Catherine Fisher on top form, technically, gives us a story about a bargain for a teenaged girl's soul. Inspired by Dr. Faustus and the alchemical quest to create gold from base metal, this story's primary strength is its characters. They are flawed, sympathetic, real. Indeed I think this is Fisher's great strength as a writer; her protagonists are completely convincing human beings. (Fisher has used all sorts of mythic and religious inspirations; classical Greek, ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Arthurian and Norse for example and has generally come up with an interesting twist or interpretation - this is no exception.)

The ending became predictable too early but you certainly wouldn't have guessed it at the halfway point where everything takes a surprising turn for the more interesting.

I met Catherine Fisher once and she told me that she chose the name Lord Azrael for a character in this book, only to read Northern Lights and find Pullman was slightly ahead of her in using the name - it was too late to change it, though, and it does suit the character. ( )

Light kiddies book with a lesson. I enjoyed it. ( )

Darkwater delves into the late 19th century and a deal with the devil. I found this book to be a fairly typical young adult read - the plot moved along quite quickly, scenes were short and succinct, and character development wasn't a big part of the story. Despite that, I did enjoy myself with the tale of a family thrust into poverty and the daughter's attempt to turn it all around. I appreciated the reversal of expectations at the end and the uncertainty of good guy/bad guy.

* I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads. ( )

I wasn't sure I'd like this creepy YA book, but it was, actually, pretty good. I read it one afternoon. ( )

Overall I enjoyed reading this book. It kept me wondering what was next. My issues with it were with the fact that there were so many unanswered questions. You never really find out who I the bad guy and who is the good guy. I prefer books that have a more concrete ending. ( )