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A review by tanya_tate
The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller
3.0
Book Stats
Stars: 3 Stars
Start Date : 03/18/24
Ending Date: 03/21/24
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Form: Audiobook Arc/ E-Arc
Page Count: 336
Publishing Date: 07/09/24
Point of View: 1st Person
Setting: Victorian England I mean Naxos
My Blog: https://tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2024/03/22/the-darkness-within-us-by-tricia-levenseller/
StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/b1185885-2f5e-4afd-a61d-b5baba1debf5
Thank you MacMillan Audio for the Audiobook Arc exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Edelweiss for the E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.
I really can't believe I requested this after giving the Shadows between Us a 2.5 but here we go.
Which for the most part I enjoyed this more than Shadows even tho I was so close to DNFED it.
This is set around the same time as the Events of Shadows but can pretty much be read as a Stand Alone or a Companion Piece. If you don't want to be spoiled with some events of Shadows, you can read Shadows first then this but it's not needed to understand this because certain things will get explained. This is not a direct sequel to Shadows.
The Darkness Within Us is dealing with Chrysantha Santos aka Alessandra Sister which if you read Shadows was only mentioned in letters to Alessandra.
Chrysantha played the role of an airhead for seven years to get married to a duke who is actually a smart woman but her perception of her little sister is all wrong.
Chry is married to a duke at 19 which she gained the full Dukedom ( title, land ,and money) when the Duked died but lost it when his “ Grandson” Eryx Demos came back to claim it for him and want her gone.
I almost DNFED this at 13% if it was for the Chry and Eryx interaction at breakfast which saved it for me and made me give it a chance. Before that scene it was looking really shaky for me because I didn’t like Chry at all.
The banter between the two is really the backbone of this book and what keeps this book fun and funny. I saw another reviewer say this but think of The Princess Diaries Two which did give me those vibes. It also surprisingly gives me Beauty and the Beast vibes if you are familiar with the OG BATB story and not the Disney Version.
I didn’t like Chry at first because I felt she was very hypocritical towards her sister but she calls herself out on it towards the middle of the book. I do like the fact she does care about her servants to the point she gave them raises and felt like they were family towards here. Also the fact that she was smart as hell that she was figuring out things way before the private investigator aka the person she paid to figure out things for her.
Eryx Demos for the most part was pretty good for a love interest and a character since his banter was Chry is what kept the book fun. At first he was an asshole then you realized he was a tortured soul like most of them are.
There is still really no World Building like in Shadows. Like I said in Shadows, Naxos is Victorian England. Nothing groundbreaking about it.
The Magical System still doesn’t make no lick of sense.
The plot is simple and nothing convoluted which is why the pacing is pretty fast in this. It also feels rushed towards the end and everything is wrapped up in a nice bow as always.
Some side characters of flat with the expectation of two or three you will care about.
No one really faces any consequences of their actions. I mean it’s a body count but no one seems to care about that at all.
There is feminism in this story like just in Shadows but if I get into the logistics of it this will turn into an essay. It just feels really shallow.
I have to remind myself that Chry and Eryx are 19 and 18 years old because both of them feel like they are in their 20’s just like Alessandra and Kallias did in Shadows. Like this supposed to be upper YA but could have benefited being NA because the Author tightropes the line between YA and NA.
All and All Like this one better than Shadows because I didn't take it as seriously as Shadows.
Recommend this if you want something low stakes, Enemies to Lovers, Witty banter, some feminism, don’t really care about world building ,plot, and magical system, some steam and romantic tension.
Stars: 3 Stars
Start Date : 03/18/24
Ending Date: 03/21/24
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Form: Audiobook Arc/ E-Arc
Page Count: 336
Publishing Date: 07/09/24
Point of View: 1st Person
Setting: Victorian England I mean Naxos
My Blog: https://tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2024/03/22/the-darkness-within-us-by-tricia-levenseller/
StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/b1185885-2f5e-4afd-a61d-b5baba1debf5
Thank you MacMillan Audio for the Audiobook Arc exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Edelweiss for the E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.
I really can't believe I requested this after giving the Shadows between Us a 2.5 but here we go.
Which for the most part I enjoyed this more than Shadows even tho I was so close to DNFED it.
This is set around the same time as the Events of Shadows but can pretty much be read as a Stand Alone or a Companion Piece. If you don't want to be spoiled with some events of Shadows, you can read Shadows first then this but it's not needed to understand this because certain things will get explained. This is not a direct sequel to Shadows.
The Darkness Within Us is dealing with Chrysantha Santos aka Alessandra Sister which if you read Shadows was only mentioned in letters to Alessandra.
Chrysantha played the role of an airhead for seven years to get married to a duke who is actually a smart woman but her perception of her little sister is all wrong.
Chry is married to a duke at 19 which she gained the full Dukedom ( title, land ,and money) when the Duked died but lost it when his “ Grandson” Eryx Demos came back to claim it for him and want her gone.
I almost DNFED this at 13% if it was for the Chry and Eryx interaction at breakfast which saved it for me and made me give it a chance. Before that scene it was looking really shaky for me because I didn’t like Chry at all.
The banter between the two is really the backbone of this book and what keeps this book fun and funny. I saw another reviewer say this but think of The Princess Diaries Two which did give me those vibes. It also surprisingly gives me Beauty and the Beast vibes if you are familiar with the OG BATB story and not the Disney Version.
I didn’t like Chry at first because I felt she was very hypocritical towards her sister but she calls herself out on it towards the middle of the book. I do like the fact she does care about her servants to the point she gave them raises and felt like they were family towards here. Also the fact that she was smart as hell that she was figuring out things way before the private investigator aka the person she paid to figure out things for her.
Eryx Demos for the most part was pretty good for a love interest and a character since his banter was Chry is what kept the book fun. At first he was an asshole then you realized he was a tortured soul like most of them are.
There is still really no World Building like in Shadows. Like I said in Shadows, Naxos is Victorian England. Nothing groundbreaking about it.
The Magical System still doesn’t make no lick of sense.
The plot is simple and nothing convoluted which is why the pacing is pretty fast in this. It also feels rushed towards the end and everything is wrapped up in a nice bow as always.
Some side characters of flat with the expectation of two or three you will care about.
No one really faces any consequences of their actions. I mean it’s a body count but no one seems to care about that at all.
There is feminism in this story like just in Shadows but if I get into the logistics of it this will turn into an essay. It just feels really shallow.
I have to remind myself that Chry and Eryx are 19 and 18 years old because both of them feel like they are in their 20’s just like Alessandra and Kallias did in Shadows. Like this supposed to be upper YA but could have benefited being NA because the Author tightropes the line between YA and NA.
All and All Like this one better than Shadows because I didn't take it as seriously as Shadows.
Recommend this if you want something low stakes, Enemies to Lovers, Witty banter, some feminism, don’t really care about world building ,plot, and magical system, some steam and romantic tension.