**REVIEW** Dark Star by Bethany Frenette

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.

Release Date: October 23, 2012

Published By:  Disney Hyperion

Review Copy:  Hardback, 368 pages

*purchased 

Review

    So this is a book that I fell in love with the cover originally.  Then I read the description and I was on a I have to have it mission.  To top my need for this one off Gabby from Chapter by Chapter raved about it.  After sitting on my shelf for way too long this book finally came off and I'm glad it did.  It wasn't quite the Superhero book I was expecting but I enjoyed it all the same.

  Audrey has never really lived in what people would consider normal but her family is the normal to her.  Well her mother is the only family she believes she has left and she is the Morning Star.  Lucy (Audrey's mom) is basically a superhero extraordinaire and a force not to be messed with.  I though at first she was a little hard on Audrey but once you realize that she isn't out on the streets just breaking up knife fights and regular crime, I understood.  No the Guardians (supers) aren't people that are just genetically advanced, they are o much more and they are essentially the Harrowers (bad guys) that they fight to keep the cities safe from.  I won't go too deep into that because I want you to read this to understand it.  Basically Audrey is special and though she may not be the ultimate key, she plays a part that you don expect.

  Audrey was a fun character to read.  Though she wasn't happy to not be a Guardian like her mother, she had what was called a "Knowing."  She didn't see visions or predict the future but she had Nav cards that could help read the turnout of things and got feeling about people and situations at times.  She is determined/stubborn and I loved it.  I have a serious soft spot for stubborn characters.  Probably because I relate to that, once I have something stuck in my head there is no going back.  Though at times I was irritated at her inability to ask for help, the people around her constantly hounding her to stay home, stay behind made me understand why.  Quite frankly if everyone treated me like a china doll I would do whatever needed too.

  Though it wasn't what I expected I enjoyed it.  It was a different take on the Superhero thing.  They are not from a different planet, didn't get bitten by something and aren't  genetically mutated but something new and fresh.  Well it is for me at least.  I look forward to the next book and seeing what happens next.  There was some serious build up that was only partially resolved and I am almost the definition of the cat and curiosity issue.  With a unique story, great characters and an even writing style Bethany made this a series that I will be dying to get my hands on as it progresses.

Quotes

You can't be normal when your mom leaves the house every night as soon as dusk falls and returns with the first of blue of dawn, like some kind of vampire, or when she's strong enough to bend the barrel of a shotgun with barely a flick of her wrist.  When your mom's a superhero, normal isn't even in your vocabulary.

I knew that.  She didn't need protecting.  She was strong, and not just physically.  She'd had to be strong.But something was out there.  Something I felt in more ways than just Knowing.

He had me there.  I would've liked nothing more than to have been parceled out a share of my mother's abilities, and Gideon knew it.

"You want to have this conversation now?"  I eyed him suspiciously.  "You're all drugged up on pain medication, aren't you?"