Darkly by Marisha Pessl

The Blurb On The Back:

What would you kill for?
A seemingly ordinary teenager girl.
A mysterious internship.
A games designer with a dark legacy.

Arcadia ‘Dia’ Gannon has long been obsessed with Louisiana Veda, whose games company, Darkly, now lies dormant after her death. It has a cult following for its ingenious and utterly terrifying games. When an ad for an internship appears, Dia is shocked to be chosen, along with six other teenagers from around the world.

Thrust into the enigmatic heart of Darkly, Dia and her fellow interns discover hidden symbols, buried clues and a web of intrigue.

This summer will be the most twisted Darkly game of all.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

I struggled to buy into the premise of Marisha Pessl’s standalone YA thriller as very little about it actually makes sense. It’s further hampered by one-dimensional characterisation (I struggled to remember who was who in the Veda Seven), a rote love triangle between two equally blah male characters. What really threw me out was how little research Pessl had done on English law or geography, which irritated me throughout the whole book.

DARKLY was released in the United Kingdom on 28th November 2024. Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.