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mikathereviewer 's review for:
The Faithful Dark
by Cate Baumer
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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:
Yes
*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*
The Review
Likes
- Ilan. He is a former High Inquisitor, but the church lost their faith in him. Csilla is a soulless girl which received the same fate as Ilan. They immediately connected with eachother.
I love his grumpy villain vibes and I'm glad that 'cause of him Csilla isn't making the wrong choices. He made her remember how being her own self is important and beautiful.
Also his loyalty is admirable, even though that means that he is acting violent.
- I was glad to see that Csilla, the protagonist of this story was a gentle and soft girl, which couldn't hurt a fly. The most recent books seem to feature woman with strong bodies and minds, which is compelling too, but not what I'm looking for on the long-run. There is something intriguing with a protagonist who is so kind and never sins in a world so full of terrors (especially since a serial killer is on the run in her town). No matter how often Csilla faced rejection in life as she won't get accepted for being soulless she still is determined to save her fate by finding the serial killer herself.
(Though I was disappointed to see how easily she sided with Mihály instead of Ilan, even though Mihály is delusional and dangerous).
- I prefer slow-burn over anything, so I was happy to see that the romance between Csilla and Ilan was slow, but still in a steady pace.
- The magic in this book was really thought-through. There were so many things that were explained and one could see that the author really tried to make it realistic while reading. It also helped me feeling like being part of this story while reading. For instance, Mihály was divine and researched souls. This character introduced to the readers how souls truly work in this world. Ilan, the former High Inquisitor teaches us how fast a soul can be blackend (when it's full of sins) and how a device helps finding out. He also showed how corrupt and cruel the police is: Torturing (often innocent) people to get a confession out of them. This really added to the dark world which was promised to the reader.
- The torture scene near the end? Tension. I felt so tense watching it, though I believe the characters felt even more tense, after all I was lucky to not be part of all of this.
(I also have the feeling that it made the situation worse that it was with a cane and not a normal whip)
Dislikes
Extremely slow start. (Takes about 40% in to get actually interesting). In general, the pacing felt off the whole time while reading. Even though there were enjoyable moments while I read, I never felt like there was truly anything impactful. Like there was no climax in the story. I'm aware that this is a duology series, but each single book still needs its climax and I honestly didn't find one. Maybe there was one and I just didn't notice, but not noticing means it wasn't great enough to really call it a climax.
So, a pacing that is off and no climax. This book still felt like a draft that needed to fix a few things to make the reading flow more bearable and actually interesting to read about. I felt myself often bored 'cause a lot of things repeated itself (not just storywise but also wordwise) and 'cause a lot of stuff was included that wasn't really part of the plot later on. Don't get me wrong, there was definitely a story to be told and there were moments that were important later on, but just as I mentioned above, there were also lots of things that weren't interesting to the reader as it wasn't really necessary to include.
- Izir Mihály ('cause of him we got that boring journey outside Silgard)
+ even though he acted like a saint, I always had this iffy feeling about him (especially when he touched Csilla weirdly, WITHOUT permission, which she even says herself that it isn't really comfortable)
- A while, the book felt like it was trying to solve some murder mystery, but the vibe wasn't there to begin with. It was like: ‘Hey, let's find the murderer, but we don't actually know how, but you could help us...right?’ for a very long time. I get it that it wouldn't be interesting if they have a lead and find the murderer immediately, but having no lead at all and working with magic (which by the way, thanks to Mihály, made me feel like I was watching some weird sacrificial ritual) won't really advance the plot. Overall, the plot always felt very shaky as if it was about to come to a halt only for it to move forward at the last possible minute.
- Most characters were one- or two-dimensional but never really three-dimensional (though Csilla is three-dimensional since she is the protagonist and we actually read her thoughts all the time and know her full backstory). There is definitely still room to get to know the characters better in the last installment of the series, I just think it's a bit scarce.
Final thoughts
Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advanced reader copy of The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer!
I will probably be not there to read The Ruthless Light, the second and last installment of the series as I wasn't able to enjoy this story so far enough to actually be looking forward to the end of this story. My low rating is due to me having expected something entirely different when I read the blurb. It's on me, as I tend to always feel intrigued when I read that it's about some spiritual/mythical beings. After all, my favourite manga is about angels and demons as well, making me feel even more drawn in into stories that feature this.
I might not have liked this book, but that doesn't mean that it's awful. So far, I see people really enjoying this book from other reviews and I don't want to discourage anyone with my review to read it as well. Just be prepared that it's slow, not just in the pacing but also the romance. If a dark fantasy with a touch of gothic and mysterious atmosphere is making you feel intrigued as well as political tension, magic, religious faith and spiritual beings then this book might appeal you.
