Reviews

Dark Rise, by C.S. Pacat

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This YA light-fantasy novel is Lord of the Rings meets Arthurian legend. It poses big philosophical questions. Is Evil nature or nurture? Is there such a thing as fate? Do the ends always justify the means? And if not, who decides when not. Its complex, eloquent and will completely suck you in.

Its a slow burn but I've found myself thinking back on it multiple times since I finished it. I wish books like this were available when I was a kid, the characters are deep, interesting and diverse. This is going to be big, I'm calling it now. I'll be keeping my eye out the the sequel. Releases 28th September 2021

hummingbird52's review

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5.0

This was an amazing book. The worldbuilding was great, and I absolutely loved the characters.

modevokatze's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

roonies's review

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4.0

Kind of a rough start (a little slow) but I’m really glad I stuck with it. The lore and fantasy building was great, I enjoyed the writing style and action scenes, and overall I felt good about this read.

BUT, I would not label this a YA novel. In fact, I need a reference for James age because…little sketch. If this were new adult, I think a lot more could be done with it.

I personally saw the twists coming for the most part, there was only one I didn’t see coming and it was minor.

lelelui's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

The first half of the book was painfully slow… I know why it was slow, it was because of the world building and the preparation to understand the world before we get to the real plot but I almost dnf'd it! Buuut the other half of the book straight up convinced me. We finally had the characters there and I cared for them. That half was full of action, emotion and character. The plot twist was amazing and I just know the next book will hurt me!

helielios's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

katie_15_'s review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

a very interesting read! felt a little lacking in some parts but overall the whole concept was very fascinating!!

this idea of descendants and how that shapes a persons identity even if they are still a separate from who they were descended.

i kind of expected that ending but it ended up being a very cool way to go about it. so i still enjoyed reading through it. but that last chapter was…whew…a lot to handle 😭

cannot wait for the next book, excited to see what she’ll do with this huge cliffhanger and how she’ll expand on this. also very excited to see how the relationships will change because of said cliffhanger