Darkdawn | Spoiler-Free Book Review

The Nevernight Chronicle #3 | 512 Pages | Sept 3, 2019

Darkdawn at a Glance

• Overall Rating: ★★★★★
• Heroine: The real goddess of night…and murder
• Bonding: MY HEART
• Steaminess: Holy smut batman
• Brutality: stab, stab, stab

Pairs Well With

A bucket full of morning-after fallen soldiers (leftover beers)

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Review

First I want to thank Macmillan for my free advanced copy. I still can’t believe I got one.

“I am a daughter of the dark between the stars,” she replied. “I am the thought that wakes the bastards of this world sweathing in the nevernight. I am the vengeance of every orphaned daughter, every murdered mother, every bastard son.” Mia leaned forward and looked the man in the eye. “I am the war you cannot win.”

If you haven’t read Nevernight or Godsgrave then STOP READING. There are happenings that you should not spoil for yourselves. But really, this series is a masterpiece and you are doing yourself a disservice if you spoil the endings.

The end of Godsgrave was a doozy. We were slammed repeatedly over the head with OMG and NO WAYs. Which is the best way to cliffhanger me, if I do say so myself. 

We pick up after all of the big reveals, with Mia running for her life. When is she not fighting for her life? 

Mia is off to kill Scaeva for the third time, with a new crew in tow. Her mysterious savior has announced himself as her old lover… AWKWARD. Now Ashlinn and Tric get to battle it out for Mia’s heart. Honestly, this was the one part of the book I didn’t love. I want to ship Ashlinn and Mia, but I still can’t get over the end of book one. I mean, she KILLED HIM. I’m not a fan of love triangles so I wasn’t super pleased about this dynamic, but it worked. I was happy with the way it all ended up. Truth be told, Mia is a badass so of course she is going to rack up some admirers.

“Not just a pretty face and a shitty attitude, are you?”

My favorite thing about this series is Kristoff’s way of taking a normal trope and making it not seem like a trope. Take Jonnen for example. Yes, your brother you thought was dead is magically alive. But I’m actually so happy about this and he added such a fantastic new dimension to Darkdawn that it felt fitting and not overdone or cheesy. I’m amazed. Jonnen and Mia’s relationship was one of my favorite parts of this book. I’m a sucker for a good sibling bond and this was no exception. 

We get to see a lot of the secondary characters in this book. Everyone has their moment in the sun and their poetic ending. Real life, a LOT of people die. We knew this was happening. It happened. Some you love and some you hate, but be prepared and don’t get attached because death is among us. 

 “It’d ruin my Murderous Bitch aesthetic.”

Not to get too mushy or fangirl, but the way this story was put together in such detail amazed me. Threads that you didn’t know were there get tied up. I am astounded at the intricacies in this story. It’s a shame that so many would spoil the book because I need to fangirl over them. I was happy with the way it ended. Everyone in their place or not-place. 

This book is WORTH THE HYPE.

I will leave you with the part that made me fold over with laughter because it is too good not to share. It’s Adonai, our creepy favorite in all his glory, emerging from the Quiet Mountain.

“Adonai was dressed in faun leather breeches and a thin robe of white silk. He also wore a broad-brimmed hat, azurite spectacles, and white gloves – obviously to spare his skin the touch of the sunslight.”

Yep… he just emerged in a white silk robe, wide-brimmed hat and blue glasses a-la Elton John… You’re Welcome.

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Have you read Darkdawn? Let me know what you thought in the comments! 

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