A review by pagesofplatypus
The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Oh how I love you, dark academia horror.

What happens when you come back from the dead, what do you lose and what do you bring with you? Delaney Meyers-Petrov has always walked the line between world, between the light and the shadows. Colton Price is living on borrowed time. Despite warnings to stay away from Delaney, the two find themselves drawn together and their paths more deeply entwined than either of them know.

I love the atmophere of this book. The writing is enveloping and I enjoyed seeing different characters' perspectives. There were only a few parts where the style and structure was glaringly repitive. For instance, the author liked to use the structure of "It was, Christian Price loved to say, excellent practice to keep from being late." As for pacing, I never felt the plot drag and the flashbacks and reveals were all done well. The villain, though, felt kind of flat and clichéd to me.

Nevertheless the horror elements are the perfect touch of mild gore and boy/possession horror. I wish we did have a little more time with some of the occult and magical elements because I feel everything was very periphery and only lightly explained.

Now onto the romance. Very swoonworthy! I mean Chapter 45 🔥.

There's also a scene where Colton has to grab a bone shard Delaney tucked into her tights that's sexier than some smut scenes.

I love a little they annoy each other but that's what makes them fall in love trope coupled with a dash of fated love. There are definitely lines that give teen melodrama, but for the most I feel it was balanced well with the plot.

I absolutely recommend this for a quick winter read and for fans of dark academia.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Murder