Published: March 01, 2013
Words: 115,607 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781301074297

Short description

With no memories, Alyssa stumbles into a dark world populated by witches with frightening powers. Even more terrifying are the monsters who rule over the land - vampires and other awful creatures have taken over, forcing the witches behind stone walls, afraid to venture outdoors. But Alyssa finds that as she kills certain monsters, memories return to her, of Earth and the boy she left behind.

Extended description

Alyssa opened her eyes to darkness. And in the first flash of light provided by a gathering storm, she could make out a ring of bodies surrounding her.

With no memory of who she is, Alyssa stumbles into a dark world populated by witches. The witches are powerful, and demonstrate frightening powers, but even more terrifying are the monsters who rule over the land. Vampires, werewolves and other awful creatures of the night have taken over, forcing the witches behind stone walls, afraid to venture outdoors. But Alyssa finds that as she kills certain monsters, memories return to her, memories of a life on Earth, and the boy she left behind.

The quest to collect her memories and piece together the puzzle of what has happened to her is a daunting one, with betrayals and sacrifices every step of the way. But Alyssa is determined to fight for a world that is not her own, destroying powerful monsters along the way, so that she can return home to the boy she is coming to love through t.. (Read more) Alyssa opened her eyes to darkness. And in the first flash of light provided by a gathering storm, she could make out a ring of bodies surrounding her.

With no memory of who she is, Alyssa stumbles into a dark world populated by witches. The witches are powerful, and demonstrate frightening powers, but even more terrifying are the monsters who rule over the land. Vampires, werewolves and other awful creatures of the night have taken over, forcing the witches behind stone walls, afraid to venture outdoors. But Alyssa finds that as she kills certain monsters, memories return to her, memories of a life on Earth, and the boy she left behind.

The quest to collect her memories and piece together the puzzle of what has happened to her is a daunting one, with betrayals and sacrifices every step of the way. But Alyssa is determined to fight for a world that is not her own, destroying powerful monsters along the way, so that she can return home to the boy she is coming to love through the memories she recollects.
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Tags

vampires, memories, magic, amnesia, witches, werewolves, demons, monsters, celtic, memory loss, quest, warlocks, sorcerers, demonology, runes, alternate, lilith, familiars, mirror universe, monster world

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Reviews

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Review by: AppleSticker on May 10, 2013 :
I got this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

When I first read the synopsis for this book, it sounded exactly like my kind of thing - dark and gritty, filled with all sorts of monsters, a desperate situation, and a strong female protagonist. And it delivered on all accounts.

The story follows Alyssa, a young woman who wakes up in a field surrounded by dead bodies, with no idea how she got there, or who she is. But she does have some memories, basic memories, and she knows that the world she is currently in is not her own. She soon learns of the dark and demonic creatures that roam this earth, of the fighting skills she posses, and the magic that is in every human being - except her, that is. Alyssa soon discovers that killing certain creatures, who had been branded with the pentagram, helps her to regain memories of her old life, and so with her little band of friends she sets off to find the creatures and unravel the mystery.

The biggest pros of this book were the way Dave weaved common myths and stories into the story, and the ones he created were just as interesting. They were well written, chilling and enthralling at the same time.

The cons included a few typos, same badly written sentences, and one occasion of the wrong character name being used (which resulted in a very confusing moment for me - good thing a pdf makes it easy to search for things!) I also felt some of the character relations and conversations were a bit forced, and there were times when the plot oscillated between moving too slow and moving too fast. There was a fantastic twist right at the end - and I mean right at the end, with about 5 pages to go, and that could have been explored more.

But overall a great book, would be 4.5 stars if that were possible.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Zainab Hassan on April 26, 2013 :
The thing about this book is that once you get to know what the author is talking about, some parts become so predictable. Like when she figured that one of the girls was a druid, it was so obvious that the least likely one was it. Also when she really started to get attached to that world, anyone could guess that she would make the decision to stay there. The one thing that really surprised me was that Eric is Prince Air. I totally couldn't see it coming. Overall, i don't want to give a bad rating but it's not very descriptive. Sorry, but that's my opinion
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Johanna Thiemann on April 26, 2013 :
It is really hard for me to review this book. I know that authors put so much hard work into their books. And it truly breaks my heart when I give a bad rating, especially to an indie author. But in the end, this is all about my personal opinion and I just have to be honest.

