A review by judeinthestars
A Love so Dark by Rien Gray

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A Love So Dark, the fourth and last book in the Fatal Fidelity series, starts with the perfect twist and proceeds to close on the best possible ending.

I don’t often root for criminals, I’m not usually interested in amoral characters, I don’t look for stories that make me uncomfortable or offend my own moral compass. I’m not a fan of violence and gore either. Despite all that, however, once in a while, I’ll root for characters I should despise. Campbell is one of those. I picked up the first book in the series because the idea of a wife and husband both hiring the same assassin to kill the other intrigued me. Campbell’s also one of the first non-binary characters I encountered and I guess you take representation where you find it, same as I did when I realized I was queer.

That first book, Love Kills Twice, got me hooked. Campbell’s fascinating but I mostly stayed for the writing and for Justine. She’s the heart of the series, her journey the reason I had to keep reading.

At the beginning of A Love So Dark, Campbell and Justine are on a black sand beach in Chile, savouring what seems to be the start of their new life together, free from betrayals, rivalry, and murder. Until the Feds rush in and arrest Campbell for a murder they didn’t commit. Oh, the irony…

Rien Gray ends their series on a high note. The writing is precise and efficient, the emotions raw, the characters decisively relatable. Since I read hundreds of books between this one and the one before, I could have used a few words of context when secondary characters from previous books were reintroduced, but it all worked out. Now that this series is over, I’m looking forward to what the author will come up with next.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Read all my reviews on my blog (and please buy from the affiliation links!): Jude in the Stars