eyre for the Modern Age.”
—Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron King

“Recommended reading for teen gothic/vampire fiction fans as well as for Jane Eyre fans of any age. Bloody brilliant!” —LoveVampires.com

“Awesome stuff. Compelling and dynamic, Dark Companion lures you in, casting a distinct spell you won’t want to break. A modern Gothic with classic style.”
—Leanna Renee Hieber, bestselling author of the Strangely Beautiful and Magic Most Foul sagas

“This is the kind of book I wish I could have read when I was a teen. Jane is an inspiration to any young girl who doesn’t fit in or underestimates her own strengths.... A lovely, spiritual, uplifting story.”
—Patricia Altner, Patricia’s Vampire Notes

“I had the pleasure of an early read of the novel early last year and heartily recommend it.”
—Doug Knipe, SciFi Guy

“Reminiscent of the popular Twilight Series with the similar themes of angst ridden teenage love between two unlikely people. The writing is absolutely addictive and I could not put this book down for a second. The suspense, mystery, romance and paranormal all together make a very exciting book that is sure to impress readers of various genres. Overall, a breathtaking, beautiful novel that should not be missed.”  —Rachael Dimond, Enchanted By Books

“Takes the vampire legends in a whole different direction…With a whole new spin on vampirism and an easy-to-read, yet well researched novel, teenagers could expect an intriguing love triangle, between an orphan girl named Jane and the headmistress’s mysterious sons.”  —Neurotic Review

From the Author

Dark Companion was inspired by my love for Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. When I was a girl reading this classic gothic novel, my heart broke for orphan Jane, who was thrown out of her home and sent to brutal Lowood School for Girls. Jane had to survive by her wits, but she was always at the mercy of more powerful people.

What would a girl like Jane experience in today's world? She would endure ugliness and violence, and be exploited by those who seek isolated and vulnerable prey. Readers should be warned that some of the scenes are disturbing, just as classic Gothic novels are disturbing. (The thought of young Jane Eyre sleeping beside the cold body of her friend Helen always gives me shivers.)

My character Jane Williams discovers that education can provide her with an escape from misery and poverty. She studies as if her life depends on it -- because it does. When she's offered a full scholarship and her own cottage at the exclusive Birch Grove Academy, she believes she's safe. But, as another character says, "The rich are different. They hide the bodies and think they're so clean and nice."

Jane is a survivor, but she's still young, inexperienced, and lonely. She makes terrible mistakes -- because even smart people do foolish things when their emotional needs override their intellect.

The dark themes don't dominate the story, and there are many positive characters and messages about friendship and love. I had so much fun writing the character of Mary Violet Holiday, a cheerful, poetry-spouting girl who immediately befriends Jane. I used the gothic trope of "twinning" in this book, and Mary Violet's happy family and loving mother are the bright twin to the Headmistress's dark, mysterious family. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Tor Teen; First Edition edition (July 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765329646
• ISBN-13: 978-0765329646
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #450,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marta Acosta is the author of the soon-to-be-released THE SHE-HULK DIARIES (June 18, 2013), DARK COMPANION, a young adult gothic, the award-winning CASA DRACULA series, and NANCY'S THEORY OF STYLE (under the pen-name Grace Coopersmith). She has loved stories ever since the day she learned to read. Marta was so excited that she couldn't wait to get in the house from school; she sat with her mother on the front steps and read a book to her.

She has degrees in Creative Writing and English & American Literature from Stanford University and is a Steinbeck Institute honoree and a U.C. Chicano Literary Contest winner. She was a frequent contributor of features and op-eds to the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE and the CONTRA COSTA TIMES.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Marta still lives there with her family and dogs. She's always happy to hear from readers.

PLEASE GO TO THE KINDLE STORE to see the new editions of her books with bonus features and wonderful cover art and design by Nan Richards of Nan Richards Illustration

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a good companion May 30, 2012

By Amanda TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Let's see...where do I start with this book? It's hard to say -my thoughts on it are so mixed, almost confused about what I actually read. After studying the cover, I was concerned that this was yet another teen vampire romance -and I'm completely sick of them. I want something out of my book these days, something more original. Luckily, at least, the book was more original than the title implied.

The book opens with the back story of Jane Williams, an orphan who has lived a hard life in various foster homes. Through her hard work, Jane lands a scholarship to the prestigious Birch Grove Academy, where for once in her life Jane finds a home, complete with friends and secret crushes -all set in a mysterious town with its own secrets.

Well, there were some things in Dark Companion that I absolutely loved. Some of the passages were gorgeously written -so gorgeous that I re-read some of them and paused to reflect on how beautiful Acosta's words were. Dark Companion also had some great characters, especially Mary Violet, who kept me laughing on virtually every page. She was a nice balance to Jane, a strong and intelligent protagonist who was willing to work for what she wanted and wasn't going to take crap from anyone.

Well, until about half-way through the book when Jane's character seemed to do an unexpected 180 and allowed herself to be used and abused by a terrible romance. Not only was it out of character, but it just made me downright mad. That was the start of when the novel went downhill for me. Things started to get a little strange (and not in a good way). The plot started to get lost, and I was just unhappy with the characters. The worst part? The big reveal at the end just....didn't work for me. Very, very odd and it just...made me cringe....

I really think this book could have been better. It had so much potential and had some great moments, but overall come out as uneven and inconsistent. Read more ›

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Really What I Thought it Would Be... May 29, 2012

By Lee VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Dark Companion is one of those books that had its absolutely fantastic moments, which you rave about, and yet it also had some downright aggravating moments that made me want to rave in a non-good way. And yet....I still couldn't manage to put the book down until I finished.