Dark Genesis is about Alyssa, a young woman who wakes up in a world full of magic. She knows that she originally stems from the Earth as we know it because she has memories of cars, technology and so on. Yet, she doesn't remember anything concerning her own life. Soon, she finds out that when she kills one of the monsters that this world seems to hold many of with a pentagramm engraved somewhere on its body, she will retrieve one precious memory from her past.

So, Alyssa sets out on a mission to retrieve her memories and subsequently free the world of witches from its baddest monsters. Because in the alternate world, everyone is born with some kind of magic. The different coven of witches have produced numerous kinds of monsters in their pursuit of power. Alyssa quickly finds friends even though some of them seem to keep turning out to be traitors. I thought the plot was quite predictable most of the times (there was one surprise in the end that I didn't see coming).

There's a lot of potential in this world-building and it could have been a wonderful novel. But, I couldn't really get into it, not into the story, the characters, the world, anything. I also wasn't a big fan of the writing either. Here an example:

"The hardship that they'd shared had obviously had the adverse effect of bringing them closer in the end, however. Something good could come out of something as awful as what they'd experienced."

Ehm, alright. Like I'm so dumb that I can't figure this out myself and it has to be spelled out right into my face. I don't like to be treated as a stupid reader. Emotions, deductions, all this should be between the lines and up to the reader's interpretation while reading. I couldn't feel anything for the characters. Especially Alyssa wasn't very authentic, I just didn't believe her. Whenever she said she felt bad or happy, I couldn't believe it.

I was also a bit confused with the world-building. If this was a completely alternate version of the Earth, why would the witches call Japan also Japan? I mean why do they come up with the same name for it? And that was just one of many questions.

So, even though it sounded promising I didn't like the novel very much. I can still see why others might like it though which is why I still give it a 2.5 fairy rating. The author has an extremely creative mind and the story never slows down and moves with speed and action.

At the end, there are still questions left unanswered. But unfortunately, this doesn't leave me curious for the next part in what is supposed to be a trilogy (which should definitely be marked as such on Goodreads).

*I received this book by Dave Ferraro to read and review for the Read It & Reap programm of the Goodreads group Shut Up & Read.*
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Sue Klassen on April 25, 2013 : (no rating)
So I guess I owe a review for Dark Genesis. I feel bad because I really wanted to like this book. It caught my attention right from the beginning and was fairly intriguing right up until the plot twist was revealed. Right when Alyssa finds out what she needs to do to get back to her own world, is where it lost me. I found that the story line started to slow down, became somewhat implausible and the characters started fading to a two-dimensional cartoon.There was just no depth to any of them and I felt that I had stumbled into a child's fairy tale! I am really sorry but I can't recommend this book to anyone except maybe a 12 year girl?? I just couldn't even finish it. I don't normally give up in the middle of a book, but this one just seemed a waste of time and I couldn't continue.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Amy Townsend on April 25, 2013 :
Loved this story. Wasn't sure what to think when Alyssa woke up in the middle of a field surrounded by naked people, but the story took off and I LOVED it! Couldn't read fast enough
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Kim Jackson on April 25, 2013 :
This was a good book. I would love to give it 5 stars but there were quite a few verb tense and grammatical errors. There were also a few instances when the author jumped to another place and time leading the reader to wonder if they had skipped a page. This book had quite a few unexpected twists and an awesome plot. I will not put any spoilers in her but I will let you know that it was kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer-ish. Plenty of action scenes with some underlying love interests. All in all a very good read. I give it a thumbs up. I look forwarding to reading more from this author.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Angie Krieter on April 24, 2013 :
My Rating: 4.5/5.0

First Impression: I started out very confused. Once the main character gets her bearings, the plot picks up and it gets much easier to read. I couldn’t stop reading after that happened.

More Detailed:
Overall, this book is very well written. It has action, romance, paranormal aspects, and everyday problems that most people will be able to relate to. The plot had slow points, but it had enough action points to balance it all out. There were few errors in the book, so it was a very clear read most of the time.

The characters in this book were all very interesting, but they were still relatable. I loved that Alyssa, the main character, was such a bad ass with her ninja-like skills. The only thing that bothered me about Alyssa was at first she was hesitant to be trusting, but then as the book keeps going, she just tells her story to everyone who becomes her “friend”. Otherwise, I really liked Alyssa and I wish I could do some of the things she could.

