Storms are brewing in The Darkening, by Sunya Mara

Photo: Amazon

Ever so often, I go on Goodreads rabbit holes, that include me reading the description of every book with a pretty cover and adding a bunch of them to my “want to read” only for them to never be looked at again. 

I might have a problem managing my Goodreads, actually.

The Darkening escaped this fate by scratching a very particular itch of mine: defining the “big bad” as an amorphous, possibly sentient storm that curses whoever touches it. Look, give me sentient amorphous beings and I’m sold (looking at you, Uprooted). And truly, the world that Sunya Mara built is quite interesting.

But allow me to give you context. The Darkening is the story of Vesper Vale, a daughter of failed revolutionaries, who lives with her father in a sanctuary for those touched by the Storm. After evading them for twelve years, the queen’s soldiers finally catch up to Vesper’s father and end up arresting him in the palace, leaving Vesper behind with nothing but a book of ikons, magical runes that she isn’t entirely sure how to use. 

All in all, this book is a pretty standard YA fantasy. Not much of this story took me by surprise, nor was it unexpected. Nonetheless, I still really liked the book and the lore, and thought this was a fun read with enough tension to keep me interested.

The book features four main characters, Vesper, prince Dalca and two Wardana (the special knights in charge of controlling the Storm and its monsters), Casvian and Izamal. Personally, the highlight of this book for me was Vesper's internal conflicts. She is caught between wanting revenge for her family, wanting to save the city from the storm and her own feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness. 

However, Izamal and Casvian were also really interesting characters (Izamal more so than Casvian), who presented compelling stories and positions in the kingdom’s society. Izamal struggles with his feelings as a member of the fifth ring, home of the poorest people and the closest ring to the Storm, and how he is seen as an outsider even as a Wardana. Casvian, on the other hand, is an absolute asshole who I eventually came to like as he was the character I, weirdly enough, felt had the most development throughout the book.

Unfortunately, the book did fall short in some stances. First, I wasn’t a fan of the romance in it. Though it is written as a very cookie-cutter enemies-to-lovers, I felt that Dalca wasn’t a compelling enough character to make me root for him. While his internal conflict with his duty as a prince could have been interesting, it seemed very shallow, especially when pitted against Vesper and Izamal  who had gone through very traumatic experiences. 

Furthermore, I just didn’t see the chemistry between him and Vesper. They don’t really have that compelling back-and-forth banter that makes enemies to lovers interesting (especially since the “enemies” bit feels very one sided, since Dalca isn’t really aware of who Vesper is until halfway through the book). Their interest in one another feels forced by the plot, and at one point Dalca's actions become nonsensical, serving only as the catalyst to the book's final cliffhanger.

Though I do think it’s unlikely,  I wonder whether Mara will pull a switcheroo on book 2 and introduce a different love interest, or a love triangle of some sort. If not, I hope we see a lot more development from Dalca or at least more consistency from his actions. 

All in all, though, I still consider this a good story, with an interesting magic system and worldbuilding. I will definitely pick up book 2 once it’s out, as I’m really curious as to where Mara will be taking these characters in the future.