A review by breabooks
The Cruel Dark by Bea Northwick

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of the easiest five stars I’ve given this year. 

I listened to the audiobook and I honestly think it made the experience more enjoyable. The two narrators interpreted the voices well- the female voices having that breathy 1920s quality and the male voices were purposefully deep. My only qualms are that Millie’s narration was extremely slow. Callum’s voice was deeper than I would have interpreted it, but I loved his voice by the ending. The narration of a certain side character was perfectly maniacal. 

Regarding the story- holy. Moly. This was a venture outside my normal genre that was well worth it. The gothic atmosphere was perfectly set. I was unsettled at the horror aspects, as I should be. The mystery behind the plot kept me wondering until the epilogue. I could not truly figure it out until the very end. The romance was beautiful. Just the perfect amount of yearning and blush worthy bits. I never found myself bored at any part in this novel. 

The Cruel Dark reads like a classic novel and should honestly be considered one. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley for the audioARC.