Name: F's review of The Darkening by Sunya Mara
Item: The Darkening
Rating: 4.5
Author: F

Sunya Mara

Loyalty and love are at stake in this thrilling and epic YA fantasy debut as seventeen-year-old Vesper finds herself at the center of an impending rebellion when she is forced to infiltrate the prince's inner circle in order to save her father from prison.

The Darkening

In this thrilling and epic YA fantasy debut the only hope for a city trapped in the eye of a cursed storm lies with the daughter of failed revolutionaries and a prince terrified of his throne.

Vesper Vale is the daughter of revolutionaries. Failed revolutionaries. When her mother was caught by the queen's soldiers, they gave her a choice: death by the hangman's axe, or death by the Storm that surrounds the city and curses anyone it touches. She chose the Storm. And when the queen's soldiers--led by a paranoid prince--catch up to Vesper's father after twelve years on the run, Vesper will do whatever it takes to save him from sharing that fate.

Even arm herself with her father's book of dangerous experimental magic.

Even infiltrate the prince's elite squad of soldier-sorcerers.

Even cheat her way into his cold heart.

But when Vesper learns that there's more to the story of her mother's death, she'll have to make a choice if she wants to save her city: trust the devious prince with her family's secrets, or follow her mother's footsteps into the Storm.

Minnie Mazuera

“It's always worth being the enemy of a diseased state.”

To do the one good thing that I must do, I find myself caught in a thousand small evils.

I really liked the concept of this book but the relationships felt very rushed and underdeveloped. 

Nicole Neuman

This had so much potential, but the world building was lacking and unclear, and it just felt rushed? Especially the romance and relationship between the two main characters. It definitely had some interesting elements, but these were only brought out in the third act and were overshadowed by (almost) pointless buildup.

Holly

Mackenzie Young

WOW I loved this!!! Got this in the July Fairyloot box and really wasn’t planning on reading it soon, but I changed my mind and I’m so glad I did. I love stories like this that are set in an isolated world. Vesper, the MC, is one of the most real MCs I’ve ever read. She doesn’t have some great hidden power, she knows she’s nothing in the grand scheme of things, but she sticks to herself and who she is and it makes the story amazing. Very good start to my Fairyloot journey as this was my first box. Highly recommend this one!!

Vesper Vale is the daughter of failed revolutionaries. Her mother sentenced to death by the Regia, causing her and her father to live life on the run. When Prince Dalca and his band of ikonomancers called the Wardana seize and imprison her father, Vesper vows to do anything in her power to save him from sharing her mother's fate.

This was a gripping, detailed and dramatic YA fantasy from the very first page to the very last page! So much action throughout, never a dull moment for poor Vesper!

The world building was amazing, the contast threat of this Storm on the horizon, pressing in, feeling like an independent character lurking behind you was bone chilling as you were reading.

This book came completely blew me away, amd now I'll eagerly await the sequel after that spine tingling epilogue!

Victoria Justice

Vesper Vale is the daughter of failed revolutionaries. Her mother sentenced to death by the Regia, causing her and her father to live life on the run. When Prince Dalca and his band of ikonomancers called the Wardana seize and imprison her father, Vesper vows to do anything in her power to save him from sharing her mother's fate.

This was a gripping, detailed and dramatic YA fantasy from the very first page to the very last page! So much action throughout, never a dull moment for poor Vesper!

The world building was amazing, the contast threat of this Storm on the horizon, pressing in, feeling like an independent character lurking behind you was bone chilling as you were reading.

This book came completely blew me away, amd now I'll eagerly await the sequel after that spine tingling epilogue!

Mary

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This cover!! wow pulls you in. 
What a strong start for Sunya Mara. I quite enjoyed all the world building. I think sometimes people don't appreciate how much has to be thought through in an entirely fictional fantasy world. So I didn't mind that there was a lot of traveling back and forth for Vesper. I think with leaving this book as a cliffhanger it allows Sunya to explore so much more in the second book. I want to see where she takes these characters and the world. 

I really look forward to exploring this world more in the second book.

I must have the next one!!! The story is so magical with a unique spellbinding world and a unique story. 

F &
The Darkening by Sunya Mara

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The Darkening by Sunya Mara