What a beautiful cover. I fell in love straight away. But the blurb just sounded so intriguing that I had to read the book straight away. Sunya Mara has a great writing style. I couldn’t put the book down and I finished the book in a day. The plot was well thought out and it was easy to follow. However, there were also a few points that bothered me while reading or that I found a bit illogical. The ending was also a bit abrupt, but because of the Cliffhnager I definitely want to know how it will continue.

The idea of ​​the magic, the storm and the layout of the city worked really well here and I was able to picture a lot of things. Unfortunately, the characters remained a bit pale the whole time. They weren’t tangible for me and I didn’t understand some of the interactions at all. Between Dalca and Vesper I missed the complete attraction. Sometimes I had the feeling that there was more between Vesper and Cas than between Dalca and Vesper. I’m definitely excited to see what’s to come in Book two. In general, I would have liked a bit more information for the secondary characters. The story of the great king was explained very well and made me really curious as the story progressed.

All in all, the Darkening was an interesting and good book. I’m also quite curious about the second part and how the whole plot will end after this Cliffhanger. The potential is definitely there and I’m curious what the author will make of it. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read Fantasy books.

𝘈 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺…

This book you guys! With such an interesting and thrilling story carried out in a brilliant way it was pretty much impossible not to be completely captivated. There’s so much going on yet with several subplots, morally grey characters and secret agendas. The entire world that Sunya Mara has created is so interesting and imaginative. I love to discover new magical systems, how they interacts and/or changes the laws of nature.

The concept of Ikonomancy is unlike most of the magical systems I’ve come across. The idea of how one with the right knowledge of how to combine certain ikons can access power which makes the impossible possible. We are already familiar that words and symbols can carry immense powers. But Ikonomancy takes the power of words into a completely new level.

Then there’s The Storm, which is just as interesting as Ikonomancy, if not even more so. The Storm a dark phenomenon with creatures straight out of nightmares. The way it’s described makes it seem like The Storm is more than just a bit of bad weather hiding beasts. The Storm itself almost appear sentient, like it’s observing the city it surrounds, waiting for something… or someone.

The Darkening isn’t your usual ya fantasy feel-good novel with a perfectly happy ending. It’s an adventure of epic proportions where the characters are pushed to their very limits, hopefully figuring out how much they are willing to sacrifice before it’s too late… Sunya Mara sure knows how to keep the readier on their toes until the very last page.

I cannot express how much I’m looking forward to see this incredible book out in the real world. I’m definitely looking forward to all the discussions and everyones thoughts. And finally getting to nerd out about it with fellow booknerds <3

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳 & 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘳𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of "The Darkening" by Sunya Mara.

Going into this, I didn't know what to do expect and I didn't realise this wasn't a standalone. However, I'm not mad at that because I definitely need a sequel after that tense fantasy ending. Vesper was an amazing protagonist and reading this story from her point of view was amazing. Mara's storybuilding was perfect and the characters felt real to me and I just couldn't stop reading.

I am excited to read the sequel when it comes out, I need to know what's gonna happen to Vesper.

2.5 ⭐️⭐️ rounded down

Thank you so much to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

I was really interested in this book and the premise, unfortunately for me it just fell felt in many regards.

What I did like:

❤️The interesting premise
❤️The author can write well

What I didn’t like:

❌ The lack of worldbuilding.

I’m fine for the reader to be left to figure some things out on their own but this was a very underdeveloped world and magic system, the reader was left to assume a lot and the world was not fully realised.

❌ Lack of character development

Secondary characters had almost no development, and even the MC felt flat, as did the romance which seemed shoehorned on at the expense of the female MC and her development

❌ Some odd text

When the MC squeezed through a “six-inch gap” I was a bit incredulous. I suppose it’s possible, but I don’t think most peoples heads could fit in six inches so yeah…

Overall this was just a very basic, generic YA book that brings nothing new or exciting to the genre, and doesn’t even do the standard YA formula well.

Some people may like this, but it was a disappointment for me.

