I didn't actually know that this book was a sequel to Goto's book "Half World" but I felt that it stood on it's own just fine, and that any information that might have been pertinent from the first book was decently explained in this novel.

Goto's novel was quite unexpected and twisted. I was not expecting such a dark and crazy world to evolve in the story. The Half World is something from a nightmare, or perhaps a horror film - it made me shudder constantly as I read the descriptions of the people and creatures that reside in a torn up and vicious world. The depictions of Gee's skin and Ilanna's eels were almost enough to make me stop reading.

But at the same time, this book utterly fascinated me in the details of each creature. Although it was horrible to picture, Goto certainly does a magnificent job of pushing the limits and forcing his readers to go to dark places with their minds and imagine things that are horrifying and gross. The writing was masterful is how it drew me in, and simultaneously enthralled and disgusted me.

The one thing main issue I struggled with in this novel was that I didn't really like any of the characters. Right from the beginning, the main character Gee is troubled and dark, and pushed me away to the point of really disliking him. He teams up with Cracker, who is one of the only humans in this book, but her character is annoying and I found I wasn't drawn to her either. After entering Half World, the story fills up with monsters and creatures that I couldn't like at all. Although each character was intriguing, I just found I couldn't actually LIKE any of them.

Still, the depictions in this book are awesome and certainly made an impact on me, and made me curious that I might actually go read the first novel. "Darkest Light" is definitely worth the read for those who are curious! ( )