Review: Dark Ride by Caroline Green

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A mysterious boy. A haunting secret. 

A shiver crawled up my spine. It felt like the loneliest place in the world. For a second I thought I caught a snatch of music in the air, but it was just the wind whistling through cracks in the fairground hoardings. 

My instincts screamed, ‘Run away, Bel! Run away and never return!’ 

But instead my fingers closed around the ticket in my pocket. 

Admit one. 

Bel has never met anyone like Luka. And the day she follows him into the abandoned fairground, she is totally unprepared for the turn her life is about to take

Review

A thriller mystery in a murky sea side town that if not for chance may never have happened at all.  Sometimes the call of a question and curiosity can't be denied and as Bel discovers in Slumpton; sometimes fate is what's in charge of your decisions.  Timing is everything for her and Luca the strange quiet boy that she keeps bumping into.  Bel isn't where she wants to be and her family is divided without any really answers as to why and she's unhappy.  Luca is exactly who she needs in her life because he gives her an escape and she in return gives him companionship and hope.  His mum has disappear and with Bel's help they try to find out where she is and why she's disappear.  Though as they find out more and more their precious abandoned fair ground is at risk as well as people's lives.

I was sent this from Caroline Green and read it in a day or so because I just couldn't put it down.  I loved the way she played out the delicate relationship between Bel and her parents as they have their own issues that filter out into Bel's life.   Also the groaning friendship between Bel and Luca made my heart do that flippy floppy thing around my rib cage.  So cute and sad at the same time because you sort of know where the story may be going but still hope it can change it's path for their sake.  

Something that was pretty cool was the chapter titles because each time I read I usually think 'oh i'll just finish this chapter and go to sleep/eat/work etc' and then i'd see the next title and think 'well i can't stop now.  I need to see what that's all about!'  It's a little teaser to suck you into reading the whole book.  It works pretty well I can tell you.  Aside from the adorableness of Bel and Luca (side note: don't you just love the name Luca? Rolls off the tongue like honey)  I also had a real love for Bel's mum because it's almost like you see her story appearing in pieces and I just feel so sorry for her.  Her life has been turned upside down just like Bel and because Bel exists in her own little teen world she doesn't really notice.  So sad that I was proud that she tries not to let her world crumble around her when it could so easily do so.

Dark Ride is an emotive and harrowing tale where the puzzle pieces slowly come together and it's left to Bel and Luca to make them fit, bringing them closers as the solution tempts to tear them apart.  Excellent!

Rating: 8.5/10

Published by Piccadilly Press and is available here now