This novel opens with a mini prologue of our heroine, Jane, as a child trying to escape something vile that totally sent chills down my spine, and left me wanting desperately to flip to the end to see what the mess that was about! But I resisted. From there, Dark Companion starts with a slightly cold, slightly bitter teenage Jane leaving the slums, and her foster home for a chance at a better life in Greenwood. She worked hard, and managed to snag a scholarship at an exclusive all-girls school. Not only that, but she also gets a stipend for going to school, gets to live on campus in a quaint cottage, with a bathroom all to herself, and she finds out she can make more money on the side by tutoring the headmistresses son Lucky. For a person who had nothing like Jane to actually have a future that's bright, is a dream come true! But her new home is not all rainbows and sunshine. Jane is still very wary of people, especially the new friends that surround her. But the one area where she threw caution to the wind is in Lucky. When she first sees him, he takes her breath away with his utter handsomeness, and she is instantly hooked. Lucky's older brother, Jack, also takes Jane's breath away, but unfortunately it's because he's either teasing her mercilessly or trying to run her over with his bike. Which he says was an accident. But as Jane settles into her new home, she has the remarkable feeling that something is not right.... Especially when she learns that there was another scholarship orphan kid before her who apparently fled the school after a long lost uncle found her, a school nurse mysteriously died, and no body was ever found, plus the cryptic warnings that seem to surround her by various Greenwood natives. For a person who is not too fond of emotions or fantasy, Jane will realize that sometimes you simply have to believe.

Dark Companion, was, in regard to the book as a whole, a pretty darn good read with slightly spooky undercurrents. And I truly was hooked until halfway through the book. Then Jane finds out a portion of what is wrong with the school, and then I was so ticked off I wanted to throttle her!!! For a person who is all scientific, and scoffs at false emotion, I had such a hard time seeing her in a role that put her in a demeaning position. She let someone hurt her (I don't want to give it away, but it wasn't sexually), who doesn't even like her, but she has this false hope that one day he'll fall in love with her. For a person from the slums, whose good friend is a street walker, you'd think Jane would be smart in not being used. However, she clung to this false hope for nearly the remainder of the book. I was so disappointed that it made me consider skipping to the end. Luckily, it did pan out towards the end, and Jane finally managed to open her eyes. Lucky, you will end up hating just like I did, but Jack, to me, was the shining star of this book. He was funny, quirky, messy, had a great sense of honor and morals, protective instincts, just an all-around good guy. He literally made the novel for me. Well...him and Jane's friend, Mary Violet who was a hoot! As for the plot or what the mystery behind the story was...it was different, but it also wasn't...real...to me. Like I just couldn't envision it, but this was probably due to my irritation over Jane being used for a pretty face. Again...don't want to give it away, but I will say I wished it had really been "monsters" as the mystery, and that the mystery linking the prologue for Jane would have been more supernatural. That was a letdown too. I truly thought she might be a fairy or something like that. Apparently she's just...plain Jane. Dark Companion was still a good read, minus the middle, and I would recommend it for all those who like mystery, don't get upset over the heroine willingly being used, and slight romance. Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Few Mixed Feelings September 4, 2012

By Nikki Wang

Format:Hardcover

Possibly the most non-professional review in the last 4 months. Before that, all reviews were bad. )

I HAVE. SUCH. MIXED. FEELINGS. ABOUT THIS BOOK.

Jane definitely one of my favorite characters. She seemed to think she was better than everyone; the kids in her group home because she was smarter and got into the Birch Grove Academy, but better than the Birch Grove girls because she clawed her way from the bottom. In fact, even one of the secondary characters stated "...acting like you don't think you're better than them, when you do because you did it on your own.". She annoyed me so much and seemed shallow and pathetic. She was attracted to Lucky because he was handsome and rich and tutored him to be nearer to him and get money. Really? And this was when she literally just met him. Meanwhile, she immediately hated Jack, Lucky's brother which annoyed me furthermore because hey, I'm definitely a fan of him! But the pathetic part? Even after everything Lucky had done, she was still obsessed with him, still longing for him and I wanted to rip her throat out. So. Badly. AND she was so, so blind about who she liked, and what made her "alive". Sigh. And, just throwing this out there--who gets in a car with someone you met once in a store?

On the other hand, the writing was absolutely lovely and smooth. It flowed well and told the story beautifully. I was instantly captivated by the prologue and the mysterious things happening at Birch Grove sealed the deal. Secrets were everywhere and while I predicted one (Well, sort of. Let's just say that no one sparkles.) the rest blew me away!
Throughout the entire book. I fell asleep thinking about what would happen next in this book and I was not disappointed.

As for world building, it was definitely a bit...mixed.... And as a sort of spoiler, science (mutations.) and supernatural (Lady of the Wood) were swirled in Dark Companion. I loved that while Jane uncovered each secret, other things were happening, things that didn't seem very important then, but were suddenly essential clues to the ending. This book, admittedly, doesn't have many plot twists, but it's paced quickly and the few it had definitely shocked me! Dark companion isn't all fight-action-y, but it has this subtle-action. Is it bad to compare it to politics bookified? Because it was definitely like that, in my crazy logical way.

In a few words, Marta Acosta can weave a scene, a world, a feeling, missing nothing. Main character aside, Dark Companion was an amazing gothic romance perfect for late-night reading daytime dreaming! Definitely pick this one up soon! It'll stun your socks off for sure! Read more ›