Excerpt
 I can’t breathe. My lungs hurt from the effort. Where is she? Where’s my daughter?

I’m shaking and full of dread and I absolutely can’t live if anything bad has happened to her. Please, God, let her be okay. Please!

My sluggish heartbeat turns to a pounding of adrenaline. I rush to the front of the house and burst onto the porch. The first thing I see is the dead raccoon that Pa left beside the house, now swarmed by flies. I spin toward where I know Mama will be sitting.

Beneath the long-ago burnt-out porch light—now a cemetery for moths—Mama sips at her tea. She’s cozy, all wrapped in her cotton robe as though nothing is wrong. The glow of morning sun catches the reddish hues of her graying blonde hair.

“Where is she?” I ask, grasping the doorframe to keep my weak body balanced.

Mama jumps. Her tea splashes as she shakily lowers the cup to her lap. “Oh, Rose. Please don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”

I’m met with silence. She shifts in the porch swing and lowers her gaze. Her face is all puffy, her eyes red.

I narrow my eyes. “Where’s Anna? You know. I can tell you do.”

Then I see it—that flash of a smile that is completely devoid of happiness. Her instinctual defense to hide whatever she is really feeling. But this time, even she can’t hold that smile in place.

I’ve lived on the wrong side of secrets long enough to know when someone is hiding something. And that’s exactly what Mama is doing.

I step closer, jabbing my finger in her face. “Tell me! I know you know where she is! What did you do to her?”

I’m shaking. My hands clench and my heart pounds in my ears. Ma stands, the teacup tumbling from her lap. She fumbles for it, then lets it go. She paces, then sits again. Her hands flit around, from her face, to smooth her dress, twisting in her lap. She’s coming undone, about to fall apart completely, and I don’t care one bit.

“WHERE’S ANNA?”

“Your Pa loves us,” she says finally, her words hidden behind her hand as she talks. “He’s protecting your reputation.”

“His reputation?” I say, incredulous.

She smiles weakly. “You’ll understand one day.”

I won’t ever understand. Mama had been good to me once, but ever since the Darkness came, she’s someone else. A woman stuck between denial and oblivion.

 “Where’s Anna?” I ask again, but already I have that sinking feeling in my stomach. The pain of the birth ebbs, replaced by a fresh rush of adrenaline.

“It’s for the best.” Mama pinches the bridge of her nose. “We can be a family again, the way we’re supposed to be. Your Pa’s learned his lesson. We all make mistakes, Rose. The Lord implores us to forgive.”

Pa’s truck crunches over the gravel driveway and starts down the road, tearing away from us. He must have her. I can’t even think straight, can’t think beyond the thought that my daughter must be okay. That she can’t be hurt. That Pa can’t take her away from me. I’m sick with panic and fearing the worst. I can’t lose her.

The dusty blue truck kicks up dirt as Pa halts at the end of our road. He’s on his way to hide the evidence of what he’s done. He can’t stand to look at her, to be reminded of the monster that lives inside of him. He already tried to convince me to give her up. I considered it, but only for the sake of protecting her from him. But it wasn’t his decision. Anna was never his. She is a product of his abuse, of his drunkenness and Mama’s cowardliness.

But she is still my child. 

 

 
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This review was originally posted on Bookish Things & More

I found that I liked this more than I like the first in the series which is saying a lot because I really liked that book. This one fills in more of the background on the different supernatural creatures in the series and that was really interesting to me. ( )

I found that I liked this more than I like the first in the series which is saying a lot because I really liked that book. This one fills in more of the background on the different supernatural creatures in the series and that was really interesting to me. ( )

I found that I liked this more than I like the first in the series which is saying a lot because I really liked that book. This one fills in more of the background on the different supernatural creatures in the series and that was really interesting to me. ( )

When I first started reviewing, one of the first books I reviewed was [b:The Forever Girl|21428915|The Forever Girl (The Forever Girl #1)|Rebecca Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394592934s/21428915.jpg|18112300]. It wasn’t my normal genre to read, but I soon grew to love the book and explore the genre, as well. From that book alone, I knew I’d probably be hooked on the series. Now, about two years later, I had the opportunity to read book two in the series, Come, the Dark. The wait was well worth it.

Even though this is book two in The Forever Girl series, it’s not a direct sequel to the first book. That book was the start of Sophia’s journey, while book two starts Cordovae’s journey. She’s a new character to the series and even comes from a different time, which makes it all the most interesting.

This book starts out with Rose in Georgia in the 1960s, having her father’s child. That situation’s a little awkward to read about; though as the story progresses, I had a better understanding of the situation than I did at the beginning of the novel. Soon after Rose gives birth, she’s thrown back in time to the period of time that the Salem Witch Trials occurred. She’s not only thrown into a foreign time, she’s also thrown into the middle of a war between paranormal races. While here Rose, now called Abigail (the body she inhabits) and Cordovae (her spirit’s name, I’ll use this name for now on) meets William and Tess, the two Ankou destined to join her in saving Salem, and humanity.

The story was great, and I that think new readers can pick this up without missing a beat if they haven’t read The Forever Girl. However, I had to dive into my memory banks from book one a little bit for some details of the different races, when they weren’t explained as well as they could have been. In the book’s defense, Cordovae never bothers to ask for much explanation until it’s almost too late.

I wasn’t too connected with Cordovae for most of the book, to be honest. Her obsession with her “past” life and getting back to her baby, while admirable and natural, was a bit too strong I felt. Even when given the facts about how she could return, she fought against what she needed to do and was selfish. Let’s just say if got her into a bit of trouble a few times. The two other main characters, William and Tess, were easier to understand and “like”, though I feel like Cordovae knew them more than the reader got to in some aspects.

I was pleased to see Adrian, a Cruor, in this book. He’s a more involved character from The Forever Girl and seeing some of his history helped develop him more as well as tie the entire TFG universe together. I also enjoyed how things once they got moving a bit more in the later part of the book, played out. I was surprised by some of the events that unfolded and that’s always a great thing for a book to do. There are still some things I’m shocked by (in a good way).

Overall, Come, the Dark was well worth the wait. Seeing more of a focus on the Ankou race (a barely mentioned race in book one) helped bring a fresh viewpoint to this series. It was also interesting to see Hamilton play with the idea of time travel and the spirit world with the timelines. The only sad thing is that book three isn’t written yet. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again now, The Forever Girl books will definitely be ones I’m eager to read for years to come. ( )