Reviews

Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff

abbie_o's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

veraann's review against another edition

5.0

Nevernight #3
Fantasy, Dark
What a ride this trilogy was. It must be read in order. It's a bit on the dark side. There is a lot of swearing. The characters have a fluid sexuality. There's politics, religion, action, betrayal, friendship. It all started with a girl from a noble family. She watched as that family was ripped away and killed. She escapes her own death to become an assassin and take her revenge. She finds she is much more than she believes and also how much of a pawn in a bigger game she really is.
The writing style is interesting. The writer has much flourish to the story. There are footnotes scattered throughout the books that talk about the world build and histories. The footnotes also have that authors snark.
At first I wasn't sure if I would like the series as initially the footnotes we're distracting and some of the metaphor usage was abundant but once I got into the flow of the style. The story was amazing. It felt like a bard in an inn telling me the tale.
Wonderful trilogy. Was excited to see the end and sad for it to end at the same time. There is no more story to read. But... Never, ever forget.

lilly_white's review against another edition

4.0

Maybe I was expecting a lot more brutality (and death) for the end of this saga, more than was already given. I really thought we'd have a vibe of complete self destruction - all fav characters will brutally die - kind of scenario in the end. Because after all, Jay Kristoff said he's going to kill this little bitch. This of course I believed will only happen with A LOT of bloodshed. Yes, Mia did kill many people, but I somehow expected more of her friends and companions to die. I prepared from the beginning for her to die in the end and weidly enough I found it disturnbing that the did, but only for a couple of pages.

snoopydoo77's review against another edition

5.0

Holy smokes, what a crazy wild, epic and emotional ride this book was.

I should mention if you have not read and finished book two, this review will spoil some stuff for you.

The book starts off pretty much where book two left us hanging and of course Mia is totally shocked but that doesn’t stop her and she jumps right into action to save and take Jonnen with her and the crew.

 Mia also gets some other nasty and some shocking surprises all the way through the book. But no matter what she stays true to herself and others she loves and cares for. When it comes down to it she really has a soft heart.
It is hard to write a review to this stunning book, because there is so much and most of all I don’t want to spoil anything.

All I can say is that this book is breathtaking and will keep your heart rate going and maybe even will break your heart a bit, but if you liked the first two books you will love this one and how it all ends.

As a site note, I loved all the snarky remarks Kristoff left throughout the book about the writing style, it was hilarious and gave the series a nice touch.

I was curious how it all would end, I must say I was very satisfied and enjoyed the ending.  But I will miss not only the series but also the characters. Farewell my friends.

I give it a full 5 ★ for not only the book but the entire series.

justabookishelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

cam356's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

cwolf83's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense

5.0

lawill17's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

margalida's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

majabwds's review against another edition

3.0

My strong dislike of Ashlin has lessened my enjoyment of this book. Also, the flowery and pretentious writing started bothering me. That being said, this book is saved by the small moments between all the supporting characters and the footnotes. I enjoyed the footnotes throughout the series. The chosen one quest that came out of nowhere (or I just wasn't paying all that much attention) was dumb. The narrator of the audiobook was sometimes so over the top that it was difficult to listen to the story. They should have had two narrators, one for all the female characters and one for all the male ones.