A review by kayelina
The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

4.0

Mary E. Pearson does a spectacular job of taking us out of this world and into her’s. With her exquisite and unique writing style, it wasn’t hard for me to suspend my disbelief and root for her main protagonist, Lia, which transformed so much across this trilogy. Although I do wish that certain, important scenes with characters lasted longer while more political and war scenes lasted dozens of pages, I was able to really relate and carry along with the story with no bore or loss of interest. Pearson tells us her tale like a fantastic episode of Game of Thrones that’s a lot more PG-13 with a kick-ass heroine leading the ranks. Every doubt or obstacle that comes her way, she overcomes and with excellence. I do feel this trilogy isn’t much fantasy as no magical aspects take over much of the story but this world’s mythology and their beliefs of the Ancients that crafted their continents is very intriguing. I also wish that the characters ended up with different love interests but I think the ending was bittersweet and fit the characters well and then some. Overall, after finishing the last two books of the series in less than a week, Pearson has made my heart yearn for good storytelling again, far away kingdoms, and amazing, bomb-ass women, that I thought was long-gone in YA novels. I highly recommend this book as something different for people who usually read of love triangles but want a more important cause and plot to drive it.