4.5/5 stars
2.5/5 spice

Tropes:
Gothic historical romance
1920s setting
Professor/Assistant
Widowed MMC
Trauma/healing
Single POV
Duet narration

Holy plot twist! I don't normally read this genre of dark historical romance with Gothic elements. But I do enjoy some mystery and thriller books, so I was pleasantly surprised when the plot twist happened. I love it when I can still be shocked after years of reading.

I got to listen to the audiobook, and it was my first duet narration (female narrator did all the female character voices and male narrator did all the male character voices). It was a little weird to listen to at first, but then I got really into it. I can see why people love the duets instead of dual.

Anyways, if you're a fan of Gothic romances, you'll love this one. A little bit of mystery and ghosts with a nice dose of spice.

Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

The Curel Dark by Bea Northwick follows Millie as she embarks on a new job as an assisant to a professor. Professor Hughes is needing an assisant that is well versed in folklore and can help him organize his mess in his office. Millie has been at the house for just a few days when she starts hearing crying and seeing ghots. Millie has her own secret just like Professor Hughes, as they get to know each other they soon start a torrid affair. Will Millie ever remember what her life was like before she woke up from amnesia? This was a great book and the twist at the end was worht its weight in gold.

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.8 stars

Millicent Foxboro goes to live at a mansion as an assistant to the Professor of mythology. She was in a mental ward for traumatic amnesia after the death of her parents. Gothic ghost story with surprising erotica that I was not expecting.

Fantastic narration by Madison Mitts and Theodore Zephyr.

This book was SO GOOD! The narration was really well done as well. I was fully engrossed in this story.

I'm always a fan of a dark gothic tale and this one did not disappoint. Right when it seemed things were coming to light and I was already like "oh no!", you're hit with another twist! Loved it.

I loved the authors writing. It was engaging and fast paced. I enjoyed the characters and getting to know Millie. She was spunky and I liked that about her. I wasn't sure about how fast she and the professor got into things, but as the story progresses....

I can't wait to read more by this author.

✨✨ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ ✨✨

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝗯𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗮 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸
𝘈𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘸
𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: Haunted by her dark past and uncertain about her future, Millicent Foxboro takes up an assistantship with Professor Callum Hughes in 1928 despite her dark and questionable history. Willowfield, the professor's estate that has fallen into disrepair since his wife's death, is now Millie's home. Professor Hughes interests Millie as much as the mansion does, even when its atmosphere starts to feel stifling. As Millie delves deeper into the professor's world of mythology and flowers, she discovers secrets leading to risks much greater than ever anticipated.
 
𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: If you're a fan of Jane Eyre but crave a more intense read, 'The Cruel Dark' offers a brooding hero, a resilient heroine navigating a lonely world, and all the Gothic elements one could desire. The narrative promises a rich atmosphere that delivers on its eerie ambiance, setting the stage for forbidden love, angst, and betrayal. However, despite its captivating writing and Gothic romance, the book's length and occasionally slow pacing left me with a modest three-star rating. While enjoyable, the story sometimes felt wordy and longer than necessary, affecting its overall impact.

𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: This audiobook was very well done; it has dual narration, which helps bring the characters to life. I was not the biggest fan of the male narrator, but that did not detract from the overall quality.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
🖤 Gothic romance
🖤 Dark academia
🖤 Spooky vibes
🖤 Sinister secrets
🖤 Creepy old houses

Thank you to Netgalley and Bea Northwick for providing me with an audioARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Cruel Dark is an excellent debut from Bea Northwick. I deeply enjoyed this dark romance set in a beautifully gothic and creepy landscape and plot. Like others, I truly thought I knew where this was going and if I had not been completely shocked by it, I would have felt comfortable giving this a solid four as I liked most of the book and it kept me interested but I didn't feel like I had been "WOW"ed. And then the twist! I cannot wait to read this again and see this story from a different angle (perhaps from a heartbroken one). The talent Northwick displays is grand and I'm so excited to read more from her.

I didn't love this book. I felt bored through probably 80% of it and only liked the end. It might have been that I didn't love either of the narrators, or maybe this book just wasn't for me. I felt that there needed to be more going on to lead to a bigger buildup. Overall, this wasn't a favorite read of mine.

