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A review by brokenrecord
The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman
4.0
3.5 stars. I liked this, but I did have one kind of major complaint, so I ended up not enjoying this as much as the first two books in the series.
(and it turned out she was dead the whole time anyways, so it didn't really make a difference if she was a Deceiver prior to her death or not, since all of that happened prior to the start of the series, so that bothered me less). I just liked the idea of Selburn genuinely liking Helen and wanting to be with her and it not being part of some grand scheme, but that she'd end up choosing Carlston anyways. And he was nice enough in the first book, but he got more and more annoying in the second book, and then even worse in the third book, but even then, I still wanted him to just be an ordinary human. But of course he was a Deceiver. I knew it was coming, especially the second they started talking about the male/female Deceiver dyad, I was like, "So, Elise and Selburn, right?" And, pretty much. idk, I just found it frustrating because it was such a cop-out way to get rid of Selburn. I will say that I didn't see the twist about Elise not being alive after all coming, so that was good at least.
I did still really enjoy Carlston and Helen a lot, although I would've liked a LITTLE more at the end between them.
I mean, this was definitely enjoyable, I didn't find it hard to get through, but the ending was just a little disappointing overall. But still a good series on the whole.
Spoiler
Since basically the first book I had been hoping that Selburn wouldn't be evil, not because I loved him and wanted Helen and him to be together (I was firmly in favor of Helen/Carlston, of course), but because it just seemed way too OBVIOUS and easy for him to be a Deceiver. Same for Elise, although I cared less about her just because she was not much of a character(and it turned out she was dead the whole time anyways, so it didn't really make a difference if she was a Deceiver prior to her death or not, since all of that happened prior to the start of the series, so that bothered me less). I just liked the idea of Selburn genuinely liking Helen and wanting to be with her and it not being part of some grand scheme, but that she'd end up choosing Carlston anyways. And he was nice enough in the first book, but he got more and more annoying in the second book, and then even worse in the third book, but even then, I still wanted him to just be an ordinary human. But of course he was a Deceiver. I knew it was coming, especially the second they started talking about the male/female Deceiver dyad, I was like, "So, Elise and Selburn, right?" And, pretty much. idk, I just found it frustrating because it was such a cop-out way to get rid of Selburn. I will say that I didn't see the twist about Elise not being alive after all coming, so that was good at least.
I did still really enjoy Carlston and Helen a lot, although I would've liked a LITTLE more at the end between them.
Spoiler
It somehow felt abrupt, even though the book was plenty long. I mean, I know they had already basically agreed to marry non-verbally before the thing with Carlston having a son, but still, it would've been nice to have a little more at the end. But I did love all their non-verbal communication, and the moment before they're going after what they think is the Grand Deceiver, and she finally tells him she loves him, and they kiss — that was lovely. I also really enjoyed Darby and her relationship with Helen, as always, and her wedding with Quinn was very sweet.I mean, this was definitely enjoyable, I didn't find it hard to get through, but the ending was just a little disappointing overall. But still a good series on the whole.