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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The first half is stronger than the second
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt
Easy YA read about a small town with a scary rumor. The book starts to crumble a little towards the end occasionally with both predictable plot and questionable dialogue. They weren’t enough to muddy the water, but they did distract slightly in the moment. Short read if you need to get out of a slump.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
"The Dark We Know" follows Isadpra Chang as she is forced to return to Slater the repressive small town she ran away from. However, I found myself wishing this book was from any other character's perspective. Isadora's P.O.V. was quite the slog to get through, plus I found the overall reading experience to be overwhelmingly boring. Also, the flowery writing in this novel didn't match the tone I believe the author intended to set, so I didn't find the novel's atmosphere as chilling as I expect the author hoped I would.
To focus on Isa and her running away from Slater, I don't think that made much sense. Based on the current age of Isa and the other characters we follow, she was about 16 when she first ran away and started university and I'm pretty sure you need to have some sort of parental permission to enter university at that age. Then the timeline for the town doesn't really make any sense either. A big part of the creation of evil plaguing Slater is the mass death that occurred during/because of a plague. But as the story goes on, we discover that the plague wasn't that far back in history as the story initially led us to believe. And since this plague took place sometime in (earliest) the early 1900s, many of the actions taken by the characters in the plague didn't seem like things they could easily get away with.
As I said before, the overall reading experience of this book was really boring, I attribute this to the fact that almost the entirety of the novel lacked any actual suspense or tension. There were scenes that I felt should have heightened the overall tension, but the writing went on so much that it took me out of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Biphobia, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think if I'd read this book when I was younger it would have meant more to me, but I found it to be much more tell than show and honestly quite boring until the last 100 pages. No matter how beautiful I found a few paragraphs to be if I'm dozing off for more than a third of the book I can't give it above a 3.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia
DNF at 16%
So I’ve read the first four chapters, and I think this book just isn’t for me. While I think this author is a really great writer, I’m just not connecting to the plot or the characters. It’s clear that this is just a matter of preference, as most people enjoy the read (and I can understand why).
Ultimately, if this book sounds interesting, I would recommend giving it a try, as I am clearly in the minority here. And I think those who appreciate lovely lyrical writing will really gel with this book.
NOTES I TOOK WHILE READING:
- Clearly this author is a very talented writer. But I’m still trying to determine whether her lyrical writing style is for me—like I’m only on chapter 1, but I feel like nothing has happened, and we’re just rambling at this point.
- I was expecting this book to have dark elements. But we really just jump into the death—and not just the parental death, but the suicides that are discussed are rather blunt.
- I will say that I love that our MC is bi, and we find out within the opening chapters!
- Yeah, this book just isn’t for me. The plot just isn’t holding my attention, and I don't really care about the characters, unfortunately. So I'm gonna DNF this, but I would be interested in possibly reading this author's future works, as she's clearly talented.
So I’ve read the first four chapters, and I think this book just isn’t for me. While I think this author is a really great writer, I’m just not connecting to the plot or the characters. It’s clear that this is just a matter of preference, as most people enjoy the read (and I can understand why).
Ultimately, if this book sounds interesting, I would recommend giving it a try, as I am clearly in the minority here. And I think those who appreciate lovely lyrical writing will really gel with this book.
NOTES I TOOK WHILE READING:
- Clearly this author is a very talented writer. But I’m still trying to determine whether her lyrical writing style is for me—like I’m only on chapter 1, but I feel like nothing has happened, and we’re just rambling at this point.
- I was expecting this book to have dark elements. But we really just jump into the death—and not just the parental death, but the suicides that are discussed are rather blunt.
- I will say that I love that our MC is bi, and we find out within the opening chapters!
