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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
I’m going to begin with what I like. The characters are very compelling to me, mainly Violet, Cyprian, James, and of course Will. Will in particular is a special standout. I love how he’s comes off so differently to each character and I felt that the build up to the ultimate reveal that he is the Dark King was well done. I have a love for C. S. Pacat’s blond bitch characters, so I was primed to love James literally chapter 1. I found the world of this book fascinating and I love the whole reincarnation concept. With all that said however, I have 2 main problems with this book: 1) it’s much too fast-paced and 2) it should’ve been longer. The fast pace is a problem for me because it made a lot of scenes that should’ve been very emotional not hit for me, namely Violet’s father intending to have her brother kill her, the truth of the Stewards and the Cup and the death of the Elder Steward, and Katherine’s death . There was simply not enough time spent in this world or with these characters for me to really give a shit. I think that problem could’ve been solved had this book been longer. I think this book should’ve been epic fantasy-length instead of typical YA novel-length. But regardless, I enjoyed reading it and I like very much what this book sets up
I was really excited about this one and it both delivered and missed quite a lot of marks.
I thought I would like Will more by the end of the book. Even though I think his behaviour is progressively more becoming of him, I am still not over how his character seemed to fill out a template of the confused-but-seemingly-adept-and-intelligent-protagonist.
I REALLY liked James (for the little we saw of him), Violet (YEEESSSS) and Justice (WOW). It just felt weird being a bit bored by the main character.
Despite not having much else to say, this was still a highly enjoyable and fast pace book. It pulled a couple of punches though and those hit where it hurt which I both appreciated and wished they'd never happened...
The world building was also really beautiful. I know that the author wanted to recreate the battle of ages between Light vs. Darkness and it was masterfully done! The prose was imbued with lavish language to underline the magnitude of this battle, the deep history behind the novel's conflict and convincingly embedded the ancient property of novel's scope. As you can see, this was definitely my favourite part and well worth anyone's read.
I thought I would like Will more by the end of the book. Even though I think his behaviour is progressively more becoming of him, I am still not over how his character seemed to fill out a template of the confused-but-seemingly-adept-and-intelligent-protagonist.
I REALLY liked James (for the little we saw of him), Violet (YEEESSSS) and Justice (WOW). It just felt weird being a bit bored by the main character
Spoiler
but the ending holds promise for an interesting developmentDespite not having much else to say, this was still a highly enjoyable and fast pace book. It pulled a couple of punches though and those hit where it hurt which I both appreciated and wished they'd never happened...
The world building was also really beautiful. I know that the author wanted to recreate the battle of ages between Light vs. Darkness and it was masterfully done! The prose was imbued with lavish language to underline the magnitude of this battle, the deep history behind the novel's conflict and convincingly embedded the ancient property of novel's scope. As you can see, this was definitely my favourite part and well worth anyone's read.
Los primeros dos tercios del libro son una sucesión de clichés dosmileros sobre el típico elegido que debe salvar al mundo de la oscuridad, pero luego Pacat empieza a jugar a desmontar las expectativas del lector y consigue un final muy bueno. Me parece muy inteligente como ejercicio literario, pero no sé si me ha entretenido lo suficiente como para continuar la saga.
At no point did this entice me. I’d heard such good things that I had decent expectations but I could not bring myself to care.
I’m always on the lookout for a fantasy series that reminds me of Pandora Hearts. One that values characters with flaws, intriguing mysteries, twisted relationships, dark themes like servitude. This definitely hit the mark in all the right ways for my tastes, so I devoured this. But objectively, it’s not without some weak points that could be stronger.
Dark Rise has a decent balance of elements I usually care about in a book: slower pacing, gradual character development, defined non-tropey characters, dark themes, complex plot threads, and great subversion of tropes. You can tell that Pacat is meticulous in planning out their mysteries and twists. Every revelation was a treat to read with the bonus of a new question or thread to follow. I thoroughly enjoyed all the surprises around every corner.
I’m new to Pacat’s writing, but I found it refreshing as well. Succinct and intentional with every word and phrase having its purpose. Pacat’s power of suggestion and focus on showing rather than telling goes a long way in forgiving weaker parts of the novel’s plot. The worldbuilding outside of London is familiar yet unique. Pacat didn’t dump the lore all at the beginning and eased the reader into peeling away the world of the Stewards and Dark King. The strongest element is their character dynamics, particularly James and Will, where you can see Pacat’s skills truly shine in how she wields chemistry.