Started the book: 12. July 2025
Finished the book: 13. July 2025
Wrote the review: 13. July 2025
The Review
Likes
- Ilan. He is a former High Inquisitor, but the church lost their faith in him. Csilla is a soulless girl which received the same fate as Ilan. They immediately connected with eachother.
I love his grumpy villain vibes and I'm glad that 'cause of him Csilla isn't making the wrong choices. He made her remember how being her own self is important and beautiful.
Also his loyalty is admirable, even though that means that he is acting violent.
- I was glad to see that Csilla, the protagonist of this story was a gentle and soft girl, which couldn't hurt a fly. The most recent books seem to feature woman with strong bodies and minds, which is compelling too, but not what I'm looking for on the long-run. There is something intriguing with a protagonist who is so kind and never sins in a world so full of terrors (especially since a serial killer is on the run in her town). No matter how often Csilla faced rejection in life as she won't get accepted for being soulless she still is determined to save her fate by finding the serial killer herself.
(Though I was disappointed to see how easily she sided with Mihály instead of Ilan, even though Mihály is delusional and dangerous).
- I prefer slow-burn over anything, so I was happy to see that the romance between Csilla and Ilan was slow, but still in a steady pace.
- The magic in this book was really thought-through. There were so many things that were explained and one could see that the author really tried to make it realistic while reading. It also helped me feeling like being part of this story while reading. For instance, Mihály was divine and researched souls. This character introduced to the readers how souls truly work in this world. Ilan, the former High Inquisitor teaches us how fast a soul can be blackend (when it's full of sins) and how a device helps finding out. He also showed how corrupt and cruel the police is: Torturing (often innocent) people to get a confession out of them. This really added to the dark world which was promised to the reader.
- The torture scene near the end? Tension. I felt so tense watching it, though I believe the characters felt even more tense, after all I was lucky to not be part of all of this.
(I also have the feeling that it made the situation worse that it was with a cane and not a normal whip)
Dislikes
Extremely slow start. (Takes about 40% in to get actually interesting). In general, the pacing felt off the whole time while reading. Even though there were enjoyable moments while I read, I never felt like there was truly anything impactful. Like there was no climax in the story. I'm aware that this is a duology series, but each single book still needs its climax and I honestly didn't find one. Maybe there was one and I just didn't notice, but not noticing means it wasn't great enough to really call it a climax.
So, a pacing that is off and no climax. This book still felt like a draft that needed to fix a few things to make the reading flow more bearable and actually interesting to read about. I felt myself often bored 'cause a lot of things repeated itself (not just storywise but also wordwise) and 'cause a lot of stuff was included that wasn't really part of the plot later on. Don't get me wrong, there was definitely a story to be told and there were moments that were important later on, but just as I mentioned above, there were also lots of things that weren't interesting to the reader as it wasn't really necessary to include.
- Izir Mihály ('cause of him we got that boring journey outside Silgard)
+ even though he acted like a saint, I always had this iffy feeling about him (especially when he touched Csilla weirdly, WITHOUT permission, which she even says herself that it isn't really comfortable)
- A while, the book felt like it was trying to solve some murder mystery, but the vibe wasn't there to begin with. It was like: ‘Hey, let's find the murderer, but we don't actually know how, but you could help us...right?’ for a very long time. I get it that it wouldn't be interesting if they have a lead and find the murderer immediately, but having no lead at all and working with magic (which by the way, thanks to Mihály, made me feel like I was watching some weird sacrificial ritual) won't really advance the plot. Overall, the plot always felt very shaky as if it was about to come to a halt only for it to move forward at the last possible minute.
- Most characters were one- or two-dimensional but never really three-dimensional (though Csilla is three-dimensional since she is the protagonist and we actually read her thoughts all the time and know her full backstory). There is definitely still room to get to know the characters better in the last installment of the series, I just think it's a bit scarce.
Final thoughts
Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advanced reader copy of The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer!
I will probably be not there to read The Ruthless Light, the second and last installment of the series as I wasn't able to enjoy this story so far enough to actually be looking forward to the end of this story. My low rating is due to me having expected something entirely different when I read the blurb. It's on me, as I tend to always feel intrigued when I read that it's about some spiritual/mythical beings. After all, my favourite manga is about angels and demons as well, making me feel even more drawn in into stories that feature this.
I might not have liked this book, but that doesn't mean that it's awful. So far, I see people really enjoying this book from other reviews and I don't want to discourage anyone with my review to read it as well. Just be prepared that it's slow, not just in the pacing but also the romance. If a dark fantasy with a touch of gothic and mysterious atmosphere is making you feel intrigued as well as political tension, magic, religious faith and spiritual beings then this book might appeal you.
Started the book: 12. July 2025
Finished the book: 13. July 2025
Wrote the review: 13. July 2025
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Abandonment, Classism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Sexual content, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War