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A review by beaniedorman
Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis
3.0
After nearly giving up on her dream, seventeen-year-old Nedra has finally been accepted on a scholarship to Yugen, a prestigious academy, where she hopes to study medical alchemy to help cure the Wasting Death, a plague that is spreading unchecked throughout the rural northern villages that she calls home. She packs her few belongings and sails away from her parents and twin sister. After making her way to the capital city, however, Nedra finds that the plague is not the only problem the nation is facing. While in the capital, Nedra faces new challenges such as the expectations of her new master and the discrimination of her higher-born classmates, and new distractions in Grey, a boy who is immediately captured by her focus and determination. As more and more are taken by sickness and Nedra becomes more desperate for a cure, she turns to darker forms of magic in hopes of finding a solution. When her master begins to hint that that a cure may lie within the research of an infamous necromancer, the one forbidden form of alchemy, Nedra knows that she may be the only one who can find it. The only question that remains is how much she is willing to sacrifice for those she loves.
I had a few major problems right away. First of all, one of the deadly sins of teen fiction: insta-love. From their first meeting, Grey is infatuated. Not even in a meet-cute-crush kind of way. In a all-of-the-Other-Girls-at-this-school-are-so-boring-and-you're-the-only-interesting-one-marry-me-tomorrow kind of way. Bleh. In fact, Grey's entire character was fairly boring. He was a stock male hero with predictable family issues and a one-dimensional personality. The only reason I didn't skip his chapters entirely was because of the outside perspective he gives readers of Nedra. All of her actions are of course justified in her own mind, but through Grey's eyes we can see her begin to turn.
Speaking of stock characters, besides a handful, that's all we get in this book. Especially the other students at Yugen and their disdain of Nedra. Predictable sneers and cheap barbs ensued. This is so overdone.
Second of all, the magic in this world was never really explained well. There are three approved types of alchemy, and then necromancy makes a fourth, but besides a brief demonstration near the beginning of the book, there is not much reasoning given. Nedra most often uses a form of alchemy to pull pain from patients and transfer it to rats. This seemed a strange narrative choice to me, and a bit over-glorified within the book. Yes that can bring patients relief, but don't they have potions for that? The dependence on alchemists for this didn't make much sense within the context of the book.
My favorite part of the book, and the part that actually made me finish it, was Nedra's descent. Though it is pretty heavily foreshadowed, her transition from honorable medical student to necromancer was so well done. She feels justified in each step, sure that she will be able to walk away if she has to, never seeing that it may be too late. This was so well done and really managed to turn the book around for me.
And then came the ending, which was actually surprising. I found myself reading again instead of skimming. Nedra became infinitely more readable once she had more depth to her character, becoming more and more so as she descended into darkness. The larger-scale political plots felt a bit unfocused and distant compared to Nedra's transition, but even that became more interesting as the plot continued. A couple of the plot twists actually managed to surprise me. I'm very interested to see what the sequel will have in store.
I had a few major problems right away. First of all, one of the deadly sins of teen fiction: insta-love. From their first meeting, Grey is infatuated. Not even in a meet-cute-crush kind of way. In a all-of-the-Other-Girls-at-this-school-are-so-boring-and-you're-the-only-interesting-one-marry-me-tomorrow kind of way. Bleh. In fact, Grey's entire character was fairly boring. He was a stock male hero with predictable family issues and a one-dimensional personality. The only reason I didn't skip his chapters entirely was because of the outside perspective he gives readers of Nedra. All of her actions are of course justified in her own mind, but through Grey's eyes we can see her begin to turn.
Speaking of stock characters, besides a handful, that's all we get in this book. Especially the other students at Yugen and their disdain of Nedra. Predictable sneers and cheap barbs ensued.
Spoiler
This of course leads to Grey realizing that his rich friends are not his real friends, further fueling his desire to be with Nedra.Second of all, the magic in this world was never really explained well. There are three approved types of alchemy, and then necromancy makes a fourth, but besides a brief demonstration near the beginning of the book, there is not much reasoning given. Nedra most often uses a form of alchemy to pull pain from patients and transfer it to rats. This seemed a strange narrative choice to me, and a bit over-glorified within the book. Yes that can bring patients relief, but don't they have potions for that? The dependence on alchemists for this didn't make much sense within the context of the book.
My favorite part of the book, and the part that actually made me finish it, was Nedra's descent. Though it is pretty heavily foreshadowed, her transition from honorable medical student to necromancer was so well done. She feels justified in each step, sure that she will be able to walk away if she has to, never seeing that it may be too late. This was so well done and really managed to turn the book around for me.
And then came the ending, which was actually surprising. I found myself reading again instead of skimming. Nedra became infinitely more readable once she had more depth to her character, becoming more and more so as she descended into darkness. The larger-scale political plots felt a bit unfocused and distant compared to Nedra's transition, but even that became more interesting as the plot continued. A couple of the plot twists actually managed to surprise me. I'm very interested to see what the sequel will have in store.