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annorabrady's review against another edition
Additionally, the story includes genocide and despite the FMC directly being tied to people who were victims of the genocide and her enemy being the person responsible for said genocide, there are strong indications that this story is going to be an enemies to lovers story. And that's just not my speed. Enemies to lovers when the enemies is due to personal distrust or misunderstandings is one thing. Enemies to lovers when one partner is actively evil is another thing entirely. Especially since he's years older than her and she's only 17.
Graphic: Vomit, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Genocide, Death of parent, Death, Ableism, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"The Darkening" follows Vesper Vale, a young girl whose parents were failed revolutionaries. Her mother was caught by the queen and chose to die by entering the storm. Now, twelve years later, the Prince's army has finally tracked down Vesper's father and they imprison him. Vesper has always wanted to practice her father's magic and now she has the perfect opportunity. She will stop at nothing to vindicate her parents and free her father.
I was not expecting to be so invested in this story, but I was! Vesper is a strong female lead with a complex relationship with her father. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship evolve and see them try to arrive at a middle ground together. Despite her father always keeping her at an arm's length, and trying to shield his past from her, Vesper still feels love towards him, and is devoted to rescuing him.
"The Storm" entity in this book was really interesting to read about, and I am curious to learn more in future books. We got a small taste of what the magic is that controls the Storm, and I am fascinated to see Vesper learn more and hopefully find a resolution to save her city.
I am definitely interested and am curious to pick up the sequel!
Graphic: War, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Torture
fromthefoxhole's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I'm an unfortunate sucker for the chosen one girl in a YA trope (thank you, Katniss) and this one really hammers that into you.
1. Vesper (like even the name, come on!!)
2. lives in an area affected by The Storm, and her Region™️ is the last one on the outskirts closest to it, and it's the poorest region.
3. she's not trained in the Magic System™️ but she loves it
4. there's a rich boy who takes pity on her bc of something having to do with the Government™️
5. she has a family tie that creates a vengeance arc so she finds her way to the Capital™️
7. circumstances arise that lead to her working with the rich boy (she thinks that maybe she underestimated him)
8. they're thrown into the Gauntlet™️
9. Alliances are formed and broken, promises are stretched thin, betrayals - how could I ever love someone like You™️?
10. One of them either dies/falls into a coma and the last thing they see is their Enemy?™️
It's like, everything that is tired and we're supposed to hate. BUT- Truly I'm not sure if I'm just, like, giving the book more grace than it's due. BUT-
I think I always give more leeway to a first book, knowing that the author likely has planned arcs over the multiples rather than the individual, so I wanted to suspend my belief, y'know? I didn't mind the questions I had about the magic system, or the politics, etc. I felt like this book very intentionally only gave us the pieces that were given to Vesper. We're *supposed* to feel a little lost in a world we don't fully understand, because that's how Vesper feels in the Ven. I found myself tabbing something as important, then coming across a related thing and running back to the note like, proud of myself that I had called it. It was rewarding to piece things together with Vesper.
I ate up her friendship with the boys,
Something about the writing, the fluidity of the story, drew me in and held me for the two full days it took me to read this. Any time I had to stop reading, I found myself counting the minutes until I could pick it back up. I was fully entranced the entire time. Freaking witchcraft.
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, War, Violence, Classism, Grief, Confinement, Blood, and Body horror
frantically's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Yes, it's a bit basic at times — the different city parts relating to power, evil princes who aren't so evil after all but why change a working system? 😉 There is a lot of poc-rep and I spy mlm rep in the future 🤞🏻 Ikonomancy is an interesting power system and it doesn't rely on violence, more on academic wisdom. At first, I was a bit confused but it made more sense as the book went on and the explanations actually made sense for once, haha.
The ending made me feel like I was on drugs and it was all a bit crazy (and the characterisation went 🏃🏼♀🏃🏼♀🏃🏼♀) but I'm still really excited for the next book!
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Confinement, and Violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Moderate: Violence and Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent and Death
kirstenf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Murder, Death of parent, Classism, Death, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts
ambitiousnalgene's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Suicide
asipofcozy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I loved the idea of a storm eating everything in its path and slowly consuming the city year by year. I especially loved the backstory to the story about a Great Queen fleeing from her husband and creating a storm in her wake. It was a unique concept and was done fairly well.
I also found the magic system to be interesting, the ikonomancy. It sort of reminded me of how runes work in the Shadowhunter universe; granted, I know little of those runes, but the concept was fairly the same. It seemed that drawing ikons were an important part of the magic system. Then there was the Wardana, the guardians of the city, that protect them against the monsters that come out of the storm. I can't wait to see more of the magic system developed in the next book.
Finally, applause to the rich and diverse characters and settings. I could imagine many of the settings in this book, the shadows from the dark storm encroaching the streets, the colors and brightness of the higher parts of the city. It was breathtaking in its telling. Also, chef's kiss to the side characters Cas and Izamal. The dynamic and banter between the three Wardana is perfecto!
I did enjoy the main character Vesper. While her naiveness got her into a lot of trouble and she could annoying at times, she was trying to save a father that she loved despite his disappointment in her. She just didn't always think her actions through.
What could have been better/expectations for the next book:
- More worldbuilding - While I understand this YA and I can't expect the intensity of worldbuilding like that in high fantasy, I am hoping for more explanation behind the Great King and Queen as well as how Ikonomancy came to be.
- Dual POV - I believe that The Darkening would have benefitted from dual POV over the singular POV of Vesper that we get the entirety of this book. I think it would have helped with some of the explanations of what was going on.
- Lackluster romance - Okay, so this isn't something I am necessarily upset about. Romance in books isn't my biggest focus anymore. I am glad romance wasn't the focus here; however, it was inserted and was weird at times However, I can see more potential for expanding on this in the next book. I am just glad the MC didn't have an instant-love situation and even acknowledged to herself that while she has growing feelings, her main concern is the storm and her father.
Whelp, that's it! I kinda look forward to the next book.
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Death of parent, War, Death, Body horror, and Animal death
starrysteph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
CW: death, child death, death of a parent, animal cruelty, classism, confinement, chronic illness, terminal illness, injury, possession, fire/death by fire, suicide, sexism, misogyny, grief
Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexism, and Misogyny
bookwormbullet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Death, Child death, and Torture