C.S. Pacat

Dark Rise

Dark Rise has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

faith hurren

Natalie Sypeck 

Tatiana 

Maeson Grace

yaya

Caroline Williams

** spoiler alert **
           For a book I struggled to finish, you would not believe how quickly I preordered the sequel after turning that last page. This is about to get messsyyyyy

Anjorin Molayo 

i feel nauseous what the fuck was that ending that is not what i wanted to happen i am ILL

anyways that was great

thats a solid 4.5😫😫😫 amazing. oh the irony but i just want will and james to run over me

karo

frankie

** spoiler alert **
           idc idc the ending had me SCREAMING

i did not see that plot twist coming at all

i love james

that’s all 🫡

I initially wanted to give 2/3 stars, because at times the book was really boring, but I changed my mind due to the PERFECT plot twists and the very well written characters. I love Will and can't wait to read the second one.

I like how the author completely destroys the traditional “good vs evil” battle in the fantasy genre. Will being the Dark King (?? I dunno his name in english, I read the book in italian and it was translated as “Re Nero”) was the perfect ending.

Mary

I initially wanted to give 2/3 stars, because at times the book was really boring, but I changed my mind due to the PERFECT plot twists and the very well written characters. I love Will and can't wait to read the second one.

I like how the author completely destroys the traditional “good vs evil” battle in the fantasy genre. Will being the Dark King (?? I dunno his name in english, I read the book in italian and it was translated as “Re Nero”) was the perfect ending.

Are we sure that this is not a Drarry fanfic? Like, I see what you mean about LotR but are we sure this is not a Drarry fanfic? (And I came to this conclusion 

 I found out the audiobook narrator had been in the movies).

And are we sure Cassandra Clare - ironically - had no part in this? Because it read awfully lot like a Shadowhunters book, too. There was a bit of Star Wars maybe, too. There are layer and layers of derivative here.

This novel has some really good bits and great concept but seemed to have little idea what it wanted to build the connective tissue out of. It is obvious that it was driving towards the very excellent final 20% but almost so single-mindedly that the remainder of the book felt like a drudge to get through.

In my mind, there were at least two options for Pacat when working on the book, neither of which she took. One would have been to move massive amounts of the set up into flashbacks or alluded to stories that are cut out of the book; the passage of time within the novel is so confusing and feels like it happened just to keep some semblance of believability so why not just focus on the meat of the story to begin with? We could have kicked off with Will and Violet with the Stewards already and let the story unfold their past, etc.

The other option would have been to use all of that time to actually explore the characters, flesh them out. Everyone within the cast has the potential of being an incredibly interesting and complex character. However, the narration is so meandering that it manages not to spend enough time on neither characterisation nor enough plot. Multiple POVs are introduced but are mostly utilised in lieu of an omniscient narrator - just to introduce plot points. Violet, really, feels like more of a main character than Will, and she is not even named within the synopsis of the novel. James is meant to be such an extremely important figure in the story but he is, really, barely there.

The last part, in particular, is such a shame since Pacat's most convincing writing is in the scenes between Will and James (do you guys now see why I thought of Cassie Clare?). She knows her toxic yaoi, I can tell you that much. She manages to create a lot of chemistry and intrigue between the two that is nearly missing from the majority of the remainder of the novel.

And realising this kind of made me sad. I feel like it should be encouraged for authors to try new things - curiousity and enthusiasm do need to be rewarded. But I am also of the firm belief that nothing would be achieved if we did not also recognise that an attempt in itself is not a success and that we need to try again and again. So I guess what I am trying to say is that I like that Pacat was trying out something different and I felt like there were great ideas within the book but I wish that they had been better polished and developed.

Rating feels like it should be just above 3☆ but it is not 3.5☆ , make if it what you will. And any time they mentioned Simon's 'S' brand, all I could think was of him getting his people branded with that 'S' we used to scribble in high school. You know the one.

Are we sure that this is not a Drarry fanfic? Like, I see what you mean about LotR but are we sure this is not a Drarry fanfic? (And I came to this conclusion before I found out the audiobook narrator had been in the movies).

And are we sure Cassandra Clare - ironically - had no part in this? Because it read awfully lot like a Shadowhunters book, too. There was a bit of Star Wars maybe, too. There are layer and layers of derivative here.

