Jaime Reviews ~ A Drop of Night by Stefan Bachmann
By Stefan Bachmann
Published on March 15, 2016
Published by: Greenwillow Books
Source: Around the World ARC Tours
Published by: Greenwillow Books
Source: Around the World ARC Tours
Five gifted teenagers are selected out of hundreds of other candidates to fly to France and help with the excavation of a vast, underground palace buried a hundred feet below the suburbs of Paris. Built in the 1780's to hide an aristocratic family and a mad duke during the French Revolution, the palace was sealed after the aristocrats fled there. No one has set foot in it for over two centuries.
Now, in the present day, the teenagers enter with cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art security, scientists and chaperones. And then a brutal accident occurs. No way out. Caught in the dark.
They will have to fight to survive. But are they really alone in the depths?
A Drop of Night...
A Drop of Night was an adrenaline soaked thrill-ride from almost the beginning. While at first, I couldn't find any connection to any character, and just couldn't stand one, by the middle of the story I was rooting for them all. Stefan Bachmann has created an incredibly unique, intense YA thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat, heart-pounding.I feel like so many of the books that I have reviewed lately have been almost impossible to talk about without revealing spoilers, and A Drop of Night is no exception. Almost every aspect of this story is an important piece to the entire puzzle, and I don't want to ruin it for anyone. I can tell you that there are two stories happening simultaneously in these pages, and they are each equally important. The history of this family, and this secret underground palace, is woven between the pages of the present day story of five teens brought to see and research this palace for the first time. Both stories intertwine, and make the other better.
The characters in this story span 200 years and there isn't one that doesn't have his or her place. They range from Anouk, one of the teens brought in for the expedition, who has a massive chip on her shoulder, to Perdu, a man who doesn't remember who he is. There is a cocky jock, a sweet as ice cream girl, a quiet and reserved teenage boy and a fun-loving and silly teen boy. They each were important to this story, and brought something different to the table, They were all well thought out, much-needed characters, and whether I loved or hated them, they were wonderfully written.
While all of the little elements of this book were wonderful, the best by far is the world-building. The underground palace is a character in its own right. Traps, tricks, mazes and mirrors, this place is world-building gold.I couldn't get enough of the descriptions of each room, and could have read more and more about it, happily. It is a truly impressive work, this underground palace!
A Drop of Night was not at all what I expected, and I loved it all the more because of that. If you like thrill rides, stories with pulse-pounding action scenes, and stories that will pull every emotion to the surface, this one is absolutely for you. I am so glad that I took a chance on this book. I can promise it won't be the last of this authors stories that I dive right in to!
