Book Review: Darkness Comes Again
A Novel by K.M. Davidson
The new adult romantasy novel Darkness Comes Again by K.M. Davidson is the first book in the Sirians Series. I was provided a free copy of this book as an advanced reader copy (ARC) from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis
Reva has a secret that could get her killed. Only a few closest to her who are Magics know what she is. When knights from a neighboring kingdom come to fetch Reva's mentor Karasi—a powerful Magic and seer—to heal their sick prince, Karasi sends Reva in her place. At the castle, Reva is met with open arms by some and receives prejudice from others because she’s a Magic—or so they think.
The clock ticks as the prince’s health deteriorates. Desperate to find a cure to save the dying prince, Reva uncovers the history of her kind and their powers, learning about an ancient darkness that threatens to return—and her role in stopping it.
Review
Overall, I liked the story and the author's writing style. Sometimes the writing read a little clunky, but for the majority of the reading experience, I was easily immersed in the world and felt like I was there with the characters. Information isn't dumped on the reader. Explanations about the world, history, Magics, and Sirians are evenly spaced throughout the book. I enjoyed the physical appearances of the Magics and their abilities. Magics aren't human, and some indications of this include unique markings on the skin, cat-like pupils, unusually colored eyes, sharp canines, wings, or scales. Each Magic has their own unique appearance, and I loved that!
When Reva arrives at the castle, the opposition is introduced well. It creates intrigue and suspense. I also like Reva and Fin's relationship. They begin as friends and later become lovers. It also helps develop Reva's character because she has never experienced a committed romantic relationship before. I like how the author explores Reva's journey from being afraid of getting close to people to allowing herself to explore committed relationships—both with friends and romantic interests.
Something that I found interesting about the author's writing is that whenever there were dialogue tags, “say” or “said” were hardly–if ever–used. I've heard other writers and editors determine that sticking with “say” and “said” is the best route for dialogue tags because it won't pull the reader out of the experience. However, K.M. Davidson used alternatives for dialogue tags and made it work.
Spoiler Territory
WARNING: In this next section, I will discuss specific scenes and venture into possible spoilers. Proceed with caution if you have not read Darkness Comes Again and want to.
The story is very similar to Shadow and Bone. If you’ve read and enjoyed the Young Adult fantasy series, you’ll love this book. However, unlike YA, this novel is listed under the New Adult genre (NA) and includes content that may not be suitable for some audiences (more about this later on). This book reminds me of Shadow and Bone because there’s a mysterious darkness called the Abyss or the Black Avalanches, and it reminds me of the Shadow Fold. Sirians can wield light and darkness and Magics can wield elements. Sometimes the powers felt like a replica of those in the Grishaverse, but I came to terms with the similarities instead of criticizing it too much and enjoyed the story. Reva's mentor Karasi is also a lot like Bagrah; a grouchy old lady whose age is unknown and who occasionally has a soft side towards her apprentice.
In parts of the book, the descriptions and conversations between characters read a little clunky (however, the manuscript was in the editing process when I received my ARC copy, so the finalized copy may read more smoothly). The way some things are phrased in descriptions and the dialogue that took place confused me. At times information would be worded in a way that didn't make sense to me or I wasn't sure how some information tied to previous events in the book, making it feel like a contradiction or inaccuracy.
One example is that Fin, a knight, takes her to an isolated island the knights use for training to expel her magic. But when she needs to learn how to fight and practice using her magic, Fin says they have to find a safe place where she can do that. My first thought was, “Why don't they just use the same place where she expelled her magic? If the island is supposed to be safe for her to expel the magic without anyone seeing, then why isn't it safe to train there too?” She ended up training in a room deep below the castle, and I thought that’d be more risky than the island because she could obliterate the castle—and she almost did. So why did they not stick to the island?
A second example is when the king chastised her after an incident, saying, “Why do we always meet like this?” but it made no sense. Reva hadn't gotten in trouble before. The only trouble she got into was caused by those who harassed her (from my understanding, everyone already knew about the harassment and that it wasn’t her fault). Plus, before that specific encounter with the king, she’d only met face-to-face with him twice: once when she was introduced to him upon her arrival and again when the king came to see how his son was doing while she worked on his treatments. The third time was after the incident, so having him ask her why they “met like this,” like she’d been causing more trouble than she was worth and was required to see the king multiple times, made no sense to me.
I also didn't like the graphic sexual content. There is a note at the beginning of the book stating content warnings about sexual scenes, but I wasn’t expecting what was included. There are two sexual scenes. The first one wasn’t too bad because there’s not as much description and it ends quickly. The second one was a bit much for me because it's more descriptive, has female anatomy terms, and has some hand action that I wasn't prepared for. However, other than that, I did enjoy the story and the character development. I am eager to continue reading the Sirians Series as an ARC reader and discover what happens next in book two, Fate Demands Sacrifice.
Content Warnings
Swearing, violence, explicit sexual content.