Excellent engaging read, I could not put it down! Thank you so much for letting me read this, I am so happy to have found this book. Highly recommend to everyone, give it a go and I promise you won’t regret it.

I really loved this story and the world-building. It feels very unique and easy to understand. The characters all have their quirks, you both love them and hate them (especially Casvian). I would have given this a 5 star but I felt like the relationship between Vesper and Dlaca didn't feel authentic enough. Like there was initial attraction but the growth of affection just didn't feel present.

Also, the ending was quite confusing. I still don't really understand what happened. It was still fun though??

I think I was more intrigued by the side characters Iz and Cas, they both had so much more personality than Dalca. I felt like he was quite one-dimensional while the other two had way more depth.

This book had me at cursed storm. If you like a good high stakes Fantasy YA with experimental magic, morally grey characters, and enemies to lovers then this is the book for you. It really gave me Les Miserables / Shadow and Bone vibes with revolutionaries and a cursed storm.

The magic system and world building was just perfect, it gets more and more complex as the story unfolds and I can't wait to see where it takes us in the next book.

Vesper lives in a sanctuary for people cursed by the storm with her father. After she risks her life to save a stranger from an attack by a storm monster, and needing saving herself, her father is forced to use an ikon, a magical rune, he created save her revealing himself as the leader of the failed rebellion. When the Warderna take and imprison him Vesper goes on a quest to find him posing as an apprentice she must get close to Prince Dalca, son of the Regia (ruler of the city) to find and rescue her father.

4.5 stars - thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for review

A kind thank you to the publisher for the e-ARC.

The Darkening is a nice thrilling story with two of most interesting side characters ever.

The fact that Vesper is the daughter of failed revolutionaries is what drew me to the story. It seemed so interesting to me, since heroes/revolutionaries/coups can fail but we don't usually see the aftermath. I really liked seeing the consequences of those actions in this book.

Vesper is our main character whose pov we follow. She was persistent and fearless in her mission to save her father. I liked how she dealt with feeling like a disappointment to her father and how she always felt she wasn't good enough as her parents. And I liked how she fit in the character group later on. However, to me, it felt like the character dynamics changed too fast. Two characters were horrible at the beginning, and yet, after a little contact with them later on, she grew fond of them a little too quickly. Dalca, the main love interest, is not at all paranoid, as the summary suggests, but he's not a likeable character, either. It's not that he wasn't 100% good (some unlikeable characters are my favorites) but I find the mold of "very beautiful, very privileged, not very polite, but we're fond of him because he's burdened by his responsibilities" annoying. It's just my personal preference.

The worldbuilding was good, as was its characterization. I was fascinated by the Storm, and what it turned out to be later on. I really loved that twist and all that it entailed. It had hints of Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko and A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown. I also loved the flying Wardana. The plot wasn't the most original, and sometimes, it felt like the plot drove the characters. The second half of the book was a wild ride, and some character decisions felt off. I didn't really understand why they did what they did, and with a wilder worldbuilding than before, I felt confused.

I loved Iz and Cas! I LOVED them individually and I LOVED their dynamics. They were so fascinating. Their constant push and pull, their banter that had no end; I believe it was the best part of the story. I'd follow them anywhere. Did I say that I love them?

It was a thrilling adventure with a good ensemble cast and fascinating world-building. A solid 3.5 rounded up for this one.

The Darkening by Sunya Mara is the first book in the Darkening duology and it’s a unique ya fantasy debut.

The first thing that I noticed about this story was also one of my favorite parts of the book and that is the world building. In it a city is surrounded by an endless storm and that was so unique and makes for seemingly insuperable circumstances.

The protagonist Vesper is the daughter of a failed revolutionist and there are quite some family secrets. Vesper is such a strong person who is also a rebel and she follows the footsteps of her parents. I really liked her as a person and especially her fierceness.

Vesper is more of an anti-heroine and she wants to understand what happened to her parents and what the Storm is all about. That leads her to dangerous missions and even to get close to the prince.

