Reviews - The Dark We Know

145 reviews for:

The Dark We Know

Wen-yi Lee

3.61 AVERAGE

jes7037's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

georgiatheexplorer's review against another edition

2.5

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I so wanted to love this one and it started so strong but it went off the rails a little from the middle onwards, there were so many little twists with little explanation that it got a bit muddy and I think some big moments lost their impact a little bit.

There were some lovely quotes and some tackling of some big themes which I think were delicately handled but ultimately it fell a bit flat at the end there.

jaydiebug's review

3.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

shswan1's review

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

rachaelmattinson's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious tense

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

mayritaah's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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: Complicated

karis321's review

2.0

~~Thank you to Edelweiss and Gillian Flynn Books for the ARC!~~

I just feel like I'm gonna be the odd one out on this one.

I'm sorry, but I just didn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to. Even though I can recognize Lee for tackling heavy themes like suicide ideation, mental health, and generational trauma the way she did, I still found the plot and writing to be boring and dry.

It's because of the writing that I couldn't really engage with the horror aspect. Despite the various terrible things happening throughout the story, most of which involved the death of teenagers and young adults, it didn't really effect me like it should have; my emotions ended at feeling sort of bad for Isa and Mason.

There's also a bit of magic in this book, too. Of course, you need a bit of fantasy to make the horror, but the fantasy in this book kinda went off the rails for me by the last third of the book. It sort of felt jumbled and not entirely clear? That also could have been me nearly checking out by that point, but there was also a lot of things happening in the last portion of the book compared to the slow beginning and middle of the book.

Overall, this wasn't for me. I have no doubt many people will be able to enjoy the book for its strong messages of love and connection, but I will not be one of them.