A review by emleemay
Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis

4.0

“If you do this, Nedra, if you choose necromancy . . . I will not follow you into that darkness.”
“Oh, Grey,” I said, shifting my bag on my shoulder. “What do you know of darkness?”

Well. This book's darkness certainly creeps up on you. In the best kind of way.

While reading the first half of Give the Dark My Love, I thought it was a decent YA fantasy. It checked a number of boxes that appeal to me - "magic" alchemy school with mysterious tutors, political intrigue, some diversity

Spoiler

at least of sexuality, but race is unclear

, and a heroine I could like. The romance did nothing for me, but then it rarely does.

This first half features Nedra Brysstain - a poor country girl from the northern territories of Lunar Island - receiving a scholarship to attend Yugen Academy, a prestigious school that trains students in the science of medicinal alchemy. Most of the other students look down on the scholarship student, except for Greggori "Grey" Astor. Romance blooms alongside Nedra's growing alchemy skills.

But Nedra is most interested in the plague that is spreading through Lunar Island. Her search for a cure is buoyed by her volunteering at a local hospital and seeing the horrific painful results of the disease. Behind the plague is a world of intricate politics - where it seems almost everyone is out for themselves and may even be using the plague to further their own political ambitions.

It's quite fun, but it isn't until around the halfway point that this book goes from "fun" to nail-bitingly horrific. If you're the right kind of person, that will be a good thing.

I couldn’t be a human in this moment. I had to be an alchemist. An alchemist sees the skin that must be sliced apart. The arteries that must be tied off. The bone that must be sawed through. An alchemist knows to hold the arm down so it doesn’t wiggle too much.

Just a warning, though: it gets very dark. There are some gory bits in the first half and yet that doesn't really prepare you for what's to come. The story takes a very emotional and disturbing turn, but I can't deny it-- I was on the edge of my seat, wide-eyed and racing through the pages to find out what happens.

The ending wraps up this chapter but it still left me excited (and a little terrified) to see what happens in the sequel. Those who regularly seek out dark reads should love this; everyone else proceed with caution.

CW: graphic violence; graphic surgery; animal cruelty

Spoiler

It's sort of necessary, I guess(?) More like animal testing.

; grief/loss.

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