A review by justineaxelle
Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I’m struggling to form my thoughts on this book. I like some aspects of it and others I wanted to like but didn’t. The writing is good but doesn’t hook you in either, or only at some points throughout the story.  I did like the characters but none of them stood out either. I think the plot and its complications overtook the characters and their dynamics completely, and I wanted to see more of the relationships developing. We literally got crumbs for a romantic ship and it was absolutely not enough. The plot twists were good, but there was also too much death. I wish C. S. Pacat would use other things to get her characters to develop other than experiencing deaths of loved ones. You shouldn’t have to kill 80% of your characters to make the plot move along and make your MC develop in some way. 
It also didn’t go the way I thought it would in terms of storyline. Reading the first half of the book feels like listening to a song, waiting for the beat to drop and then suddenly it skips to another song and your brain is struggling to switch to another rhythm.  I wanted to give the book 3 stars but the ending and the plot twists made it better.
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