While all of this sounds super good, sometimes the plot and pacing was a bit off and it made it hard to follow along in the story. I also could only connect to Vesper and all the other characters were a bit pale in comparison.

Overall, The Darkening is an innovative fantasy novel and only the plot was a bit lacking for me. 3,5 stars.

(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

4.5/5
Give me the sequel now! This book was one of the biggest surprises of this year, I absolutely loved it more than I ever imagined I would.
Thank you Netgalley and Hodder&Stoughton for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
So much about it is so unique. The world, the structure of the seven-ringed city with a storm raging around it, the storm itself being the main antagonist, the ikon-based magic system. It's all carefully crafted and done so well.
One note I kept constantly writing down as I read was that the world felt so alive. The places lived and breathed and when the characters danced you could see them, you could feel their spirit, you could feel the city as it wept and as it laughed. The entire story was so alive.
This factor was heavily influenced by Sunya Mara's incredible, emotive writing. The first line of the book hooked me and I was enamored from beginning to end (and now even after the end.) The writing was phenomenal. It was so emotional and powerful, every line was precisely chosen and wielded to cut to your core.
My favourite part of the book (without spoilers) was the 100 page chunk from approximately page 200-300 (if you've read it, you'll know why) because the events that took place were heartbreaking and intriguing, but more than that, the author's writing truly shone here. It's the type of writing that captures you and drags you down until the story consumes you and you feel every emotion that's been perfectly designed for you to feel. It's the style of writing that lives inside of you.
The characters are also incredible, every one of them has hidden depths and complexities. Every one of them has compelling, complicated relationships with those around them. Every one of them is flawed. These features gave them a deeper sense of realness than most stories ever achieve, within their complexities Mara forged something real. They're all irretrievably human. They have hopes and fears and dreams.
For YA, I didn't expect the darker themes (no, literally... darker themes) the themes of darkness and its opposite of sunlight and that combined metaphor for hope was amazing. I loved reading it and that in itself was such a clever way to build emotion into things that could arguably be called inanimate. However, going against myself here, what I loved the most about the darkness of the storm and the warmth of the sunlight, was that they too were alive. They flooded every character's choices and breathed through them and if that wasn't enough, they became vessels of their longings, of their hurt.
The depth that came with the storm was amazing. The storm not only representing anger, but when looked at deeper being the realisation of their pain and grief was brilliant. These themes and the writing that accompanied these emotive themes always blinded me with amazement. It truly was such an incredible read.
The magic system was awesome. I've never seen one quite like it, it being based in ikons and language and drawings was great. It also added character to the world even further.
This story is full of secrets and mysteries to unravel, but what I loved most was the inevitable heartbreaks and betrayals. I'm so interested in how the next book will cover more of this.
This book is full of absolutely beautiful writing and I was unable to put this spell-binding story down. The engaging, emotive writing truly is the standout of this novel.
The ending is incredible and will definitely make you want to scream. I need the next book now! The end section of this story felt quite reminiscent to me of one of my all-time favourite books, The City of Dusk by Tara Sim because of its themes of darkness and its focus on the gods. It honestly just blew me away.
My one qualm with this story was the romance. It simply felt a bit too quick for me and wasn't my favourite regardless, however this is only my personal take. There was nothing structurally wrong with it, quite the opposite, the story couldn't have existed as well outside of it, but it just wasn't to my personal preference. The characters were all incredible though and I am still broken apart at some of their endings. Hopefully the sequel will bring me some peace (who knows?)
This amazing debut is such an incredible read. I highly recommend this book, especially if you love YA fantasy, unique worlds, enemies to lovers, secrets and mysteries, dark gods and brilliant writing.

Firstly I would like to thank hodders for the Arc in exchange for an honest review.

This story was beautifully written with a captivating plot that’s different from what I have read before, with a fantastic world building I mean wow it was brilliant!
I loved the different take on magic although I would of liked more magic in it. Hoping book 2 will have more. The romance was very minimal but the action and adventure was great!