"You don't know the dangers of this game you're playing Millie."

This single line encapsulates the essence of The Cruel Dark, a novel that stands as a beacon of Gothic romance perfection. Bea has truly outdone herself with this masterpiece, blending darkness and romance into an intoxicating and unforgettable read!

From the moment I started TCD, I knew I was in for a treat, but the book surpassed even my highest expectations.. 🖤

Millicent and Callum's tumultuous journey from enemies to lovers is filled with passion, suspense, and a level of spice that will leave readers breathless. This is not just a dark romance; it’s a spellbinding adventure through the shadows of the human heart and the eerie mists of the supernatural!

The narrative unfolds like a twisty, unpredictable roller coaster, keeping you on the edge of your set the ENTIRE time!

The slow-burn poisoning subplot, intertwined with elements of Celtic folklore, adds a rich layer of intrigue. The "touch her or die" trope is executed to perfection, intensifying the stakes and emotional depth of Millicent and Callum's relationship.

Bea's masterful storytelling is evident in the way she manipulates reader perception. Just when you think you have a character all figured out.. the narrative shifts, revealing new facets and deeper motivations. (Obsessed!) The true villain announced at the end, adds an extra layer of menace and complexity to the story, making every twist and turn even more compelling!

One of the standout aspects of TCD is its portrayal of ghosts and paranormal activity. These elements are not mere backdrops, but integral to the story, adding a wonderfully horrible and captivating dimension to the Gothic romance.

I listened to the audiobook and was so enthralled that I finished it in just two days. The experience was so immersive that I found myself gasping, laughing, and crying along with the characters.
This book hit every mark of the Gothic romance genre for me - from its darkly romantic undertones to its spine-chilling supernatural elements.

The spice level between Millie and Callum is off the charts, earning a well-deserved 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ rating. Their chemistry is palpable, and their journey is as steamy as it is heartfelt.
The Cruel Dark has earned a permanent place in my top five audiobook reads of Summer 2024.

It's a book that demands to be held and cherished, which is why I'm eagerly buying the hardback edition. This is a trophy for my bookshelf, a testament to the sheer brilliance of Bea's writing!

Super thankful to Bea & Netgalley for the opportunity to experience this book.

Bea, you've created a piece of Gothic romance that I will be raving about for a long time to come. Thank you for this incredible, unforgettable journey 🖤

Five stars aren't enough to convey how much I adored this book. It's a haunting, romantic, and utterly perfect tale that I will never forget.

Thank you Netgalley, Victory Editing Netgalley Co op and Bea Northwick for the audio Arc of The Cruel Dark.
.Narrated by Madison Mitts and Theodore Zephyr

I really enjoyed listening to this dark fantasy thriller surrounding Millie and Callum Hughes. The narrative itself was slow to medium paced which allowed for great character development. I loved the historical gothic atmosphere of this book, having been set in the 1920s. The romance side while spicy, was nicely entwined into the error twists. Madison Mitts and Theodore Zephyr brought the whole story out with their wonderful narration .

3.5 stars rounded to 4

Let me start by saying that I read ‘The Cruel Dark’ and the accompany novella in physical form and enjoyed them immensely. The hauntingly beautiful story was full of twists and turns that kept me invested. I was eager to see what would happen next and anxiously awaiting to find out if Callum was a hero or a monster. I grew attached to Millie (fmc) and the other characters in only a couple hundred pages.

So, when I saw that The Cruel Dark audiobook was available- I instantly requested, hoping for an opportunity to enjoy the book again! I’m sad to say that my experience with the audible telling was not great. I found the narrators to be very overdramatic. The verbiage in this book is thick and descriptive- pushing the reader with many details. That combined with the breathy(?) female voice was an extreme combination. I found myself listening to the audiobook at 1.5 speed just so the book didn’t seem to crawl along at a snail speed. Unfortunately, the male voice was also not up to par. I imagined the mmc to be a young, very professional, academic type. The narrator’s voice was quite deep and husky, too much so for my enjoyment. Some of his lines even sounded like it was coming out in slow motion. I couldn’t imagine hearing ‘Lover’ (the male pov novella) completely read by this person. In my opinion, it is just not a pleasing nor comparable voice for the character.

