A Door in the Dark

An interesting start.

It's not quite what I expected from the blurb and tags I saw while doing my preliminary research (before purchasing). I went in expecting more horror and wound up in a thriller-dystopian mash up.

The main character can be a bit dry and cold, but then you realize that's exactly what she's supposed to be. She's not out for peace and love, she's there for very serious reasons. She has the motivation and means to be a problem for people, and so she's going to fulfill that promise. Some might even call her kind of monstrous, but she's got plans to see through and little to no reason to stop before they're done.

There are certainly a lot of political issues in this world that don't start getting unpacked until the latter third of the book. (And they probably come more to the forefront in book 2). But overall the world building is good. The magic? - some of it sounds silly but makes sense. Some of it is more realistic and other bits lean heavier into fiction. It's a mixed bag.

(Undecided yet on whether or not to continue this trilogy.)

This was an absolutely CUTTING book. I feel like most fantasies are quest-based and it's mostly framed as this big heroic thing in its own way, but the plot for this book is so much more brutal than what I'm used to from all the fantasies I've read recently. Instead of one person having a goal or a task to accomplish you get a bunch of people, most who aren't particularly close, thrown together in the middle of nowhere and forced to do what they could to survive. It was sharp and intense and I honestly loved it.

The magic system in this book is VERY intriguing. It's one of those magic systems that lean more towards being scientific in its study and execution rather than hand-wavy mystical like most magic systems. I don't think one is more superior to the other but a scientific approach is definitely refreshing to read even if it is slightly confusing at times. The whole limited magic aspect was also new and admittedly something that I wouldn't normally read on its own, but I like how they dealt with it in this book. I can tell that the author's going to be exploring the more political ramifications of rationed magic in the next book which I'm also interested in but the angle of it in this book is “we have to survive the wilderness and a mountain pass with limited and ill-fitting supplies and if we run out magic we might die” which put an even sharper edge on the whole plot.

Appreciate that the author didn't pull his punches with the brutality as well. It wasn't the worst I've ever seen but there was enough that it felt realistic and fitting with the situation.

Very interested to see where things go with Theo and Ren. Keeping it non-spoilery but we left them in a fairly interesting place and I'm excited to see where the plot takes them in book 2. I can definitely sense varying potential for drama just in their relationship, not to mention with the rest of Theo's family. Ren by herself I adore as an MC. I can related her a lot and I love how her ruthlessness and ambition continues to drive her character even in situations where it might be the norm for her to be acting differently. I'm very interested to see how her character continues to develop in the rest of the series.

Will be continuing to the next book!

Ran so long, a lot of exposition, not enough character focus.