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A review by samanthabreading
Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“Our lives can change at any moment, but they change so drastically only a few times.” I SCREAMED during chapter 61 when this quote was shared (those who read you know 😍). However, Howling Dark in its entirety did not live up to the hype for me. 

I mean… duuuuude. It took me about 2 months just to finish the first 450 pages, and I almost DNFD at three different points but held on hoping it would get better. It did, about two thirds of the way in, and at the end. For such a complex and well developed world in book one and such a major time jump into book two, with little to no explanation, was inconsistent. Furthermore, I felt like most of Had’s character growth was stagnant when reading and nothing REALLY happened until near the end. Book one felt like an epic and mesmerizing prologue to what would be a banger series. This was more of a slog. 😭

Also, with the beautiful word choice Hadrian used in book one I was unpleasantly surprised by the way Jinan was superficially described and objectified here. My annoyance then later turned into absolute confusion for the middle part of the book. Normally I do ok with confusion (I welcome it when I read books like the Locked Tomb Series) but it appears I will likely not have the answers I’m searching for yet. The ending was an interesting turn of events though and it did relight a spark of curiosity for this series. 

I do recognize my review is not in agreement with many other fans of the Sun Eater series. For the reason that I have been told these books only get better as you go by content creators I trust, I am choosing to continue and believe Ruocchio will restore my wonder and giddiness I had in book one again soon. If not, my next gripe will be much longer. 😂 Cheers to optimism and in the words of Gibson, “Always forward”!
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