novelheartbeat 's review for:

Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis

5.0

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4.5/5

The dead don't lie.

I have loved everything I've ever read that Beth Revis has written, so this was one of my most anticipated 2018 releases. And holy WOW, it did not disappoint!!!

I've gotta say, the beginning of this book was a major struggle for me. It started off horrifically, painfully slow - to the point that I had thoughts of DNFing! I spent about 50 pages forcing my way through on blind faith that it would get better because it was written by Beth Revis. And I'm SO glad I did!! I got a little more interested close to 100 pages, and it was decent for the next 100 after that. It took nearly 200 pages for me to become fully invested, but when the necromancy came into play I was HOOKED! I don't think a book has ever turned around so drastically for me!

And HOLY FLIPPING CRAP the last half!! The necromancy and alchemy aspects were amazing. Things got super intense, and SO intriguing!! I was drawn in by the dark elements of this book. The title was spot on! This book is SO dark, and depressing to be honest. Because of the plague, there is lots of death and dismemberment. In detail. This book is not for the faint of heart! It even had me cringing at points. It was also a very emotional read. There's loss and hardship at every turn, and it doesn't shy away from the truth of the plague.

Spoiler

I also love that Beth doesn't spare her characters. Holy CRAP I felt so terrible for Nedra!! The loss of her parents was fucking hard, you guys. That part hit me so hard. The fact that she had to sit trapped in a tiny house with her parents' dead bodies, for days...I can't even imagine. And to go through so much to save her sister, only to lose her to the plague, too. Wow.

"Would a man commit a crime if he never had access to a weapon?"

It's been a long time since I connected with a main character as much as I connected with Nedra. She was such a great lead! She does things for other people without thought or consequence, just because they need help and it's the right thing to do. She's a very selfless person, and I think that selflessness is part of what draws her to the darkness. There's not much she won't do to stop the plague and save her family, even if it means doing the unspeakable.

If love will not stop for death, time should.

I can't stress enough how amazing the alchemy was!! I loved how there were different crucibles for different alchemies, and how necromancy was basically the dark arts version of alchemy! Ahhhh it was SO. AWESOME. I've never read anything like it!!

This review was originally posted on Novel Heartbeat. To see a breakdown of my assessment, please visit the full review here.