Darkdawn – Jay Kristoff

Release date: 3 September 2019
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Darkdawn (The Nevernight Chronicle, #3) blurb:

The greatest games in Godsgrave’s history have ended with the most audacious murders in the history of the Itreyan Republic.

Mia Corvere, gladiatii, escaped slave and infamous assassin, is on the run. Pursued by Blades of the Red Church and soldiers of the Luminatii legion, she may never escape the City of Bridges and Bones alive. Her mentor Mercurio is now in the clutches of her enemies. Her own family wishes her dead. And her nemesis, Consul Julius Scaeva, stands but a breath from total dominance over the Republic.

But beneath the city, a dark secret awaits. Together with her lover Ashlinn, brother Jonnen and a mysterious benefactor returned from beyond the veil of death, she must undertake a perilous journey across the Republic, seeking the final answer to the riddle of her life. Truedark approaches. Night is falling on the Republic for perhaps the final time.

Can Mia survive in a world where even daylight must die?

Book 1: Nevernight
Book 2: Godsgrave
Oh. My. God. I cannot believe it’s over. This series has been FOUR years in the making. It has spawned fan art, funkos, tattoos, candles, and half of my pin collection. But mostly, I can’t believe this was the ending that we got.

I, just like most people who read this series, was addicted. And it was basically the most unbelievable ending I could have imagined for it. In fact, it was so unbelievable, it was nothing that I could ever have imagined. And I was taking pot-shot guesses as Jay kept running around yelling* “MIA DOESN’T SURVIVE. IT’S NOT A SPOILER.”

So… The book picks up immediately after the end of Godsgrave, and we are reintroduced to some old characters, and of course we meet some new ones. While Mia’s friends and family from previous books make appearances throughout, but I must say my favourite characters in this book were Cloud and BigJon. Despite being your almost classic pirate type tropes, they definitely stole the show in their scenes.

But mostly what I loved in this are FREAKING SPOILERS. In fact, 60% of this review is going to end up in that section. Nevertheless, I will attempt to continue.

Here’s one thing – the vengeance deaths are my favourite part. There’s a poison scene that’s probably my fave death, and some characters that return which I love. Also, super bloodthirsty!

As per usual, the world building is a class act. Kristoff weaves his own kind of magic that never leaves you wanting. The footnotes seem to be controversial, but it’s addressed in the book itself. “What?” I hear you say. Oh yes, gentlefriends, get ready for some Deadpool-esque fourth wall breaking. It’s actually quite impressive (a bit wankery, but impressive).

So why is this only 1.5 stars? Well Gentlefriends, if you have read the ending and want to see my thoughts on that finish, feel free to click below.  Please note that I am NOT RECOMMENDING this for those of you who haven’t read the books! Read the spoiler section at your own peril.

However, let’s talk about some non-spoilery things first.

The pacing in this book is mildly out of control. There are parts that drag (like an entire Part), and then there’s sections that are happening so quickly it’s kind of difficult to tell what is actually happening.

There were also some plot twists that I thought were from so far left field that they didn’t really make sense in the grand scheme of things. In saying that, there were also a couple of small things that I thought were predictable, but there was enough of a mix of “yup, picked that”, “oh, didn’t see that coming” to “what the actual f***? Did I skip three chapters?” that while it wasn’t super balanced, it wasn’t critically awful either. It just wasn’t great.

The characters… Maybe it’s just me, but I felt like so many of the characters changed their abjectly strong motivations on what felt like a whim in this book. I understand why it was done (plot reasons and to build tension, etc.) but I didn’t find it believable. In fact, it felt so wrong, it ended up changing my entire opinion about the character. Which I hated.

Look, I’m NOT going to tell you to not read this series, because I LOVED books 1 and 2, and I am in the outliers for book 3 feelings. Like, 100% this is a VERY unpopular opinion. However, don’t believe all the end-of-the-world hype that surrounded this. That’s my only advice for you, and I sincerely hope you DO enjoy this.

* I mean, not literally running around screaming. But he was posting about it on Twitter and Instagram A LOT.