Overall it was a nice easy read with so many twists and turns that keeps you interested and intrigued to find out what happens next. I’m only giving it 3 stars as I prefer fantasy books with more romance which I found this lacking in and I couldn’t really connect with the characters. This is just my honest opinion but I did love the writing style and will probably read the next instalment as it does end on a cliffhanger so i need to know what happens next! 😂

I thought the concept of the world and monsters made because of storm was really cool. And I was looking forward to the main character meeting the prince, because based on the blurb it seems like they might have interesting interactions. But the beginning was so slow and boring. It just didn't grab me.

Another reason that I couldn't continue with the book was that the characterization of the MC was so cliche. She was the usual 'fierce heroine' trying to play the hero, getting others into trouble, and spending the whole book sulking and feeling sorry for herself. Oh, we're also supposed to have sympathy for her because she feels instant guilt for everything that is wrong in the world.

This style of characterization is just so incredibly tiresome and annoying to me. I had assumed after the success of books like The Cruel Prince and The Shadows Between Us we might be passed this type of characters, apparently I was wrong.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the arc of The Darkening by Sunya Mara in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Vesper Vale is the daughter of failed revolutionaries, having lost her mother she lives in the farthest edge of a city trapped in the eye of a cursed storm with her father. Vesper feels like a failure, not living up to the ghost of her mother’s memory and her father’s skill as a magical ikonocaster, but after her father is captured she steels herself to save her captured father from the prince and his soldiers.

I absolutely loved the world-building in this book, I could vividly see the rings of the city, the underground tunnels, the fearsome and all dominating darkness of the storm, all of which added to the multi dimensional feel of the story and pulled me into reading it, not wanting to be pulled away. The magic system was also well explained and the images of magical symbols was both interesting and understandable within the context of the book.

Vesper as a main protagonist is totally likeable, independent, determined, flawed and unwilling to follow blindly. Plus all her encounters with Dalca are so well captured…all the awkwardness and internal conflict are just perfect.

The romance between Vesper and Dalca was delivered at just the right level, supporting and aiding in developing the main plot, and all the morally grey facets were clear to see. Add in great supporting characters like Iz and Cas, who are so damned human, fallible and it was easy to empathise with them. I suspect like many readers of the book, one of my favourite quotes is:

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

If you’re looking for a book that delivers a great read, a well thought out magic system, clear and well designed world-building and great characters, definitely pick up this book. I did, and I can’t wait for the next book to see what happens!

“He doesn’t give my life meaning. But I won’t lose him”

Screaming, crying, throwing up – this quote is probably the most perfect summary of this book. Following Vesper’s journey in trying to save her father and her people in the fifth from the ever-growing storm that wisps people away and leaves them cursed, she finds herself working alongside her enemy to defeat the storm. With a magic system based on ikons and beasts meandering around, the plot of the novel does not lack. With great world-building and plot development, the book is well-paced, however, does seem to be confusing at first introduction with the magic and how the world is split into sections. The book is more plot-based, with the romance of it taking a sub-plot as it does not overshadow the main goals of Vesper. It takes on enemies to lovers, a morally grey vibe, in addition to good relationship development between our MC and side characters. However, the romance does not lack and provides a slow burn typical YA style love interest

“I’m with you. I walked into the Storm with you. For you”

The pacing of the last 25% of the book seemed to speed up a bit which didn’t feel right as a lot was going on and sometimes made it confusing. Overall, The Darkening was a fun, fantasy read, definitely aimed towards a YA audience and I hope the romance is something that can be developed in the sequel.

4/5 stars
Thank you to NetGallery for allowing me to read this ARC!

Thank you netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. I hadn’t seen this book before, so I was really intrigued when going into it, and I really enjoyed it. It was an enjoyable read, I loved the characters and how the plot developed leading up to the ending. I can’t wait to see what this author produces next. Taking this into consideration, I’m going to give this book 4/5 stars.

