Helpful Score: 1
The Diamond of Darkhold is a little like The City of Ember because you have the protagonists, Doon and Lina, racing to solve yet another mystery for the sake of their city. And they are once again trying to read an old document that has been torn apart. Of course, obstacles always stand in their way.
Everyone in the city of Sparks is hungry and overworked. Sparks is a backward place where candles provide the only light at night, where nothing except food is produced, and where there is no electricity or gasoline. To get what they need, they rely on roamers who scavenge items from old houses abandoned hundreds of years ago. In the midst of all of this, Lina and Doon are trying to find a piece of technology left to them by the Builders for when they emerged from Ember. They hope this technology will help Sparks and make their lives a little less hard.
If you enjoyed the earlier Ember books, you will enjoy this one!
Everyone in the city of Sparks is hungry and overworked. Sparks is a backward place where candles provide the only light at night, where nothing except food is produced, and where there is no electricity or gasoline. To get what they need, they rely on roamers who scavenge items from old houses abandoned hundreds of years ago. In the midst of all of this, Lina and Doon are trying to find a piece of technology left to them by the Builders for when they emerged from Ember. They hope this technology will help Sparks and make their lives a little less hard.
If you enjoyed the earlier Ember books, you will enjoy this one!
This is the fourth installment of the City of Ember series. I really liked City of Ember, but haven't liked any of the sequel/prequels as much.
Lina, Doon and the Town of Sparks are struggling to survive a harsh winter. Lina and Doon decide to go back to Ember to find leftover food, medicine and a mysterious item the founders thought would be helpful to the emerging people of Ember.
Lina, Doon and the Town of Sparks are struggling to survive a harsh winter. Lina and Doon decide to go back to Ember to find leftover food, medicine and a mysterious item the founders thought would be helpful to the emerging people of Ember.
Beautiful conclusion to the series! It as sad saying goodbye to the characters.
Reviewed by Andrew S. Cohen for TeensReadToo.com
In the fourth book of Ember, we enter with the newly unified town of Sparks preparing for the winter, a few months after the city of Ember's emergence from underground. Supplies are growing sparse and sickness becomes abundant in this town, as they question their sustainability for the harsh cold of wintertime.
Protagonists Doon and Lina set off on another adventure, based on a prophecy from a book stating their is something left "for the people of Ember" that will aid them through the winter. They venture back to their old town of Ember to seek out supplies that their old community has left behind, where they meet an unlikely foe and seek out this mysterious, perhaps magical device to "bring light to a dark world."
Through the motif of hope, DuPrau illustrates an exciting page-turner that had me up all night so I could finish. Though lacking as much thought and depth as the initial book in the series, the author creates an interesting storyline along with introducing peculiar side characters such as Washton Trogg.
The end of the book seems a bit anticlimactic, as their adventure ends sort of to a nothingness, with DuPrau feeling a look to the future as sufficient hope for the success of mankind and their moral triumphs. Otherwise, THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD should not disappoint avid readers of the series. In order to grasp full meaning of the story, I would highly suggest reading at least books one and two (three is a prequel to the first and has little overlap).
Overall, Duprau succeeds in this installment and I would recommend it to those who have enjoyed the first of her books.
In the fourth book of Ember, we enter with the newly unified town of Sparks preparing for the winter, a few months after the city of Ember's emergence from underground. Supplies are growing sparse and sickness becomes abundant in this town, as they question their sustainability for the harsh cold of wintertime.
Protagonists Doon and Lina set off on another adventure, based on a prophecy from a book stating their is something left "for the people of Ember" that will aid them through the winter. They venture back to their old town of Ember to seek out supplies that their old community has left behind, where they meet an unlikely foe and seek out this mysterious, perhaps magical device to "bring light to a dark world."
Through the motif of hope, DuPrau illustrates an exciting page-turner that had me up all night so I could finish. Though lacking as much thought and depth as the initial book in the series, the author creates an interesting storyline along with introducing peculiar side characters such as Washton Trogg.
The end of the book seems a bit anticlimactic, as their adventure ends sort of to a nothingness, with DuPrau feeling a look to the future as sufficient hope for the success of mankind and their moral triumphs. Otherwise, THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD should not disappoint avid readers of the series. In order to grasp full meaning of the story, I would highly suggest reading at least books one and two (three is a prequel to the first and has little overlap).
Overall, Duprau succeeds in this installment and I would recommend it to those who have enjoyed the first of her books.
The Diamond of Darkhold is a little like The City of Ember where Doon and Lina have to solve yet another mystery for the sake of their city. In this last book they are once again trying to read an old document that has been torn apart. Great ending to a great series!