- Yeah, this book just isn’t for me. The plot just isn’t holding my attention, and I don't really care about the characters, unfortunately. So I'm gonna DNF this, but I would be interested in possibly reading this author's future works, as she's clearly talented.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
you can read more of my reviews here https://teatimelit.com/
The Dark We Know has been on my radar for so long, I don’t even remember when I first heard about it. Once I heard that it was inspired by Spring Awakening, I knew I had to read it; add in that it was a horror novel and getting compared to The Haunting of Hill House? Honestly, say less, I’m absolutely hooked. It’s been a little bit of a struggle to get my hands on a copy, but recently I saw the audiobook available on Hoopla and I jumped at the chance to borrow it, then I devoured this book in about 3.5 hours (yes, on 2x speed).
While this isn’t a Spring Awakening retelling, when it comes to a book that is inspired by a specific piece of media, I want to either clearly see the inspiration from the source material or want it to evoke the same feelings in me that the source material does. The Dark We Know accomplished both absolutely stunningly. The Spring Awakening inspiration was there and clear for anyone who knows it, but not so specific that you would be lost without reading the original play or knowing the musical; The Dark We Know very clearly stands on its own but is a beautiful tribute to the story that Frank Wedekind wrote in 1891 and the musical that Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik premiered in 2006.
The atmosphere in this book was stunning and definitely eerie! I often read horror novels late at night (as late at night tends to be the only time I can really read without any interruptions) and they don’t typically bother me, but something about this one really got under my skin from the beginning. Lee’s writing is so haunting and lyrical — I was immediately transported into this world and could vividly picture what was happening. The writing in this book is phenomenal and I can’t wait to reread and annotate, because there were so many lines that had me saying “Oh, that’s stunning”.
Based on the synopsis and story inspiration, I knew that The Dark We Know would make me emotional and most likely make me cry. What I didn’t expect was how hard this book would hit me emotionally. I can’t even pinpoint one moment that made me really emotional because the whole story did. There were moments where I had silent tears streaming down my face and others where I was really crying and that was happening on and off probably from the 40-50% mark until the end. This one affected me emotionally in ways that not many books have, and that was really special for me.
I felt so connected to Isa and Mason, and their pain and fear was palpable — thinking about it now brings tears to my eyes. The trauma and tragedy that they’d experienced by the time they were 18 was so heartbreaking, but what I absolutely loved was that even though there were times when they wanted to, they never truly gave up and they fought against all the people and circumstances that tried to break them. I found the two of them to be such wonderful characters to follow.
If I had to pick a song from Spring Awakening that, to me, really encompasses The Dark We Know (and of course I do), I would have to go with Whispering (one of my favorite musical theatre songs ever). Whispering is a song that fills me with so many emotions; longing, heartbreak, grief, anger, and fear, but most importantly, hope. The last stanza of Whispering is,
“Listening, for the hope / for the new life / something beautiful / a new chance / hear it’s whispering there again”
And by the end of The Dark We Know, I think that’s where these characters are. They can’t erase the pain and suffering that they’ve experienced, but they can hope for better in the future. They’ve survived the unimaginable and there’s possibility for something better moving forward. There’s also super strong Those You’ve Known vibes (and some lines that play on the lyrics very well). Just as Melchior has to learn that while he can’t bring Wendla and Moritz back, their spirits and the impact that they had on him will always be with him, Isa and Mason learn the same. You can relate any song from Spring Awakening to The Dark We Know, but Whispering and Those You’ve Known were definitely tracks that I had in my head the most throughout my reading experience.
Honestly, I feel like I could gush about this book for hours and the impact that it had on me, but I will stop here so this post doesn’t become too long. This is a perfect read for this time of year and I can’t recommend it more. If you’re a fan of Spring Awakening, or horror novels with some fantasy elements, or just a story with beautiful writing and characters that will burrow themselves into your heart, you must read The Dark We Know.
