The Darkening by Sunya Mara is a YA fantasy debut that lures you in with a shiny cover and also kinda story too…cursed storms! rebel daughters! angsty princes. Let’s dive straight into it.
Read complete story with spoilers and review till the end.
About the Book:
Title: The Darkening
Series: The Darkening Book 1
Author: Sunya Mara
Published Date: July 5th 2022
Pages: 400
My Rating: ★★★ (3 star)
Synopsis: The Darkening
So here we are, friends. Meet Vesper Vale, the daughter of failed revolutionaries and a walking YA trope. Self-sacrificing? Check. Impulsive? Check. Morally confused with a burning desire to throw herself into danger for people she’s known for five minutes or less?
Save her dad from being executed by the government and maybe, accidentally, save the entire city from a murdery magic storm. No pressure.
Oh, the storm? Yeah, so there’s a storm circling the city. If it touches you, it curses you. How? Why? With what rules? Great questions! We never really find out. It’s sort of a magical wheel—lose your voice, turn to stone etc. etc. Spin and find out! 🎰
“If nightmares had music, they’d sound like the Storm.”
Plot Explained:
Anyway, Vesper’s mom was taken by the storm years ago. Now Daddy Dearest—who’s been hiding with Vesper and feeding her weeds for breakfast—is finally captured by the Queen’s soldiers. Naturally, Vesper decides the best way to get him back is to steal his cursed magic book and infiltrate the prince’s elite squad of soldier-sorcerers. As you do.
And speaking of the prince—Dalca! Beautiful, emotionally repressed, and harboring so many mommy issues he could singlehandedly keep a therapist in business for decades. He’s kind of into Vesper, kind of wants to use her, and kind of maybe wants to die to avoid becoming a soulless god puppet like his mom. Honestly, who among us?
There’s also Izamal, the boy with a tragic past & who deserved way better. Now, Casvian, who begins as a pompous side character and ends a slight better. over. No dev. at all.
Read More: Haunting Adeline Summary
Spicy?
Oh yeah. Vesper and Dalca have that classic YA enemies-to-lovers slow-burn chemistry, by which I mean he interrogates her, she lies, he glowers, she nearly dies, he broods, and eventually they kiss. It’s all very forbidden. Very complicated. Very are-we-doing-this-or-not.
Daddy Vale ends up getting turned to stone because he basically sacrifices himself (but not before being a complete tool for most of the book). Vesper, as anyone would do, tries to punch the rock to save him. Because that’s how rocks work. And in the end? She chooses to walk into the storm herself. Yep. Just like Mom, it’s genetic.
So what are we left with? A promising premise, a swoony prince, a heroine who really should stop kicking inanimate objects, and a magic system held together by vibes and glitter glue.
Did I love it? Not really. Did I scream at the pages? Often. Will I read book two? …Maybe. Because despite it all, there’s something in that storm.
Maybe just curiosity. Maybe just chaos.
Review:
A storm of potential… with a few lightning strikes to the face.”
The Darkening had me at cursed storms, rebellious daughters, and brooding princes. I mean, who doesn’t want a little morally gray romance while the sky tries to murder everyone?
“The Storm doesn’t kill you. It changes you.”
Sunya Mara’s world-building is vivid & have potential, but somewhere along the way, the story started feeling like trying to sprint through a marsh. (kinda confusing)
Vesper is a classic YA heroine—brave, stubborn and her adventures were genuinely fun… until a point…(limit) they weren’t, and I was left wondering wait, are we saving Dad or destroying civilization? Can we pick one?
The romance? Chef’s kiss on paper but felt a little undercooked in practice. Dalca brooded like a man who never got over it. Respect.
Ikonomancy sounds so cool… until you realize no one fully understands how it works. I felt like I was in a group project where everyone was just hoping someone else had read the instructions.
Final Verdict?
Still, despite the uneven pacing and me yelling Is it a good choice every few chapters, The Darkening had heart. It tried. I respect that.
Would I recommend it? Sure—if you’re here only for vibes, past time and slight entertainment then it’s okay.
Will I read the sequel? Against my better judgment… probably. I’m weak for angst and reckless magic.
Books like The Darkening by Sunya Mara :
- The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
- Enchantra by Kaylie Smith
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The Darkening book 3
Well that’s it guys.. but if you are into Fiction, and want a similar read you can checkout our new story at The Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong.
