A review by thebalancedbookshelf
The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

<spoilers> I am obsessed with this book. I devoured this in a day which is rare for me to do. I could not put this down. 

This book had everything that I love dark academia, mind blowing tension, fantasy and even some mythology.  I loved how the storyline flowed and wrapped up. I enjoy a standalone and I think the pacing on this was done well. There were some topics that could have been expanded on but I didn’t feel that it was rushed. 

My favorite part of this book was the chemistry between the two main characters. I loved getting both POVs and how Colton is literally drawn to her. I could not get enough of it. I love that the author waited until the very end of the book for them to get together. His obsession with her was done in the best way since it could have gone creepy but I didn’t feel that way at all. Him knowing sign language killed me. I just think he was such an amazing morally grey main character. He reminded me of what I wanted Darlington in Ninth House to be like. 

There were some small things that I felt could have been explained such as  the school/Priory in general. I wish we had a little bit more insight into the magic of this world in general. I did like that it was linked to peoples brush with death and found that to be an interesting route. 

There is one aspect of this book that I normal despise but was actually okay with in this book and that is the multiverse concept. I think the way it was used and how the characters were reflected was the best way it could be done. I was happy that we didn’t get multiple versions of the characters popping into the story and that it kept to more of the demon/ghosts side. 

Everything in this book just really worked for me. I loved all of the mythological references and nods. The Dante’s Inferno parallels were spot on. I also loved the disability representation we were shown. This book was the perfect mix of everything and I loved every minute of it. 

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