---
i need to read this again to fully process everything, but this book moved me emotionally in a way that few books ever have. i cried through so much of this book and it filled me with such a sense of longing and heartbreak but there was also something very hopeful about it -- it made me feel very similarly to how spring awakening makes me feel, which is fitting as it was inspired by spring awakening. i absolutely loved this
The Dark We Know has been on my radar for so long, I don’t even remember when I first heard about it. Once I heard that it was inspired by Spring Awakening, I knew I had to read it; add in that it was a horror novel and getting compared to The Haunting of Hill House? Honestly, say less, I’m absolutely hooked. It’s been a little bit of a struggle to get my hands on a copy, but recently I saw the audiobook available on Hoopla and I jumped at the chance to borrow it, then I devoured this book in about 3.5 hours (yes, on 2x speed).
While this isn’t a Spring Awakening retelling, when it comes to a book that is inspired by a specific piece of media, I want to either clearly see the inspiration from the source material or want it to evoke the same feelings in me that the source material does. The Dark We Know accomplished both absolutely stunningly. The Spring Awakening inspiration was there and clear for anyone who knows it, but not so specific that you would be lost without reading the original play or knowing the musical; The Dark We Know very clearly stands on its own but is a beautiful tribute to the story that Frank Wedekind wrote in 1891 and the musical that Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik premiered in 2006.
The atmosphere in this book was stunning and definitely eerie! I often read horror novels late at night (as late at night tends to be the only time I can really read without any interruptions) and they don’t typically bother me, but something about this one really got under my skin from the beginning. Lee’s writing is so haunting and lyrical — I was immediately transported into this world and could vividly picture what was happening. The writing in this book is phenomenal and I can’t wait to reread and annotate, because there were so many lines that had me saying “Oh, that’s stunning”.
Based on the synopsis and story inspiration, I knew that The Dark We Know would make me emotional and most likely make me cry. What I didn’t expect was how hard this book would hit me emotionally. I can’t even pinpoint one moment that made me really emotional because the whole story did. There were moments where I had silent tears streaming down my face and others where I was really crying and that was happening on and off probably from the 40-50% mark until the end. This one affected me emotionally in ways that not many books have, and that was really special for me.
I felt so connected to Isa and Mason, and their pain and fear was palpable — thinking about it now brings tears to my eyes. The trauma and tragedy that they’d experienced by the time they were 18 was so heartbreaking, but what I absolutely loved was that even though there were times when they wanted to, they never truly gave up and they fought against all the people and circumstances that tried to break them. I found the two of them to be such wonderful characters to follow.
If I had to pick a song from Spring Awakening that, to me, really encompasses The Dark We Know (and of course I do), I would have to go with Whispering (one of my favorite musical theatre songs ever). Whispering is a song that fills me with so many emotions; longing, heartbreak, grief, anger, and fear, but most importantly, hope. The last stanza of Whispering is,
“Listening, for the hope / for the new life / something beautiful / a new chance / hear it’s whispering there again”
And by the end of The Dark We Know, I think that’s where these characters are. They can’t erase the pain and suffering that they’ve experienced, but they can hope for better in the future. They’ve survived the unimaginable and there’s possibility for something better moving forward. There’s also super strong Those You’ve Known vibes (and some lines that play on the lyrics very well). Just as Melchior has to learn that while he can’t bring Wendla and Moritz back, their spirits and the impact that they had on him will always be with him, Isa and Mason learn the same. You can relate any song from Spring Awakening to The Dark We Know, but Whispering and Those You’ve Known were definitely tracks that I had in my head the most throughout my reading experience.
Honestly, I feel like I could gush about this book for hours and the impact that it had on me, but I will stop here so this post doesn’t become too long. This is a perfect read for this time of year and I can’t recommend it more. If you’re a fan of Spring Awakening, or horror novels with some fantasy elements, or just a story with beautiful writing and characters that will burrow themselves into your heart, you must read The Dark We Know.
---
i need to read this again to fully process everything, but this book moved me emotionally in a way that few books ever have. i cried through so much of this book and it filled me with such a sense of longing and heartbreak but there was also something very hopeful about it -- it made me feel very similarly to how spring awakening makes me feel, which is fitting as it was inspired by spring awakening. i absolutely loved this
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed the setting and certain aspects of the ghost story and found other bits slow and lacking.