The Darkening

3.5 stars

Minus some shoddy worldbuilding, this book was AWESOME. I mean just jaw-droppingly awesome. I would easily give it 5 stars, but I just felt like too little was told. Usually that's not a problem in fantasy, but here it took away from the story. But hey, 4 stars is still a great rating, and this books characters, plot, setting, and themes were all achingly beautiful.

I had to keep reminding myself to keep an open mind about The Darkening. The characters weren't compelling, and the worldbuilding left much to be desired. It felt very been there, done that with a few unique touches thrown in.

I understood the gist of the magic system, but I'm not sure if that's from reading books with similar systems or from worldbuilding in The Darkening. It doesn't fully explain how and why the ikons work.

Vesper, our main character, left me thinking, “meh.” I didn't connect with her and was not too fond of the romance plotline. It felt forced to me, and I was actively rooting against them.

Overall, a middle-of-the-road read. If you're looking for a quick teen fantasy read, you'll probably enjoy The Darkening.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.