Perhaps I created an image of the characters in mind when reading the physical book that the audiobook couldn’t align with. I will continue to recommend ‘The Cruel Dark,’ but I think it’s most enjoyable in physical form.
Audiobook: 3 ⭐️
Physical:5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op, and the author, Bea Northwick, for the opportunity to preview the audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Cruel Dark is a spicy dark gothic romance/mystery with Jane Eyre vibes. And the plot...It just doesn't make sense...until it does. Despite the fact that our FMC was allegedly hired for a job she has zero qualifications for (decoding Old Gaelic Fairy Tales and assisting organizing notes for some relevant research?), she never seems to work, constantly taking days off to recover from sleepwalking sexy encounters with her boss in a dilapidated (but fancy when there's a party!) estate. I spent most of this book wondering what on earth was happening here, but the book is short enough that I stuck it out. If you are reading this and wondering, stick it out and you will be rewarded with a hell of a twist ending.
A note about the audiobook: both Madison Mitts and Theodore Zephyr were great, but I did not love the formatting of MM narrating and voicing all of the female roles and the audio abruptly switching to TZ for the male dialogue only. It felt disjointed though I got used to it over time. I wish there was a way for it to sound more fluid and cohesive.

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this advanced listening copy to review!

Also, side note: this story is set in Massachusetts, and the FMC's last name is Foxboro. Go Patriots!

The following review is for The Cruel Dark from Audio ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op

I want to first start by saying I genuinely tried to get through this book and enjoy it. In terms of the audiobook itself, I thought it was fine although I found it a bit jarring that there was another narrator to voice the male lines. I've listened to plenty of audiobooks that have multiple narrators, but typically that is where say chp 1 is from the prospective of charter 1 and read by narrator 1, chp 2 is character 2 read by narrator 2. The fact that the book is by Millie's perspective and read by 1 narrator, but any line by a male counterpart was read by a different narrator kept throwing me off. Especially when it seemed his lines were often played too quietly.

To the story itself I very much struggled with it. I was expecting a mystery horror element set in the early 1900s. I wasn't expecting smut but i also enjoy smut so that in itself isn't a negative. With that, 30% through the book I wanted to stop. I felt like absolutely nothing happened and it was extremely drawn out. Sometimes books can have a slow start but again I felt like nothing. It gave me beauty bad the beast vibes but not inherently in a good way. 61% the first steamy scene happened but it felt cringy. I don't see how there has been any romance or relationship building or connection established so it just felt forced. At 68% I just had to stop. It again felt forced, nothing happened.

Overall Millie felt extremely argumentative which she wouldn't be if she were in that situation of being employed by someone. I just don't see what could happen in the story that would make me interested. Imporantly the steamy scenes left me feeling uncomfortable and I just don't want to continue that.

Left reviews on goodreads and amazon

This is one of the easiest five stars I’ve given this year.

I honestly think listening to the audiobook it made the experience more enjoyable. The two narrators interpreted the voices well- the female voices having that breathy 1920s quality and the male voices were purposefully deep. My only qualms are that Millie’s narration was extremely slow. Callum’s voice was deeper than I would have interpreted it, but I loved his voice by the ending. The narration of a certain side character was perfectly maniacal.

Regarding the story- holy. Moly. This was a venture outside my normal genre that was well worth it. The gothic atmosphere was perfectly set. I was unsettled at the horror aspects, as I should be. The mystery behind the plot kept me wondering until the epilogue. I could not truly figure it out until the very end. The romance was beautiful. Just the perfect amount of yearning and blush worthy bits. I never found myself bored at any part in this novel.

The Cruel Dark reads like a classic novel and should honestly be considered one. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley for the audioARC.

Bea Northwick's "The Cruel Dark" plunges readers into a gripping tale of suspense and horror that leaves an indelible mark long after the final page is turned. With masterful storytelling and vivid imagery, Northwick crafts a narrative that is as haunting as it is compelling.

