F I N A L L Y!!!

I have been waiting for A Darkness At The Door ever since I read The Theft of Sunlight slightly more than a year and a half ago. And once again, I was not disappointed. Since this is book 2 of the duology, there will be spoilers for The Theft of Sunlight in this review.

A Darkness At The Door picks up right where The Theft of Sunlight ends, with Rae trapped on a slaver’s ship. She may have discovered that the Prince’s cousin is complicit in the kidnapping of children to be sold as slaves, but what good is this knowledge if she can’t escape? However, Rae finds enough strength to escape (she may or may not have made an unwilling deal with a powerful being in the process) and meets up with a rather dangerous friend, Bren, who may be able to help her.

I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to be familiar with, or at least remember the main plot points of The Theft of Sunlight before reading this. Most of the characters here have appeared in the first book, so you’ll want to be familiar with them before you continue on this journey.

In terms of pacing, I thought this book was generally good! The opening was exciting and though I felt the book slowed down a little too much at one point in the middle, during the respite from all the fighting at the start, the last third of the book was exciting and extremely gripping. I actually don’t think the middle section was that slow or very long, but my attention flagged a little because it was basically a journey between the two sections. Then again, maybe I’m just being picky because of how excellent the rest of the book is.

As always, Rae is an amazing person. I already liked her in the first book, but I really appreciated her character development here. Despite her club foot and losing a finger, she manages to find the energy to carry out her mission. I also liked that the book dealt with her physical disabilities realistically – Rae pushes herself, but when she pushes herself too much, it comes at a cost. She’s a badass but she’s a realistic one – she’s not going to be doing superhero stunts. This is also the book where Rae is forced to wrestle with some tough questions, namely: who should be judge, jury, and executioner? and Is the ‘thieve’s justice’ ever justified? I won’t spoil the book by sharing the answers but I appreciate how the book has Rae grapple with these questions.

There was also quite some romance in this book between Rae and Bren. It’s something that’s been developing since the first book and I really enjoyed their interactions. The way their relationship develops and how they learn to trust one another while fighting for Rae’s life is really the type of romance I like. Their romance developed very naturally and I actually really enjoyed reading it.

All in all, A Darkness At The Door is a fantastic ending to this duology. I love Rae and her friends, I love the world-building, and I love basically everything about this book.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley but I promise you that all my feelings and all the gushing came from the heart.