The Darkening (The Darkening Duology Book 1)

Product Information

Your burden is more than any one person should bear. And I hate it. I hate that people accept it. That they want to use you while never wanting to be you. I hate that it seems we only know how good we have it if we know someone has it worse." Reading that epilogue you can FEEL the weight gone from Vesper and the others' shoulders. The happiness, the relief, was truly palpable. But Vesper is such a powerful character! She has such an iron will, can be a bit prideful, is loving but keeps boundaries and I love it. She was so independent but I really appreciate how in the end, she still needed others help because at the end of the day, none of us are infallible.

Aghhhh whatastart!!! I love being thrown right into the story, and the world just seems a bit dreadful. I can visualize the storm – mysterious, terrifying and yet…alive somehow! I can figure out a bit about ikonomancy, but I feel like it will reveal itself more as immerse ourselves into Vesper’s world…after all, in the way that Vesper seems to know little about it, I feel like we are there too, learning a bit more and more about it (and I definitely feel there will be lots of ikon things as we continue journeying into her world!).You are building a house. You have built most of it without realizing what you were doing. You laid the foundation with stones, each a thing you believe to be true. The walls are ideas that rose up out of those beliefs. The roof, protection from things that would harm the safe structure you have built. What I really loved about this book is that it has the same kind of thrill as a first book in a fantasy series. In the first book we had this entire new world to explore but in this second book the entire world has changed again and it's like we're once again exploring a completely new world. And with that new world comes new discoveries, new challenges, new reveals and new betrayals. If you loved the first book you're gonna love this book too! The Darkening has a really interesting and unique premise, but that’s about it. For me, it really failed to deliver in execution. the city and the storm that surrounds it are both beautiful and painful, everyone ripped apart by what they can and cannot achieve, by who and what they have lost. Even arm herself with her father's book of dangerous experimental magic. Even infiltrate the prince's elite squad of soldier-sorcerers. Even cheat her way into his cold heart.

My biggest dislike was the romance between Vesper and Dalca. The tremendous potential for Vesper’s growth is continuously undermined by the favouring of their romance almost until the very end. I honestly think Vesper had much more chemistry with both Izamal and Casvian than she did with Dalca. I believe they would’ve been better off as allies-to-enemies, and a much more interesting plot would’ve unfolded. This was an enticing debut from Sunya Mara! I enjoyed this high-stakes fantasy mixed with political intrigue, alluring magic, and romance. The South Asian influences, although not as prominent as other South Asian fantasies, were also super cool to follow along with. I liked following Vesper on her mission to rescue her father from the clutches of the Wardana by posing as a third-year apprentice. This trope of the MC sneaking into the castle undercover to learn of the courts' secrets is not new in YA Fantasy, but it was still interesting to read about. I also really liked each of Vesper's dynamics with Dalca, Iz, and Cas and how some bonds grew (while others didn't) as the story progressed. The action sequences were also written in a very visceral manner and I found myself holding my breath any time Vesper or her father were in danger. When you’ve finished today’s section, catch up with me in the comments down below so we can discuss the beginning of the book. Happy reading!

Contents

So therefore, when we heard about The Darkening, we knew we had to give it a try as the marketing advertises it as a hybrid mix of paranormal investigation, magic show, and theatrical scare experience. We loved the fact that although we may not actually encounter any ghosts during the paranormal sections, we were sure expecting some spectacle in the theatrical bits. I personally wish there was more romance. It does have a sweet ending and it's obvious Dalca cares for Vesper, but she really just was like a stone wall the entire book. I think other people enjoyed it but it felt absent to me. A pause, and then a faint, "I'm sorry." A rustling sound, as if he's moving away. - "Dalca?" I call. "If anything changes, you have my permission to barge in, all right?" - A low, embarrassed laugh. "All right." To start off I like the writing style. I don't usually enjoy first person POVs because they tend to be quite repetitive but The Darkening turned out to be an exception. Vesper’s inner monologue is the perfect balance of thoughts, emotions, and actions. The prose was straightforward but still emotive. There was a good balance between the characters thoughts and the descriptions of the world. The world itself was explained just enough not to overwhelm me with formation but didn't bore me either either.

Prince Dalca was born for one purpose: to protect his home from the Storm, a deadly force that surrounds his city and curses everyone it touches. Vesper Vale is the daughter of failed revolutionaries. Since the Queen sentenced her mother to death by the Storm, she and her father have been on the run. But, what really let this Duology down for me is the main character. I noted in my review of The Darkening that I hoped our main character, Vesper, would get some amazing character growth in book two and to be honest, the growth was more of a little seedling spurt than a blossoming. In the first book, Vesper was incredibly angry because she was poor and her and the other low-ringers were treated poorly. In this book the pendulum swings entirely the other way and she’s fuming that she’s too worshipped. Honestly, I think that if the main character was more likable and stopped trying to invite everybody to her pity party then I would have loved this duology. Happy Monday and welcome to day 1 of our readalong of The Darkening by Sunya Mara. I’m so excited to be reading this one with you, I hope you all love it! While this book was really entertaining and a good book for what I assume will be a series, it needed a bit more world building. I enjoyed the story and it made me think of some of my other YA favorite series. The characters were introduced well and came across as rich and full of life. If there will be a romance twist in the next book, it will need some work as the romance was very low in this first book. The writing was detailed and I could easily follow the descriptions of the rings and the magic around it. The narration was really good for this type of book.Overall, this is a young adult fantasy with nice symmetry to the story which is enjoyable and impressive. The writing is immersive, the tension is consistently high, and the dynamics are good. What this duology suffers from is a dislikable main character who is hard to emotionally invest in and some loose ends that could do with being neatly tied. I would definitely say the character are all morally grey, which I personally like best. Good and evil blend together and there were times when I wasn't sure who's side to be on. The twists and betrayals were well done and even caught me of guard and the final battle was well thought out. The ending felt satisfying and complete, like there was still story to be told, but that was to be left with the characters now, as the readers have had their fill. So, it as this point that we don’t really want to give too much away, as we really don’t want to ruin any surprises. The magic show built on the stories and the “ghosts” we had experienced throughout the day, and as we said at the start would have been genuinely unnerving if we hadn’t been warned it was magic and not real. Give me the sequel now! This book was one of the biggest surprises of this year, I absolutely loved it more than I ever imagined I would.