The Cruel Dark is a stunning gothic thriller with plenty of spice and apprehension to go around. The creepy manor and unkempt grounds were immaculately described and the imagery as Millie sought to make Willowfield her home was written utter perfection. I was immediately pulled in and engrossed with her explorations and her work with the grieving professor who employed her. The story was so immersive and the vibes so suspenseful that I found myself hanging on every word and catching my breath around every corner. The ending completely blew my mind to bits, and I am still reeling from the blow. The only hangup that I had while reading was that the relationship felt a bit too much like insta-love for my taste. After the ending I wasn't bothered at all by it, but while reading I will admit that the 'mad with grief" professors sudden infatuation with Millie after barely a glance was a bit off-putting. His pursuit of her as she found herself in his company late at night after only a few exchanged words made him seem disingenuous and rakish. I will admit that initially I formed a deep dislike of his character because of that. I felt that there was no true relationship development between them and the progression of their affections was too sudden, especially considering the time period. I understand why I felt that this was the case after reading the ending, but I think that if a bit more time was dedicated to the professor wooing Millie at the beginning, I would have loved this story even more than I did. The spice was boiling hot between them and the chemistry would have been off the charts with a bit more attention devoted to simmering their affections. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a heart-racing thriller with steam and suspense in spades.

Millicent Foxboro is haunted by her past, recently she was released from a mental ward due to an episode of traumatic amnesia. This has made it difficult to find work in the 1920’s, as a woman who is deemed tarnished by society. So when Millie is offered an assistant job working for a mysterious Professor in a decrepit mansion she turns caution to the wind and accepts the job.
Upon arriving at the gothic estate she is overcome with a sense of dread, but her curiosity prevails when she meets the elusive Professor Callum Hughes. Millie soon learns that Callum’s late wife has died following a series of cryptic events. As Millicent starts to see ghost like figures roaming the halls and a mystical laughter that echoes in her dreams, she is determined to find out what happened to the late Mrs. Hughes. However, she is soon sidetracked by the unnerving chemistry she and the Professor have, leading to a slow burn gothic romance. Will she find out what happened to his wife, or will the same grave fate take her?
Overall rating 5/5
This book is Crimson Peak meets Diavola and I LOVED IT! To say I loved this book is an understatement. I felt intertwined with Millie as she struggled with the horror she faced but also the desire she felt towards her employer. Northwick does such an amazing job describing the atmosphere that I felt as though Millie and I were in on this adventure together. Northwick’s gothic styled romance was one I didn’t know I so desperately needed. I was a little distracted by the male narrator, Theodore Zephyr. I felt his caricatures were overly dramatic and distracted me from the great narration done by Madison Mitts.

*Thank you to Bea Northwick, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op
and Netgalley for the audio copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

The Cruel Dark is a Thrilling, Mystery with some Romance throughout, I loved the main character I feel she had great character development throughout the Audiobook.

"The Cruel Dark" by Bea Northwick offers readers a unique blend of "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Haunting of Hill House." The main character, Millie, finds herself assisting a mysterious master of a dark manor in translating ancient Irish folklore. As her relationship with Callum blossoms, tension within the house starts to escalate. Millie experiences multiple close encounters with the ghost of the manor's previous lady, leading her on a chilling search within the house. The plot thickens as the narrative progresses, with subtle clues masterfully interwoven into the story. The book excels in creating an aura of suspense and mystery, urging readers to discover what Millie uncovers about the house and, intriguingly, about herself. However, the true star of the book is the haunting atmosphere, which adds an extra layer of complexity and fear. "The Cruel Dark" is a compelling read that keeps you on edge, wondering if Millie will unravel the sinister secrets before it's too late.

I truly enjoyed this gothic story. It gripped me from the very beginning and it kept me interested throughout.

This roller coaster of a read had me questing decisions, mocking peoples actions, and creating theory after theory and never sure when I was right or wrong but loving the story as it played out. Millicent Foxboro takes on a job that seems too good to be true and very questionable, to assist a dark and broody (and handsome) Professor with his project in a dark gloomy house with a very standoffish staff. Oh and also ghost stories of a dead previous mistress and the delusions she experienced. When Millie starts seeing ghosts everywhere and memories of her mothers voice she weighs her own insanity against her desire for the Professor of the house. Millie starts to investigate things while accepting what is, but not everyone in the home is willing to do the same.