Dark Eyes by William Richter

Title: Dark Eyes
Author: William Richter
Publisher: Razorbill (March 15, 2012)
Length: 373 pages
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers
Format: softcover Advanced Readers Copy

Description from Goodreads:

Wally was adopted from a Russian orphanage as a child and grew up in a wealthy New York City family. At 15, her obsessive need to rebel led her to life on the streets. Now the 16-year-old is beautiful and hardened, and she's just stumbled across the possibility of discovering who she really is. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" for teens, this debut thriller introduces a new heroine. Click Here for link to Goodreads page.

My Thoughts:

Going into reading Dark Eyes by William Richter I was a little leery. This book isn't my normal type and once I started to read realized it isn't a typical YA novel either. Wally is one tough girl! Adopted from Russia at a young age, taken in by a wealthy American family who splits up, and Wally decides that she likes living on the streets better. You would think this was enough drama for one girl, but no. Wally is searching for her birth mother, dealing with the death of a close friend, and being tracked by Russian killers. These events make for one action packed book! This is a story that will appeal to action fans of both sexes. William Richter's writing allows you to feel as if you are there in the battle moment and allows you to connect to Wally and experience her self imposed isolation and inexplicable need to belong. I really liked all of the characters in the story with the exception of Wally's three crew members. There is just something irritatingly overly needy about them. The only other thing that botherd me in was I couldn't quite nail down/ understand why Wally would want to live in the streets. I just didn't get it. Dark Eyes is a book with crazy plot twists that will keep you turning the pages until the very end. Although I'm not sure this is my type of book I greatly enjoyed the wild ride it took me on. I give this book a 4 STAR rating.

***I received an ARC copy of Dark Eyes by William Richter through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.