This book is absolutely BRILLIANT. It’s gripping from start to finish with it’s beautifully captivating plot and even more wonderful characters (looking at you Vesper and Dalca). This book filled a hole in my heart that I didn’t even know I had… the writing is amazing, the pacing was PERFECT. Solid 5 star read with plenty of twists to keep you guessing what was going to happen. I can’t wait for book 2 (and any other books from this author).

Magic? Plentiful and different.
Romance? Cute YA levels.
Plot? Loved it.
Character development? There in abundance.
Stunning eyed male? Here for it.
Action packed? You betcha!
Should you pre-order it? YES, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE PREORDER THIS.

Thank you so much to Kate at Hodder for sending me a proof in exchange for my review. Can I re-read this already?

The Darkening was an okay reading and quite entertaining. However, I expected something more. It was well written, with a good worldbuilding and magic system (even if it was a bit confusing at the beginning), but I couldn't connect with the characters. I didn't feel emotionally invested and consequently I didn't enjoy the romance between the main characters. Maybe a younger audience could enjoy this book more than me.

A big thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with this eArc!

AMAZING!! I can’t even express how much I loved this

Vesper lives in the shadow of the Storm that threatens everything she loves, until her loved ones are ripped from her anyway by the cruel Elite. She embarks on a mission to rescue her Father - the only member of her family left - which means infiltrating the inner circle of the Prince.

The world building in The Darkening is very good, with an unusual magic system that I would have loved to have learnt more about! The plot is action packed, and my only gripe is that it got slightly confusing towards the end. Otherwise a brilliant read!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for NetGalley and the Publisher for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Darkening has been on my radar for quite some time now and I was very very happy to be approved for an early arc. As with most of my reviews I'm not going into details about the story, because one can easily look up the synopsis anyways.

First of all this book was nothing what I expected. I think the last third of the book came in very strong and pushed this story into a whole other level from a very generic YA fantasy.

Our main character Vesper is a lot softer than how I envisioned her after reading the blurb. That is not a bad thing because it left room for a lot of character development. The main love interest Dalca, I have to be honest I dislike a lot BUT there is a lot of potential there as well. He is not the typical good guy, swooning for you guy but He is in no way going to be my favourite. I also kind of felt that Vesper made a lot of excuses on his part, sort of like a very toxic relationship. Seeing all the good in a person and kind of being forgiving to all the bad he has done. He felt very selfish and self-centered to me. But he did make me feel things, he wasn't a neutral or boring character which is a plus in my book.
Where this book shines is the side characters. Both Casvian and Izamal were my personal favourites and I felt they had more depth and layers to them than the main characters themselves. I really liked their personality and I did feel that both evolved, one way or another, tremendously. I honestly would continue reading this duology just because of them because their storyline intrigues me a lot. Also we did have a bit of a cliffhanger there too.

The world building is OK, nothing outstanding but perfectly fit for a YA fantasy. I loved the concept and the way the world was envisioned but it also left a LOT of questions in my mind unanswered which bothered me. To be plain a lot of things about how this world and their rulers support themselves, operate etc. were never really explained. Like I want to know that in such a tiny spot left, how life is still sustainable.

The writing style was great and was very easy to follow. I was able to get immersed in the story rightaway. However there is a very very VERY prominent tone change around 60% of the book. It almost feels like a different writer and a different book from that point on. If you liked the first half of the book you might find it hard to get into the second half as a result. The poetic and surreal writing left a lot to the imagination and later on in the last 20% of the book resulted in some very sudden shifts in the book. This means that the dynamics of the story are very much all over the place. So if you like smooth transitions, this might not be your cup of tea. I actually had to stop reading it for a couple of days and restart it as if after a reboot. I actually enjoyed this 1/3 of the book the most because of it's uniqueness and originality.

All in all I think it was a strong debut novel by Sunya Mara, but I do believe that Dalca's personality and the extreme shifts and tone change of the story will be divisive for readers.

3.5/5 stars