Rating: 4 / 5
I received this gorgeous edition of THE DARKENING by Sunya Mara in a YA Fairyloot box. I didn’t know much about this book, but was eager to check it out!
THE DARKENING begins with Vesper Vale living in a world surrounded by a Storm. This Storm is a darkness full of monsters that curses everyone who touches it. Vesper’s parents were identified as revolutionaries. Her mother was sacrificed to the Storm and Vesper and her father have been on the run trying to fly under the radar living amongst the storm cursed. When the queen’s soldiers find and capture Vesper’s father, she is determined to get him back. Soon she is working to use the magic that her father always kept from her and making her way into Prince Dalca’s inner circle of elite magic wielding soldiers to get answers to what has happened in the past and to save her father’s life.
I thought that this storm covered world was really interesting and unique. Monsters break out of the storm and wander into the edges of the city and the danger of these beasts and the way they impact the cursed was a really strong opening to the book. Some of the threads of the story were a bit hard to follow at times as the voice of the storm and the ways in develops in Vesper’s life confused her as our POV character as well.
The atmosphere in this one is really done well and I thought that the mysteries around Vesper’s parents and the things she learns about the queen and the prince and their role in the world were well played out. This book ends with a lot of action and a really big cliffhanger that left me having to reread the last chapter to try to get things straight. I will definitely be curious to see how the story develops when the next book comes out next summer!
DG Reads 