This novel has some really good bits and great concept but seemed to have little idea what it wanted to build the connective tissue out of. It is obvious that it was driving towards the very excellent final 20% but almost so single-mindedly that the remainder of the book felt like a drudge to get through.

In my mind, there were at least two options for Pacat when working on the book, neither of which she took. One would have been to move massive amounts of the set up into flashbacks or alluded to stories that are cut out of the book; the passage of time within the novel is so confusing and feels like it happened just to keep some semblance of believability so why not just focus on the meat of the story to begin with? We could have kicked off with Will and Violet with the Stewards already and let the story unfold their past, etc.

The other option would have been to use all of that time to actually explore the characters, flesh them out. Everyone within the cast has the potential of being an incredibly interesting and complex character. However, the narration is so meandering that it manages not to spend enough time on neither characterisation nor enough plot. Multiple POVs are introduced but are mostly utilised in lieu of an omniscient narrator - just to introduce plot points. Violet, really, feels like more of a main character than Will, and she is not even named within the synopsis of the novel. James is meant to be such an extremely important figure in the story but he is, really, barely there.

The last part, in particular, is such a shame since Pacat's most convincing writing is in the scenes between Will and James (do you guys now see why I thought of Cassie Clare?). She knows her toxic yaoi, I can tell you that much. She manages to create a lot of chemistry and intrigue between the two that is nearly missing from the majority of the remainder of the novel.

And realising this kind of made me sad. I feel like it should be encouraged for authors to try new things - curiousity and enthusiasm do need to be rewarded. But I am also of the firm belief that nothing would be achieved if we did not also recognise that an attempt in itself is not a success and that we need to try again and again. So I guess what I am trying to say is that I like that Pacat was trying out something different and I felt like there were great ideas within the book but I wish that they had been better polished and developed.

Rating feels like it should be just above 3☆ but it is not 3.5☆ , make if it what you will. And any time they mentioned Simon's 'S' brand, all I could think was of him getting his people branded with that 'S' we used to scribble in high school. You know the one.

Catarina Lopes 

4.5?
Those last chapters GAGGED ME,I am in shambles

Thank God I don't have to wait much until the next book 😭

Tatiana

Took me exactly 5 months to read this and I can’t tell you why 💀. This book just couldn’t hold my attention. The characters were bland and the plot was sub par. Usually I love books like this but this one just didn’t do it for me. Genuinely couldn’t tell u one thing about it despite finishing it 5 mins ago. 

IM SORRY

Julia Moran 

M'am? M'am? what the fuck did I just finish reading??? LIKE WHAT? I'M SHOOKED SO FUCKING GOOD OMG YES THANK YOUUUU. The only downside is that now I have to wait god knows how many years to keep tearing my heart off...

Re-reading this is so fucking wild. Like everything was RIGTH THERE plain as day, obvious. C.S. Pacat is a fucking genius and I bow to her.

changed my life. what the fuck how am i supposed to BREATHE again WHAT THE FUCK

anita

están dementes. QUISE EDITAR PARA TMB dedicarle este gran logro a mi amiga pupas sin ti no hubiera leído este libro 🙏😇

Loved it- got me out of a reading slump and I could not put it down

Jessica Vandermeer

fiona

okay so this book was bad . all the characters were so flat and the plot was boring afff

I'm not messing with anyone's balls when I say that starting this book is the best decision I've ever made. To be honest, it was difficult to digest at the beginning, but I told myself, "Let me keep reading." piecing everything together was simply amazing!!! I'm completely in love with the world building?? CHEF'S KISSES !! +




   contains spoilers


the training arc/stewards is where shit had me at the edge of my seat. 
I was so shocked, as if i was on a horse and it came to a sudden halt whoa! slow down Valdithar

Had to force myself not to stay up late finishing this book. Wanted to soak in everything, make it last in this puny wild brain of mines.

Okay but the ending y'all… I YELLED !! Like... I saw it coming but I didn't?! I was scratching the ceiling but then it damn well crashed down on my ass??? BRUHHH

James & Will 💔 sobbing session now open for both of their backstory's everyone

anyways, this was the longest book review I've ever made.

Call me past James because Dark Rise now has me by the collar.


