I’ve read both of Marisha Pessl’s adult novels and enjoyed their mix of creepy dread and cult-media feel. Darkly is her second young adult novel and brings with it the same macabre sensibilities, marrying them to a long-dead designer of the most fabulous board games in literary history.
What is Darkly by Marisha Pessl?
One of the things that appeals to me about Marisha Pessl’s books is that she plays around with the novel as a format. Her books are not straight linear reading experiences, usually including various snippets of media such as letters, flyers, and old newspaper clippings. And so it is with Darkly. These inserts add to the sense you’re reading something more than a story, giving the idea that this is a piece of reportage. They also offer an interesting way to add some additional creep-out factors.
Darkly opens with a “Willy Wonka” style competition. The golden ticket, in this case, is a place on a summer internship program for the “Louisiana Veda” foundation. Louisiana Veda was the world’s greatest board game designer, who disappeared in mysterious circumstances. She had the level of fame real-life boardgame superstars like Reiner Knizia or Eric M. Lang can only dream of. Her games were the ultimate legacy format and existing pieces sell for millions. Inevitably, many myths and conspiracy theories surround her death and legacy, including a missing 29th game.
Arcadia Gannon (Dia) applies for the internship and to her amazement wins a place. Transported to London she finds herself thrown into a weird world with a ragtag crew of brilliant minds. The group is tasked with finding a missing schoolboy who disappeared when playing what appears to be the missing 29th game made by Louisana Veda.
As Dia digs into the mystery, she discovers a web of deceit that is decades old. Beset by villains on all sides, who can she trust as she tries to find the missing boy, and solve the many riddles left by the missing designer.
Why Read Darkly?
Darkly is an entertaining and intriguing mystery with a gothic feel. It’s perfect for its audience of around 14 upwards. If you don’t prod at the mystery too hard it holds together well. Overall it’s a preposterous setup, with a sequence of events that couldn’t possibly happen, but if you set this aside, you’ll find an entertaining mystery. The story describes a complicated but satisfying web, that entertains right up until the final reveal.
The book contains some genuinely creepy/scary moments and is reminiscent of a kids-own adventure series from a bygone era. I’m not sure geographically the book hangs together, but that’s one of those things I didn’t poke at, nor why there are chipmunks in the English countryside. Once again, I enjoyed the inclusion of additional pieces of media in the book; it added another dimension to the “teen-detectives investigate” story.
All in all, Darkly is an entertaining story, perfect for goth-leaning teenagers. It has sprinkling of angst, a vein of “found family” and some truly memorable characters, both honorable and villainous. Marisha Pessl novels are always a little different from the norm, and well worth reading. Darkly is no exception.
If you’d like to pick up a copy of Darkly, you can do so here, in the US, and here, in the UK.
If you enjoyed this review, you can check out my other book reviews, here.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in order to write this review.