However, the book could do with tightening in some areas. While they’ve certainly got an imaginative pocket universe, Pacat’s London is a little dull, a backdrop for the characters to pass through easily to get to the next plot development. It never felt alive to me, as with Pacat’s original locations. I was also struck by the large diverse cast introduced early, Justice and many of the other Stewards, only for the book to end with predominantly white characters save for Violet. Will himself is a little wooden of a character in comparison to some others, and I wasn’t fond of the narrative going slightly unreliable towards the reader from his POVs for the sake of surprise.
While I enjoyed the darker elements in the novel, especially those of servitude and possession, I felt as though the book really wanted to be more adultish than it was. Pacat simply didn’t go far enough with James and Will, Will and Katherine, and as a result, I found myself scratching my head at why some events were even included and given so much weight. Why is Will drawn to James? What void does he fulfill? This novel would’ve benefitted from being freed of the restraints of YA to fully explore these themes and questions without getting too creepy for its own genre.
All that said, I really had a great time reading Dark Rise. There’s enough positive things here that will make me continue the series and see what we have planned for these characters.
Dark Rise has a decent balance of elements I usually care about in a book: slower pacing, gradual character development, defined non-tropey characters, dark themes, complex plot threads, and great subversion of tropes. You can tell that Pacat is meticulous in planning out their mysteries and twists. Every revelation was a treat to read with the bonus of a new question or thread to follow. I thoroughly enjoyed all the surprises around every corner.
I’m new to Pacat’s writing, but I found it refreshing as well. Succinct and intentional with every word and phrase having its purpose. Pacat’s power of suggestion and focus on showing rather than telling goes a long way in forgiving weaker parts of the novel’s plot. The worldbuilding outside of London is familiar yet unique. Pacat didn’t dump the lore all at the beginning and eased the reader into peeling away the world of the Stewards and Dark King. The strongest element is their character dynamics, particularly James and Will, where you can see Pacat’s skills truly shine in how she wields chemistry.
However, the book could do with tightening in some areas. While they’ve certainly got an imaginative pocket universe, Pacat’s London is a little dull, a backdrop for the characters to pass through easily to get to the next plot development. It never felt alive to me, as with Pacat’s original locations. I was also struck by the large diverse cast introduced early, Justice and many of the other Stewards, only for the book to end with predominantly white characters save for Violet. Will himself is a little wooden of a character in comparison to some others, and I wasn’t fond of the narrative going slightly unreliable towards the reader from his POVs for the sake of surprise.
While I enjoyed the darker elements in the novel, especially those of servitude and possession, I felt as though the book really wanted to be more adultish than it was. Pacat simply didn’t go far enough with James and Will, Will and Katherine, and as a result, I found myself scratching my head at why some events were even included and given so much weight. Why is Will drawn to James? What void does he fulfill? This novel would’ve benefitted from being freed of the restraints of YA to fully explore these themes and questions without getting too creepy for its own genre.
All that said, I really had a great time reading Dark Rise. There’s enough positive things here that will make me continue the series and see what we have planned for these characters.
Tentatively 3.5 for now, I have to think about it for a bit.
A good portion of the book is a slog, I feel about 100-150 pages are essentially building up things so that the twists hit harder later. Which ok sure but all of that was painfully dull.
HOWEVER the last bit of the book was so good and makes it so the next one has a lot! Of potential!
Basically it reads as a horrendously long prologue
A good portion of the book is a slog, I feel about 100-150 pages are essentially building up things so that the twists hit harder later. Which ok sure but all of that was painfully dull.
HOWEVER the last bit of the book was so good and makes it so the next one has a lot! Of potential!
Basically it reads as a horrendously long prologue
Half Star 🌟 minus because of the boring and cliché beginning. But after about 100 pages the story started pacing up and being so exciting I could just not lay the book down. I'm already looking forward the second book. A shame the last third volume is not yet ready. Just hope I don't have to wait as long anymore... Probably gonna read the other series of the author captive prince to pass the time. I can just recommend this!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
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