The Scent of Darkness was a really unique book. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it! The premise of Eva's grandmother's calling as an aromata was a new concept for me. Of course, I understand what a perfumer does, but an aromata does something completely different: they create scents that change the world around them, as well as people's lives. It this kind of potential change that Eva faces after her grandmother's death. Louise leaves Eva a tiny bottle of scent, that once she applies it, will change everything in her life. I enjoyed the idea of a life-changing scent, and it was neat to watch Eva's life transform. The way the scent itself was described was really well-done. Berwin's descriptive language and imagery made this book special.The Scent of Darkness was a very deep book. It was full of deep thinking and intense feelings, in all of the main characters. While I appreciate these kinds of stories, they aren't the easiest or lightest books to read. Many times, this book felt very emotionally heavy to me. I was pleased with the conflict resolution: it was the most realistic aspect of the story. I've only read a few books in the magical realism genre, but so far I don't think this genre is for me. The premises are just too unrealistic and really "out there" for me to fall in love with the books. I'm not sorry I read Scent of Darkness, however, I think someone who appreciates the magical realism genre more would have gotten more enjoyment out of it. An ambling, beguiling, smoky, sexy, olfactory piece of work.Short and easy to just stumble through, Scent literally grabs your breath and sort of takes it away. Writing in such a way that you can infer your own meanings and not be bogged down in the prose, the author allows you to make your own way and thus prevents a certain encumbering that comes so often with so many books. It felt like I was bathing in this book, gathering meanings about life, love, and scent and therefore essence. I feel this will be a book I revisit someday, and will infer some different meanings upon further time and inflection. Read the synopsis and see if this is for you. I'm not quite sure who I could recommend it to, but I say try it out if you are looking for something a bit more out of the box and unstructured but still totally readable. Suspend belief and just let it flow through you. Like Eva's essence, it just might leave a mark.
What do You think about Scent Of Darkness (2013)?
Outside my normal book choice but I really enjoyed this read.
—Melike
A refreshing and unigue story. I really enjoyed it.
—chuckybeard
