A review by kittykornerlibrarian
Beneath the Keep by Erika Johansen

3.0

I'm sorry but I can't with dark fantasy. I'm not sure if I can't with dark fantasy *right now* or I can't with dark fantasy *ever again* but I'm going to stop trying. I thought this would be an exception because I adore the Tearling trilogy so much, but no. Much of the plot takes place in the Creche, which is literally the underworld of the capital city of the Tearling. The story also includes Elyssa, who is the Crown Princess of the Tearling, and I would have been interested to learn more about her backstory, but there's a lot of murder and prostitution and abuse of power in this story and that's the part that I just don't want to force myself to read right now. I think I need a nice long course of comfort reading. In this case, it's definitely me, not the book. It's well-constructed and the characters are engaging, but I'm putting it aside.