⭐⭐.5 / 5

I was really excited about this ARC because I enjoyed the previous installment, "The Shadows Between Us." This book serves as a prequel to "The Shadows Between Us" in terms of timeline and follows Chrysantha (Alessandra's sister) as she is married off to an elderly and abusive Duke.

Overall, I found this book to be lackluster compared to the previous one. Chrysantha came across as immature, petty, and full of female rage. The romance felt very forced, lacking chemistry between the two main characters.

Read this book if you really miss this world and want want to see little glimpses of Alessandra &

Thank you Tricia Levenseller and Pushkin Press for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC through @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for giving me a chance to read The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller in exchange for my honest review. 

To say I was  expecting to read this book the moment I finished reading The shadows between us ,is an understatement. From the moment Allessandra's story was over, I wanted to get my hands on Chrysantha 's story the moment I learnt she would be the focus of the next book. 

I was not disappointed at all. Chrysantha and her wit and expert maneuvers on and off the court had me so intrigued and the chemistry she had with the mysterious and handsome Eryx from their very first scene had the sparks fly in no time. Sometimes I didn't know if I loved her or wanted to shake her and tell her "get it together and act like the smart woman you are !" and that duality meant she was a beautifully written and complex character. As was Eryx. I would have wanted a little more high stakes at the final confrontation of the book, but that doesn't make the ending any less good. 
If you loved the first book of the duology , you are sure to love the second as well ,if not more.

Even better than the first, I loved the first book but you can see the writing has come on leaps and bounds. The sisters supporting or trying to understand sisters didn't happen in the first book but in this one you see women lifting women (which I love to read). I enjoyed this book and all the characters and would 100% recommend it.

The Darkness Within Us is nothing more than the story of Alessandra's sister, the protagonist of The Shadows Between Us. Let's be honest, we didn't really like her sister much in the book, even though she only appeared through letters. Well, I really enjoyed reading her story. It doesn't reach the level of Shadows, but it was a pleasant read, especially because we finally discovered what lies behind our protagonist's innocent façade. I always appreciate girls who go after what they want without too much hesitation. For this reason, the constant bickering between the protagonists over the inheritance was hilarious (and I have to say, the sisters have more than a few traits in common, especially when it comes to dealing with troublesome fops).

5 stars

The Darkness Within Us takes place after The Shadows Between us and follows the sister Chrysantha. This book is just as unhinged as the first. I was worried that I would not like Chrysantha's character as much due to her actions in The Shadows Between us, but Tricia Levenseller did not disappoint. The pacing was fast and the plot easy to follow. An enemies to lovers storyline with loads of sass. if you love villains then you should pick these two books up asap.

Looking forward to reading more from Tricia Levenseller!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press | Pushkin Children's Books for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review*

This book was a lovely companion to the first one, The shadows between us. I loved every bit of the world building and the characters. It was a lovely read and I can't wait to re-read it.

I aabsolutely loved this — devoured this book in one day! I actually enjoyed this so much more than Alessandra’s book. Chrysantha was an incredible mix of female rage, girl boss energy, and morally grey. The enemies to lovers romance hit the spot. Tricia Levenseller does it again!!

This was SUCH a fun and easy read, I was immersed from the first page and read it in a couple of sittings. Chrysantha is such a great FMC and the whole morally grey aspect of things makes the story even more delicious! The interactions, chemistry, angst all very well presented and the world building was brilliant. Massively enjoyed this and I think Tricia is an extremely accomplished author! If you are a fan of the genre, you will not be disappointed. Happy reading!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my review copy, all opinions are my own.

I was super excited to read this book after loving the author’s previous pirate series. I didn’t know much about this one but I hoped it would be the same fast paced and easy reading!

Sadly it didn’t really hit the mark for me, the FMC is so incredibly unlikeable that there wasn’t much hope in redemption even with the character development, and many of these traits persisted until the very end of the novel.

I also didn’t feel the romance at all! I get that with the enemies to lovers trope you don’t necessarily expect heaps of romance but for me there was nothing until it was everything which let it down.

It is the easy reading I was hoping for and I liked the mystery elements however I really dislike the candid talk of brothels & prostitution in a YA book… For me it didn’t fit and was just crass, trying to appeal to people who only read books with spice :(

I would still try other books by this author but this one was not my cup of tea! I have read the previous book and it was only slightly more my style with better development and fantasy elements.

2.5 stars

Thank you as always to NetGalley & Pushkin for my e-ARC :)

Thankyou to Netgalley and Pushkin Press | Pushkin Children's Books for a free e-arc in exchange of an honest opinion.

It had been a long time since i read the first book in this series however when i started this book it all came back to me very quickly. It was so fun and well paced and i loved the banter between the two main characters- the commentary on the role of woman in society was done really well. Very easy read and would definitely recommend!

Dnf at 65%

Struggled once I got the middle of this book. Before hand I would have said it was a solid 4 stars but at the middle everything seemed to stall and I couldn’t carry on.

The Darkness Within Us is a fun, fast paced fantasy story! I‘ve read other books by Tricia Levenseller and one of the things i‘d always enjoyed most is her writing. That’s because it’s so easy to get into, the world building is always very easy to understand and i am always entertained from the first page on. And all this was the case here too! I found it super interesting to read about our main character Chrysantha, since she and the main character in The Shadows Between Us - her sister - are not on the best terms. She is a typical strong female main character who knows what she wants! The love story was very fun to read about aswell! My only problem was, that it lost my interest a little bit around halfway through the book, and I kept forgetting some of the things that had already happened, because i think i was a bit bored. But after that little low, i was very invested again! If you are looking for a fun little romantasy then look no further!