My favorite character was Lace. Lace was a snarky goth girl who could sometimes be an upright bitch. But since she befriended Alyssa and Vessa, she wasn’t too bitchy to them. She reminded me of myself in a way. The other characters are there, but you don’t learn much about them.

The book was told from a third person limited view. I personally like this type of p.o.v. because I write a lot of my stories in third person. This lets us get close to Alyssa and lets us know what she’s thinking but without all the “I”’s. What would be interesting to see would be to see some parts of the book through someone else’s viewpoint. I think it would be nice to know what the other characters are thinking since a lot of them don’t explicitly state their opinion all the time.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to any bookish person. As for it continuing into a series or having a sequel; I think it would be interesting to continue the story, because I always just want to hear more even when a series ends. I have no clue what Alyssa will have to face next but I can’t wait to see!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Jesse Cook on April 23, 2013 :
It's been a long time since I've read a straight-up fantasy quest novel, and they can be hokey, so I wasn't sure what to expect. This book pleasantly surprised me, being well written with a great heroine and a quick-paced story that held my attention. Alyssa is a kick-ass character, and the love story involved is believable, not instant, which is wonderful. I found that I couldn't predict what was going to happen next, which is a great thing. I hate it when a story is too predictable. The reason I docked this story a star is because the typos were distracting. Other than the typos, it was a great book. It could be read by young adults, although it is violent. There are a couple of scenes where the characters have sex, but the author doesn't go into detail, instead trailing off to the next scene. I think this makes it more acceptable for younger readers. All in all, this was a great story.
In full disclosure, I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Nicky Davidson on April 16, 2013 :
Overall I have given this book a 2.5-3 stars.

I recently finished Dark Genesis and I will say first that I enjoyed it. No matter the star rating, it is a fun read and likely especially so for young adults who would like an epic adventure story in a small package. However, it is not without its flaws and I admit to liking the first half far more than the second because of this.

The book is a mini-epic. It's a travelling story where the characters need to go on several journeys to reach their goal. Traditionally this is done over a series of books but this one manages to fit the whole story into 400 pages. This is appealing as it is a fast paced read and the story moves along quickly (sometimes too quickly), keeping you interested.

The beginning of the story was particularly interesting and I feel that this set the book up to be a disappointment as the interest was lost somewhat as the story sped up. A lot happens in 400 pages and whilst it is a quick read, it could possibly have benefited from being split between two books.
In the first few pages we are introduced to a character who has lost all memory. She is in a strange world that she cannot understand and has abilities she isn't sure how she acquired. She meets some witches from the world and understandably is wary of giving too much of her (limited) knowledge away. This turns out to be a good idea in the first part of the book.

This first section grabbed me instantly and I was interested to see how Alyssa would cope with her new surroundings. They main goal of the book has already been revealed although it is still shrouded in mystery and we have seen that she needs to be careful of who she can trust.

Unfortunately, as she leaves Haven, the book takes a turn for the generic.

One of the defining character traits she is given early on is caution. When we find out a bit of her background we understand why. However, after being betrayed she suddenly becomes willing to tell her story to everyone she meets and encourages them to join her on the quest. This is explained by her 'liking the look of them' but considering what she experiences early on it makes little sense. Plot wise it is to create more of an ensemble novel with more characters to play with and for Alyssa to be able to achieve more. Unfortunately, in adding more characters, each successive character becomes more and more 2D. We do not know much about any of the characters besides Alyssa, Beth, Parker and Vessa and even these main characters are rather shallow. They exist purely to move the plot forward. This isn't necessarily a bad thing for a quick read but it's disappointing as there appeared to be more promised. It is as if the author had ideas but these were set aside as he gained momentum whilst writing.

The shallow characters are my main disappointment in this book and worryingly the characters seem so interchangeable that errors appear in the text. This happens twice, first with Lace being confused for Vessa, and then Mia being mentioned as speaking when it was not physically possible for her to do so at that point in the book. Combined with several spelling errors (the used of wretched rather than retched was particularly off putting), the writing appeared to get increasingly erratic as the story went on.

This could be because so much happened in such a short space of time. The first half is well paced up to the characters' struggle with the Fire King. However, this is very suddenly over and each successive monster is dispatched in quick succession with challenge suddenly nullified in most cases. In particular, the end is particularly jarring with the speed at which it finishes. It reads as if the author realised that he needed to wrap things up and this is not a good thought to have when immersed in a book. It reminded me of myself when writing to a time limit when I spent so long on the first section and had to rush the rest.