CANT WAIT FOR BOOK TWO!!!!!!

i didn't want this book to end my god

never knew i needed a gay retelling of the lord of the rings and yet here i am, in love

DNF at 50%. The book starts out fast and then plateaus after the first few chapters to do world building and background information. It’s hard to put my feelings into words, but “bored” is a good one. I wasn’t a fan of how the plot unfolded or how flat the character personalities were. Reads too much like a YA for my taste. 

Floofyflower

Jules

** spoiler alert **
           3, 75 

It started so well, it got me screaming and reading as fast as I could until the second part of the book...
So boring so slow 
Then finally the third part rescued this book for me, I did liked the revelations, fights and that character's d word.
(I am now adopting violet as my new daughter )

cecilia

i loved it. got me out of a reading slump and can’t wait for the second one.

Emily B

5 STARS:

WOW!!! It's been a while since I've gotten THIS INVESTED in a book! I loved everything about this! This is my first book from C.S. Pacat, but after this, I might just pick up their other series.

I honestly can't think of anything I disliked. The characters were ones that were easy to get behind. Even though a few of them took a bit for me to fully warm up to, they all did things that endeared me to them early on. Violet and James I loved right away, but I had to get to know Will before I could truly love him. The ending was when I felt like I really saw him for the first time (and there's a reason for that). For me, I ended up loving them all. I do wish we had more of Katherine, but what we got from her was interesting.

The setting was very well built. I could really tell the author put a lot of work behind it. Some reviews say that the middle gets a bit slow, and while that is true, I was never bored. That's because I was taking in the atmosphere. I was so intrigued by the history/mythology of this world that I hardly noticed the slower pace.

The plot is definitely the strongest part (aside from one other element, but more on that in a sec). There were a decent number of twists throughout the book that kept me guessing, and there was always something happening. The last 60 pages, though, were a very wild ride! I feel proud for guessing one of the major plot twists, but I didn't get a lot of the others. 

Now then, what was that other fantastic element I mentioned earlier? Why, the romance, of course! Which is funny because, technically, nothing really happened in terms of "romance". It took the whole book to get themselves out of the enemies phase. But the chemistry! It was off the charts! Their relationship was so complicated too. I nearly screamed in frustration at the last page. This is one of the slowest of burns, and I am  here  for it!

I don't often feel like I will absolutely die without the sequel because it takes a lot to get me 100% invested (though I'm hoping to somehow change that). However, the fact that we don't currently have a release date for the second book is  actually  going to kill me. I highly, highly,  highly 
recommend this book! But maybe don't be like me; instead wait for the sequel to be out. If you're like me, you'll want it immediately, trust me!

Anna

** spoiler alert **
           Avis hyper mitigé sur ce livre.

J’ai beaucoup aimé l’univers, le style d’écriture, les personnages et surtout l’ambiance post-héroïque avec tous ces héros dont l’histoire est contée ! Mais pour moi le gros bémol de ce livre c’est « le temps ». Je trouve tout simplement que tout se déroule trop vite. C’est précipité et sans toujours de raisons vraiment valables à part faire avancer un récit pour conclure un livre. Par exemple la mort de tous les stewards, on a même pas des passages du combat, de leur mort, c’est juste l’après avec Violet/Will/Cyprian qui découvrent tous les corps. Pareil pour la relation Katherine et Will. Certes ils sont direct attirés l’un par l’autre ,car lui est le Roi Obscur et elle descendante de la dame, donc forcément leur gènes font qu’ils tombent directement amoureux, mais j’ai trouvé que quand même Katherine était sacrément crédule et prête à prendre beaucoup de risques alors qu’elle ne sait rien de la vérité. Pour moi c’était précipité son comportement et pas vraiment rationnel. Après j’ai aimé la afin dont sont faites les révélations sur Will et Katherine/Elizabeth. Étonnamment je ne m’y attendais pas du tout et j’ai été surprise !!

Maintenant, je veux savoir si il y a une suite où si ça se termine comme ça. Pour moi, il doit y avoir une suite. Violet et Cyprian ne savent pas la vérité sur Will, Elizabeth est encore en vie et peut donc le tuer et surtout je veux une suite avec un protagoniste villain !! Il y a du potentiel !

Dark Rise

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