Please don't hate me, but I'd struggled through this book. Like, enormously. Like, I've almost dropped it twice for good and this is an ARC. I've never dnfed an ARC.

To be frank, it's even hard for me to pinpoint things that I enjoyed. Maybe some of the choices made by the MCs were pretty good. But other than that, it kinda went downhill for me. And this is from a girl who picked The Shadow between Us as my favourite book of the year. So... Yeah. Me is very disappointed.

In this case, I think the thing that bothered me the most is the formulaic and inorganic some of the scenes in this book. The lack of chemistry. The unbearable, non-understandable MCs. It just felt empty for me. There were no one to root for in this book, either a villain or the good guys. It feels very monotone in colour.

However, that could only be my case. You could possibly enjoy this more than I did. Heck, even I have some questionable taste in the past. All in all, this is a dud for me. But I'm still going to pick up the next book from this author. I'm feeling something better from her in the future. Maybe something in a different fantasy world from this one?

P.s. I was given a free ARC copy of this book through Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was not a fan of The Shadow Between Us but, I've enjoyed every other book of the author's and wanted to give this series another chance. Now I know that am not the right audience for this series. I enjoyed this book more than the first for some reason.
The story follows Chrysantha, Alessandra's sister who wants to be independent and not be dominated by men or suppressed by what is expected of a woman. At 19, she marries an old lonely dying Duke to inherit everything of his after his death. Just when she starts getting comfortable, an estranged grandson of the Duke comes claiming all the wealth rightfully belongs to him. Meanwhile her sister Alessandra has married the Shadow King and become Queen achieving everything Chrysantha ever wanted. How she deals with the new complication, whether or not she'll get what she wants is the rest of the story.
Chrysantha had a decent story arc having so much opportunity to live up to her potential. Her deviousness is something to look forward to. Societal expectations, inequality, oppression were portrayed perfectly. Whereas anybody can get away with anything if the King and Queen says so, Romance was lacking and sibling relationship was problematic to say the least. Overall this could be enjoyed if read without considering logic or reasoning.

I distinctly remember loving the first book (that was basically a standalone at the time), but that was years ago. Unfortunately I don't like this one as much. Maybe I just got older and wiser, but everything felt a little flat to me this time around. It might be just me because most people seem to prefer this one over the first book..

Book review 📚
The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another masterpiece from Levenseller! I am in utter love with The Shadows Between Us series, and its very rare for book 2 to be better than book 1 but it really is! It really makes no difference in the order you read them, but I prefer to stick with chronological in this case.

In this book we follow Chrysantha, who is sister to Alessandra (book 1). The two sisters are completely opposite to each other in most aspects except for the fact they are both seriously determined! Chrysantha is strong willed and knows exactly what she wants from her life and future. The writing behind her character is very well written and the imagery set is amazing.

Overall this a fun and really enjoyable fantasy with some fantastic descriptions throughout and a nice easy read.

"A manor to run. And a Duke to get rid off."

The writing will always become my favorite, her storytelling always smooth and easy to recognize. This author always create interesting female main characters and make them realistic. I never think I would love another Stathos girl until know Chrysantha.

The plot kinda predictable, it is actually pretty standard trope at historical romance. But the story mixed it with interesting characters and paranormal bits. The romance is totally under YA corridor. But I love every second of it. The banter is smart and hilarious. Their chemistry is well earn and the tension is built well from first moment our MC meet. The physical attraction kinda insta but what we can expect from standalone with limited pages?
Oh I love when Stathos girls met and regain their strength together.
This book is a big surprise and unexpected sequel from a standalone I really like, but I totally appreciate and love it in the end.

Thank you Netgalley and Pushkin Press from Pushkin Children's Books for providing copy of this ebook. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Expecting  release date: 18 July 2024

Sorry for the late review, I was dealing with some health issues, and I'm finally catching up on all my books and reviews! I love Tricia's writing and this book was great! I remember loving the first book in this world so much, I love these morally Grey main characters she writes. This book was fast paced with an interesting plot full of twists and romance! I look forward to reading more of Tricia's books!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review!

Although The Shadows Between Us regins superior in my book, this follow-up was really enjoyable!

I liked Chrysantha, she was a very complelling protagonist, and I really was rooting for her. Eryx was not my favorite MMC, he was a massive jerk for a lot of the book, and seemed very okay with ruining a lot of innocent people's lives so didn't love that.

I did think the reconcilliation between Chrysantha and Alessandra was a bit textbook therapy mediation but sure, didn't bother me that much. The plot itself was engrossing, and the romance was done well.

Overall, an engaging, fun, dark follow-up to a really excellent first novel. If you liked The Shadows Between Us, I would give this a go, but know that Alessandra and Kallias will probably still reign supreme for you.

Four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this arc! I was desperate to read Chrysantha’s story after reading the first book in this duet, and it did not disappoint. I loved the plot of this book, the character development and the whole premise of the book. The FMC was so strong willed and so determined to get what she deserved, and I love how she didn’t want to live up to the expectations of society and her sister. I highly recommend this book if you want an easy fantasy with a strong FMC!

Tropes
- Enemies to Lovers
- Slow Burn
- Forced Proximity
- Touch Her and Die
- Loathe to Lovers