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A review by fromthefoxhole
The Darkening by Sunya Mara
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This fucking book, okay?
I'm an unfortunate sucker for the chosen one girl in a YA trope (thank you, Katniss) and this one really hammers that into you.
1. Vesper (like even the name, come on!!)
2. lives in an area affected by The Storm, and her Region™️ is the last one on the outskirts closest to it, and it's the poorest region.
3. she's not trained in the Magic System™️ but she loves it
4. there's a rich boy who takes pity on her bc of something having to do with the Government™️
5. she has a family tie that creates a vengeance arc so she finds her way to the Capital™️
7. circumstances arise that lead to her working with the rich boy (she thinks that maybe she underestimated him)
8. they're thrown into the Gauntlet™️
9. Alliances are formed and broken, promises are stretched thin, betrayals - how could I ever love someone like You™️?
10. One of them either dies/falls into a coma and the last thing they see is their Enemy?™️
It's like, everything that is tired and we're supposed to hate. BUT- Truly I'm not sure if I'm just, like, giving the book more grace than it's due. BUT-
I think I always give more leeway to a first book, knowing that the author likely has planned arcs over the multiples rather than the individual, so I wanted to suspend my belief, y'know? I didn't mind the questions I had about the magic system, or the politics, etc. I felt like this book very intentionally only gave us the pieces that were given to Vesper. We're *supposed* to feel a little lost in a world we don't fully understand, because that's how Vesper feels in the Ven. I found myself tabbing something as important, then coming across a related thing and running back to the note like, proud of myself that I had called it. It was rewarding to piece things together with Vesper.
I ate up her friendship with the boys,like, so much so that I was in tears at work towards the end of this book . It reminded me of my own friends that I would kill or die for. She was infuriating and rash and impetuous, but she's a 17 year old chosen one! That's her job description.
Something about the writing, the fluidity of the story, drew me in and held me for the two full days it took me to read this. Any time I had to stop reading, I found myself counting the minutes until I could pick it back up. I was fully entranced the entire time. Freaking witchcraft.
I'm an unfortunate sucker for the chosen one girl in a YA trope (thank you, Katniss) and this one really hammers that into you.
1. Vesper (like even the name, come on!!)
2. lives in an area affected by The Storm, and her Region™️ is the last one on the outskirts closest to it, and it's the poorest region.
3. she's not trained in the Magic System™️ but she loves it
4. there's a rich boy who takes pity on her bc of something having to do with the Government™️
5. she has a family tie that creates a vengeance arc so she finds her way to the Capital™️
7. circumstances arise that lead to her working with the rich boy (she thinks that maybe she underestimated him)
8. they're thrown into the Gauntlet™️
9. Alliances are formed and broken, promises are stretched thin, betrayals - how could I ever love someone like You™️?
10. One of them either dies/falls into a coma and the last thing they see is their Enemy?™️
It's like, everything that is tired and we're supposed to hate. BUT- Truly I'm not sure if I'm just, like, giving the book more grace than it's due. BUT-
I think I always give more leeway to a first book, knowing that the author likely has planned arcs over the multiples rather than the individual, so I wanted to suspend my belief, y'know? I didn't mind the questions I had about the magic system, or the politics, etc. I felt like this book very intentionally only gave us the pieces that were given to Vesper. We're *supposed* to feel a little lost in a world we don't fully understand, because that's how Vesper feels in the Ven. I found myself tabbing something as important, then coming across a related thing and running back to the note like, proud of myself that I had called it. It was rewarding to piece things together with Vesper.
I ate up her friendship with the boys,
Something about the writing, the fluidity of the story, drew me in and held me for the two full days it took me to read this. Any time I had to stop reading, I found myself counting the minutes until I could pick it back up. I was fully entranced the entire time. Freaking witchcraft.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, War, Violence, Classism, Grief, Confinement, Blood, and Body horror