Review: Intense drama, strong voice, fierce dramatic irony
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 31, 2013
TR Stoddard has a great ear for banter and very effectively depicts an ironic sort of online flirtation. In Dark Hearts, an engrossing novella named for the chat room in which its characters meet, this flirtation leads to tragic deaths. Never a dull moment for me in this two-part tale, which begins in the gloomy yet not completely hopeless world of fifteen-year-old Kara. Saddled with an alcoholic, promiscuous wreck of a mother, no father, and a mess of a best friend, Kara is desolate. She cuts herself, she starves herself, she feels almost completely alone, and she has fallen in love with Adam via instant-message. The hope of meeting Adam in person gives her the one chance she feels she has to be happy. A shocking, painful turn in the story leads to exploration of a different kind of desperation, loss, and twisted psychology as we follow another equally compelling character who is walking the line between despair and hope.The work features intense drama and strong voice. Stoddard shows us fierce dramatic irony as we watch a sympathetic character (Kara) in trouble and wish we could help her in the face of a dreadful unraveling of her heart. The second half of the book follows a person whose path to redemption is not so clear, nor so deserved, but remains fascinating. I wish I could see the painting of the platypus.Dark Hearts is the work of a talented author whom I intend to continue reading.