Hey Bookworm friends, I haven’t had any hot off-the-press reviews for you in a while but I’m remedying that today! I recently finished a buddy read of There Will Come a Darkness and have very mixed feelings, which I’ll break down below.
About There Will Come A Darkness
Author: Katy Rose Pool
Genre(s): YA Fantasy
Publisher: Square Fish
Format Read: Physical
Year Published: 2019
Series: The Age of Darkness, #1
Cover Artist: Jim Tierney
Synopsis
A prince exiled from his kingdom.
A ruthless killer known as the Pale Hand.
A once-faithful leader torn between his duty and his heart.
A reckless gambler with the power to find anything or anyone.
And a dying girl on the verge of giving up.
A prophecy foretells the approaching Age of Darkness and the birth of a new Prophet. Each of these individuals holds the potential to save or destroy the world...
Pace: Medium, Plot-Driven
Tone: Adventurous, Mysterious
My Review
Let’s start with the negatives so I can end on a happy note 😛. I’m typically a fan of multiple POVs but I didn’t think they were utilized wisely in this case. The book follows one POV for each of its 5 main characters but the main issue is that they change often and at odd times, which only serves to take the wind out of the narrative’s sails. The small bits of tension that managed to be built up in each short chapter were immediately deflated at the start of the next one. As a result, I’m not particularly emotionally attached to any of the MCs and I wish the author had kept up the momentum during several impactful moments. Additionally, some of the characters’ plotlines intersect early on in the book and, for me, it’s almost like various POVs are pointless in those instances.
“Those who cannot own their choices will always be mastered by fate.”
This story is marketed as Greco-Roman inspired but I didn’t feel that in the atmosphere. Sure, the map included is of the Mediterranean Sea and some place names, like ‘Pallas Athos’ are Greek. And fine, there is a lighthouse…but those nods feel like stickers placed overtop a generic world. The plot could have happened in any fantasy world and it wouldn’t have made a difference. In a 400+ page fantasy book, it’s not unreasonable to expect a fully realized setting so I was disappointed.
Sometimes the dialogue felt cringy and clunky in the way that characters would talk about things they both already know for the benefit of the reader, for some exposition. Luckily it didn’t do it a lot but it did it enough for me to notice and be slightly annoyed by it.
“The deceiver ensnares the world with lies,
To death’s pale hand the wicked fall,
That which sleeps in the dust shall rise,
And in their wake will come a darkness.”
For me, a couple of things saved this book. The first is the delivery of the premise. Not knowing if any one character’s actions would eventually doom or save the world was so fun! I enjoyed partially distrusting everyone because even benevolent-seeming actions could potentially have disastrous consequences. I thought the author played around with the interpretations of the prophecy in a satisfying manner. The second, and biggest, strength of this book is the plot. The betrayals and surprises caught me off guard, and the action in the latter half of the book was extremely exciting! If it weren’t for the plot I would have rated this book much lower.
Final Thoughts On There Will Come A Darkness & Rating
I’m still debating on whether I want to continue the series but I did have fun overall! There’s also a side character who appears to be orchestrating things behind the scenes, and I want to uncover their role in all of this prophecy chaos. 🕵️♀️ A friend told me that you grow to connect with the characters more throughout the rest of the trilogy and that the audiobooks are fantastic. So I might decide to finish the adventure via audio.
| CAWPILE | Rating (0-10) |
|---|---|
| Characters | 6 |
| Atmosphere | 5 |
| Writing Style | 6 |
| Plot | 9 |
| Intrigue | 8 |
| Logic | 7 |
| Enjoyment | 7 |
Representation
Very minimal LGBTQIA+ Rep
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Death, Physical Abuse,
Religious Bigotry, Genocide
Moderate: Death of Parent, Suicidal Thoughts,
Murder, Kidnapping, Violence,
Minor (Mention): Child Death, Sexual Content
Let’s chat in the comments!
Have you read this one? Or do you like books about prophesies?
I feel like I might have a copy of this somewhere (unread), and I’m not sure why I never read it. I’m glad you found a few things to enjoy, but I would also have issues with the setting not being developed enough. Thanks for sharing your review😁
haha that’s relatable, this was on my shelf for a long time before I finally picked it up! I think I had built it up in my head a lot in the meantime lol but there at least were some things to appreciate. Thanks for reading 🖤
I agree with you that it doesn’t have a strong sense of place. I can’t remember if it was in this book or the second one, but I remember questioning the distances between places and how fast the characters were travelling. Same here on being interested in the plot. For me though, two of the characters, I think, got my attention because of what they were struggling with.
Oh, glad it’s not just me then 🙂 & I guess I’ll have to see how I feel about book 2 and go from there… coz I can see that being an issue for me too lol. Oh which characters got your attention? I didn’t hate any of them and I certainly don’t want bad things to happen to them I just don’t love them the way I want to! Also, I hated the way the Order of the Light treated Hassan so in that way I guess I was kind of defensive of him lol 😂
I think it was Hassan, because I liked what was going on with him and also didn’t like how the order dealt with him. Also Anton, because I like his personality, and maybe Jude, but I can’t remember if it’s in this book or the second book that I started to find Jude interesting. Actually, I think my only interest in the third book is to see what becomes of these three.
Oh I see, yes I think he was so mistreated by them, ugh! Ah okay I see, I am excited to see the Anton & Jude relationship in the next books. That’s super fair haha.