Overall this review is highly critical but it only because I was disappointed by what this book could have been. It was a good read and enjoyable, but it was sorely harmed by being a single novel. Deeper characterisation following from the first few chapters, and a more realistic struggle in the journey would have helped to turn what was a good read into a great one.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Maggie W on April 07, 2013 :
I enjoyed this quite a bit. I think it was fresh, it was action packed, and the underlying love story was fantastic.
Here's the things I didn't like: There were some spaces of the book where it seemed like the author just wanted a change of scenery, so the scene changed very abruptly and without warning. These parts (particularly the first time from Fire King to Ice Queen, and the Climax) ended up somewhat confusing, and had about a couple of pages of what I call the "skeleton effect", where the description was down a little so the author could transition the action, and the reader was left scratching their head like, "Huh? What just happened?" Now, the Fire King to Ice Queen wasn't quite that bad, but the Climax could use some work. I was completely confuzzled over the fact that Lilith was masquerading as the queen.
And Alyssa could have been a bit more suspicious, at least in the beginning. Her fatal character flaw is her suspicion, right? Maybe I was wrong, but it kind of felt like it. Especially since she was a spy and she did show instincts.
I would also like to point out that some character lines seemed detached. None from Alyssa or Parker, but I think I saw a couple from Vessa, Lace, and Flax. And not all of them, just a few scattered around.
However, don't go thinking I didn't like the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it! First of all, I loved how the author distinguished exactly how Alyssa ended up in that world, and what distinguished the two. Some people who have "alternate universe time" don't tend to do that. They just go, "Hey, it happened, let it go." I also like how the relationship between all the characters on the quest evolved. There are some things you just can't go through without being friends, and this book really showcased that. The ending, also, was a little quick but something I loved. And I love all the myth from our world that was put into it, as well as a lot of original thinking on the author's part. My favorite portion, personally, was their time spent in Frankenstein as well.
All in all, it was well done and I enjoyed it. Thanks for letting me read!
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: Jaime Buncie on April 07, 2013 :
This book made my Holy-Crap-That-Was-Good shelf...that should tell you something right off. I really enjoyed this book. I'm not going to give anything away, other reviewers do that. All I have to say is that this was VERY well written, well developed characters, great descriptions, and I will be reading this again. Thank you for allowing us to have a chance to read such a great story.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: Dii on April 02, 2013 :
Dark Genesis by Dave Ferraro started out the gate like a day at Disney! You know the roller coaster that loops and twists and spins and only centrifugal force is holding you in at breakneck speeds? When the ride is over, you are all pumped up to go again because it was Just. That. Good.? That pretty much describes how I feel about Dark Genesis and the creative genius of Dave Ferraro.

Alyssa wakes up inside a pentagram in a strange world filled with vampires, werewolves, witches, and even a town called Frankenstein, where scientific technology abounds! (Un-apologetically named for the man who created the gray, eight foot tall, heavily scarred “go to” guy in town.) Everyone has magic, except Alyssa, of course, who also happens to have no memory of her past, but she knows this isn’t her world. Short version: Alyssa is put on a quest to regain her memory and it can only happen if she kills those who wear a pentagram like the one she woke up in. Along the way, she gains friends, allies, enemies, and a new piece of her past with each kill. But is it all an evil game that she is merely a convenient pawn in? Could each battle bring both this world and Alyssa’s closer to destruction?
As Alyssa and her band of merry men (and women) battle against insurmountable odds, uncovering deceit and evil, slaying monsters and chopping off heads, I had gut-clenching reactions, I swear I wanted to duck with her, I felt her pain when someone was lost, I was totally invested in each moment of the book!

For those who like a little romantic tension and conflict, it’s there, as snippets of a man named Cory come back, Alyssa still finds she is drawn to bad boy Parker, a dashing rogue-with-the-ladies kind of guy! Oh! Eric, too…all heroic, Nordic and full of himself in a completely endearing way! In the final battle, the stakes are high, what will Alyssa do? Where does she belong? Can she reconcile her past with her future?

I highly recommend this book for its characters, its world-building, and its pace! If you like larger than life fantasy that plucks tidbits from other genre, you’ll want to read this, for sure!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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