The Diamond of Darkhold

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Traverwood Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Dystopian / DuPrau, Jeanne	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction	4-week checkout	Due 05-14-2024

When a roamer trades them an ancient book with only a few pages remaining, Lina and Doon return to Ember to seek the machine the book seems to describe in hopes that it will get their new community, Sparks, through the winter.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The Diamond of Darkhold submitted by halofriendly on July 23, 2011, 5:52pm As much as I yearned to love these books and add them to my bookshelves at home, I just couldn’t. While the storyline was intriguing enough and the characters likeable (especially Lina), what bothered me the most was the lack of a climax in all three of the stories. And when the story line began driving toward a climax, the author chose instead to veer away from it and let our imaginations do the work (which I normally wouldn't be opposed to, but there were a number of chances to make the plot exciting which the author skipped over).

All in all, I wanted this story to have more punch than it ever did. I found myself skimming through The Prophet of Yonwood pages at a time in the hope that I’d come across a more interesting passage. And although I agree with the author when it comes to the dangers of religious intolerance and fanaticism, I felt dragged down by the constant harping on how these two things make the world bad. The not-so-underlying message throughout The Prophet of Yonwood that the Disaster that led to Ember being built underground was caused by religious wars was its own character and I wish she hadn’t been so heavy-handed with it.

Okay, what did I like?
The storyline (Honestly! Aside from my aforementioned disappointments with it, the story arc was fantastic)….I love dystopic literature and this one sucked me in: underground city, adventure, demolished cities above ground, people living off the land and creating civilization again, etc.

The characters…Lina, a strong female who really carried the story, is 12 years old, a newly christened Messenger in Ember, and incredibly devoted to her baby sister, Poppy. Doon, a 12 year old radical who stands up to authority and joins with Lina to save his city, is incredibly inspiring, even as he struggles with what is right and what is wrong.

Loved it submitted by Motomori on August 1, 2012, 3:29pm This was the best book yet! It was exciting and sort of like those grand finales where it is up to you to stop this from happening. Lots of suspense and really awesome!! By the way halofriendly, I noticed you are basically saying the same things over and over again for this series. What's up with that?

:) submitted by jmock on August 27, 2013, 12:46pm Kind of wish I could revise the endings just a little bit, but besides that, an interesting story

Great Book submitted by peterflorence on June 13, 2015, 1:52pm This is a must read if you like fantasy and action.

Great ending! submitted by rainhong on July 5, 2018, 7:07pm Has lots of treasure!