Reviews

The Darkening by Sunya Mara

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martinlibrarian's review against another edition

2.0

Going to chalk this one up as a book with a promising start and premise, but ultimately it went down not in flames but with a tired sigh. I like the setting - a city besieged by a Storm, desperately trying to fight it back. Albeit with the wrong tools, because of course you can't have a YA without some conflict. There is class struggles in this book, because well, never mind that the entire city faces obliteraton, we still have people that thinks their shit smells better than most. Vesper Vale, the main protagonist, I honestly don't know what to make of her. She hates the Wardana, The Regia, the system in place. But she, once she has infiltrated the upper tiers, also feels attracted to prince Dalca leader of the Wardana. Why, oh why, do this trope keep popping up? It is just tiresome. I kept on reading way too long, because in the end I felt that the author had stripped away my entire empathy for the characters. I did not care if they lived or died, which is a sinking feeling.

willsnow's review

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Some parts are just blatant copies of Sarah J. Maas', she barely tries to hide it lol. Also similar to shadow and bone. I feel like the author just meshed a bunch of popular books together

elmasbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

christinewhales's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

koalachick's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Mystery, character growth, and beautiful writing. This was a book that I went into without knowing exactly what the story would be and am so glad I read it.