Into Darkness by Hayley Barrett

Into Darkness by Hayley Barrett is set in post-apocalyptic New Phoenix in future New Zealand. This is clearly a novel to set-up characters and build a world.

Our main character, Alexandra Spencer needs to grow a spine. She chooses to take the fall for her boyfriend and ends up sentenced to a year in Elder Grey Detention Centre. Most of the book ends up telling the story, not of what happens at the centre, but the long journey to get to the jail.

I was 60% of the way through the book before the main character made it to jail, and I kept wondering why the journey took so long. Obviously, Alexandra needed to grow and change on the journey so that she would be able to make the choices she did at the end of the novel, but since the main plot point is that she goes to jail, the journey seemed to take forever.

This is an action-adventure novel, but it hinges on the romance between Alexandra and her guard, Will Metcalfe. Without the romance, Alexandra would not have made the choices she makes. That means, Alexandra is still wishy-washy and not making decisions on her own. I am not sure that's the kind of heroine I enjoy. I was irritated with her, especially for not being able to see how her city boyfriend was using her for her position and place.

I am sure the sequel will center on what happens next to Alexandra's motley group of prison friends as they are now struggling in the wild. They have discovered the vampiric Drifters and unlocked part of the secret: now they need to save the world.

I received a copy from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.