Luna, the rightful heiress to the kingdom of Relhok, has been living in the top of a safe tower for most of her life, hidden there after an evil chancellor killed her parents 17 years ago. She wants freedom, to experience a life she has missed, and when she happens upon Fowler in the middle of the unnatural darkness, she might just get that chance. The two find themselves on the run from the pretender king, and they have to fight for their lives against an army of men and monsters. And despite their blossoming romance, danger threatens to swallow them both. Luna's story is a riff on Rapunzel, though Luna herself is much less helpless than other iterations. Jordan's background as a romance novelist is particularly apparent here, and some of the scenes are better suited to an older teen audience. This ends on a startling cliff-hanger, but it's probably the ardent romance readers who will stick around for the coming sequels.

Princess of Relhok, Luna was born on the first day of the permanent eclipse and the kingdom never saw her again as she was mysteriously whisked away into hiding, presumed to be dead. The world of the eclipse cloaks Luna's world in complete darkness, breeding creatures that thrive in the night, feeding on anything that is unlucky enough to cross their path. Luna's guardians, Sivo and Perla, keep her in a tower in the middle of a forest to protect her royal lineage from the threats of the outside world. Luna's headstrong and adventurous nature, however, lead her outdoors, where she eventually saves Fowler, an archer, brings him, along with two others, into her tower. She ends up working with Fowler when they are forced to leave the tower and trek through the dark woods to find safety.Luna and Fowler's tale is presented in a first-person dual point-of-view format, allowing readers to see two sides of the same story told from two very different voices. These protagonists offer a comparative study of characterization within the classroom. Readers will be left with unanswered questions about the eclipsed world and Luna's heritage, but there are hopes that these will be answered in the sequel to come as this first installment ends on a serious cliffhanger.Lauren Straub.

Gr 7 Up-Luna, an orphaned princess, has been living in a tower with her rescuers since they saved her from an assassin on the day she was born. On that day, her kingdom and all its neighbors were plunged into seemingly eternal darkness thanks to a lunar eclipse. What's worse, enormous flesh-eating creatures (called "Dwellers") came scuttling out of the ground as the endless night fell hard on the land. Now, 17 years after the eclipse, Luna happens to rescue a rugged survivor named Fowler, who agrees to travel with the princess to a fabled island free of Dwellers. What begins as a fast-paced adventure quickly gets bogged down in the quagmire of Luna and Fowler tromping through the forest, fighting with each other, avoiding getting killed, and resisting the urge to fall in love. Luna, who is blind, has heightened senses and has been trained to fight, yet she falls into the damsel-in-distress role much too readily. There are some moments of true suspense, but Luna's characterization is inconsistent. The cliff-hanger ending guarantees more books to come, though readers might not feel compelled to stick around. VERDICT An additional purchase where apocalypse and fantasy novels tinged with tame romance are popular. Abby Bussen, Cudahy Family Library, WI