The Dark Lady

Product Information

Pledger, Paul. "UK grime rapper Akala announces an XXL live tour for November 2010 and new album". Allgigs . Retrieved 17 April 2020. Akala’s book centres around a 15-year-old orphan boy named Henry who is haunted by the dreams of a mysterious dark lady. It is a young man’s coming of age journey and gives us a character who is a very smart and complicated character.

I enjoyed the historical setting, I enjoyed the poetry that grows and evolves throughout, and I enjoyed the mystery to this story surrounding Henry's mother, the woman haunting his dreams, and those bold paragraphs in between each chapter - paragraphs that felt out of place with this book at first, but now that I've finished this story... I completely understand their significance, and they've made me very excited at the prospect of more to come. Originally from Kentish Town, London he is the younger brother of rapper/vocalist Ms. Dynamite. In 2006, he was voted the Best Hip Hop Act at the MOBO Awards. He was awarded an honourary doctorate by the University of Brighton in 2018.Writing his latest novel, The Dark Lady, he says was “extremely difficult” but “incredibly satisfying”. “I did geek out,” he laughs. “I’ve tried to condense the entire 1590s into one summer.” He met Lucia and he saw mary he said horrible words to mary and stayed in Lucia’s bed, then when he got to the dukes palace mary had gone and Henry tried to ask the duke if he could find her, but when the duke told him that his mother was still alive, he felt anger mixed with betrayal and grief through him all at once. siriusgibson (27 September 2018). "Video: Akala's graduation speech". The magazine for Oxford Brookes alumni, supporters and friends . Retrieved 5 January 2021. Webb, Adam. "BBC - Music - Review of Akala - It's Not a Rumour". www.bbc.co.uk . Retrieved 17 April 2020.

A natural storyteller with a vision of his own, THE DARK LADY, Akala's debut novel for teens will enthuse and entertain teenagers and young adults, showing that reading is a true super-power. Books played such an important role in my life growing up,” reflects Akala over Zoom. “I don’t think there’s any way of overstating how important that is.” Following on from his bestselling nonfiction, Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire, the BAFTA and MOBO award-winning artist, writer, and social entrepreneur has made his first foray into Young Adult fiction. I'll resist ranting about the historical innaccuracy inherent in a fifteen year old's attempting to compose Shakespearean sonnets at that time.) Additionally, the linguistic quality of the writing is frequently rather poor. There are errors in syntax, incorrect word useage, awkward sentence structures, dangling modifiers, and the list goes on.

Published

A brutally slow, meandering tale with little discernible plot, awkward prose, and thoroughly unlikable characters, "The Dark Lady" was an absolute chore to read. I recommend The Dark Lady to middle schoolers, high schoolers and those who enjoy somewhat melodramatic fantasy. It baffles me that an editor would let this go to print without pointing out the fact that the story is quite literally buried under anecdotes depicting the everyday.

I just feel like, had Akala put more focus on the magic of this world - maybe even explained it and developed it a little better - then this book would've been an outstanding read for me. But he didn't, so that definitely made this story fall flat in that aspect. The slang was over use. Again. A way to slap you with Shakespeare. I understand that it was crucial to the time and somewhat for the story but I can’t help but feel that if all the Shakespeare elements were withdrawn from the story it would have been better. Ali, Syed Hamad (19 September 2013). "English rapper Akala unplugged". gulfnews.com . Retrieved 17 April 2020.It took me a little while to get to grips with the Elizabethan slang, which I felt was a rather fun and authentic touch once you settled into it. The only real issue I had was, unfortunately, with the magic - Henry has the ability to translate any language written on paper, a feat that - as far as the many European characters are concerned - is something wholly unique and unheard of before. His adoptive mother figure, Joan, also seems to have the ability to perform actual magic, including 'chi blasts' where she can telekentically hurl people and objects. His other step-mother, Agnes, is also able to actively curse people.

Singh, Nirmika (1 November 2012). "Rapper Akala combines Shakespearean verses and sonnets". Hindustan Times . Retrieved 17 April 2020. I expected this book to be brilliant so when it had such a slow start I was a little disappointed. I like fast paced, gripping books. However, it did get better and in the end turned out decent I think. It is a debut novel after all.

I wanted to read this book as I admire Akala as a musical artist and an activist, and was confident in his ability to be a good fiction author. I was not disappointed! Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark...