Dark Made Dawn is the concluding book in the Australia trilogy and therefore this review may contain spoilers for the previous books.
The star of a less than truthful book about the girl who fell to earth, Chan is now working for the police alongside Rex. Her enemies are now her friends, but how far can you trust anyone? Determined to find Mae, Chan must do what she can to earn the information. Until the day a line is crossed and she must make a choice. Do they ever have any chance of a new life, one without violence and uncertainty?
You make people live somewhere you’ve neglected, treat them like they’re worth nothing? Sooner or later, some of them are gonna prove you right.
Whilst Way Down Dark and Long Dark Dusk were quite different books, Dark Made Dawn is more of a continuation of Chan’s story and an ending which is certainly not as bleak as I have come to expect from James.
I can imagine a lot of people would love to have something like Chan and Rex’s ending given the current political climate. There’s a lot of talk about the people being left behind by the establishment, and you get a little of that from the people Chan chooses to spend time with. Their future society definitely doesn’t work for everyone. Australia was an example of this, bundling criminals off into orbit where no one has to think about them.
Be selfish, my mother’s voice says to me from nowhere at all, and I know that I am. I absolutely am.
The trilogy began with Chan’s promise to be selfish, to survive. As the story comes to an end she must reconsider her mantra, that maybe it doesn’t mean the same thing now. Her mother never expected her daughter to live on Earth, she would have forgiven Chan letting her promise slide.
Despite everything that happened between them on Australia, Chan and Rex have become genuine friends and I loved their friendship. Rex’s previous behaviour was clearly a result of her environment, a desire to survive and having to do something she didn’t want to.
There’s always a choice. You just have to make the right one and stand by it. That’s getting harder and harder.
I was a bit confused about Hoyle’s motivation. Had he been so augmented that he had lost some of his humanity? Or was he just doing his job? Sometimes he really seemed to care for Chan but I couldn’t resolve that with the way he handles everything. There was no higher force that I knew of that was ordering him to act such a way.
Whilst not my favourite book in the trilogy I did love the way it ended. Definitely read this if you’re a fan of the first two!
Dark Made Dawn is published by Hodder and is available now in paperback and ebook editions. Thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes only. Receipt of a book does not guarantee a review or endorsement. My reviews are my honest opinion and are not biased for the purpose of personal gain.
