Thanks you so much for the oppurtunity to review this. Sadly I will not be finishing this novel. I was ready to like this, to still fall in love with it at some point. But I just couldn't do it anymore as there was nothing that interested me or kept me reading.

The prologue is fucking amazing. So dramatic, so action-packed, so intense. But then it literally deflates like a balloon in the first chapter and stays that way for at least the next 176 pages.. I would guess probably a lot more but I will never know. The synopsis gives so much away too? Like the event that could've been shocking.. IS LITERALLY IN THE SYNOPSIS. So you just kinda don't care at all?

The world building seemed interesting and different in the beginning. But then it's also irritating. Like a lot of the political stuff that is going on seems very medieval Fantasy like but then we have planes and electricity and all. And like yeah, that's cool. But also the world is not explained. At all. So I honestly kinda just didn't get the world we were in? I thought it had potential, I just didn't really care about it because we just don't know enough about it?

And the romance. I know I'm probably too impatient but I just hate when it takes forever for the two characters to even meet. LIKE WE KNOW THEY ARE GONNA FALL IN LOVE WE KNOW THERE LOVE MIGHT BE ABLE TO STOP THE WAR OR WHATEVER so like why do I need to wait A THIRD OF AN ALMOST 500 PAGE BOOK FOR THE TWO CHARACTERS TO MEET. Gimme slow burn romance but don't give me 150 pages of nothing when I'm already anticipating this romantic storyline because of the synopsis. AND NOTHING HAPPENED IN THOSE 150 PAGES like I just don't think it made sense for them to meet so late.

So I was really realizing this wasn't worth it for me. I'm totally someone who can ignore EVERYTHING for the sake of a good romance. I totally could've pushed through a boring plot for a good romance. But if I don't get anything to hold on to almost halfway in.. I'm just not ready to waste my time any longer

This book was different than I had expected. It is billed as a fantasy novel, but other than being set in a fictional world, there were no fantasy elements whatsoever. It read more like a historical fiction war story- which is cool, but I kept waiting for the fantasy aspect to emerge and it never did. The fictional world is really in depth with complicated politics, which was amazing, but I found myself floundering without enough knowledge to fully grasp it all (I didn’t have the map in my ARC, and I think that would have helped me to understand it all better. There will be map in the official release.) In addition to the fully developed world, the characters were also pretty well formed and interesting- Athan especially. He was really likable and I empathized with him a lot. There was a great contrast between him and Aurelia and their relationship was sweet, however; I didn’t feel like it progressed enough. I loved their star-crossed lovers scenario, but I just wish there would have been a little more heat. In fact, the whole book was pretty slow and there wasn’t a lot of action. It was very politically focused, with intricate schemes and plans, and it felt like a set up for later action that didn’t come in this book. The last few chapters were a bit more exciting as things came to a head, and I did enjoy the twists, but I didn’t feel like there was enough plot driven action for the first book in a series. Overall, it was beautifully written with an interesting premise and characters, but it was a bit too slow for me to get fully on board.

Dark of the West was a fantastically full-figured fantasy steeped with intrigue, adventure, and a subtle touch of romance. This brilliantly written debut had a delicious slow burn that took its time developing every character and the tendrils that connected each to their nations and to one another. The intricacies involved in creating a story this rich were vast, but its readability for how detailed it was rivaled many of its kind, and I could not put it down upon starting.

Hathaway adeptly crafted a character-driven novel and kept it that way, in no rush to force connections that would have felt weak had they been introduced sooner. The danger of the court—of every player having a personal agenda—played through the entire story, twisting and arcing around every character and creating this thick tension that stayed with me until the last page. The voices of Athan and Aurelia were sound, developed so well they were effortless to fall into and become one with. While I adored them both, Athan spoke to me the most and I can’t get over how brilliantly he was penned—to feel as meek as he should’ve been, but full of a self-conviction that rivaled it. The sweet connection between the two felt like the truest thing either had ever experienced, and was the fire that sparked Athan and Aurelia into finding who they were meant to be.

The lushness to its plot and character development made Dark of the West the beauty that it was, and I’m eager for what’s to become of our beloved characters in the game of power surrounding them—the foreshadowing in the prologue made even better when reread after turning the final page. This fantasy re-imagining of WWII left me spellbound and is an absolute must-read.

Hi Tor Teen,
I would just like to say thank you so much for approving me for an eARC of Dark of the West. Unfortunately I am choosing to not finish this novel for now. I thought that this novel was a fantasy and not the historical-fiction like focus that it is. I tried to give the novel a fair chance and I read six chapters in addition to the prologue before I finalized my decision. I’m not connecting to the characters and the plot the way I wanted to. The synopsis sounds amazing but I do not think that this story is for me. I would rather be up front and dnf than not enjoy my reading experience and have to give a low rating. I will not be rating this on goodreads since I do not wish to lower the overall rating of the book and give a negative review based on my limited reading experience. I may choose to read this novel one day but not at this time. Thank you for your understanding.
Best wishes,
Brittney

Filled with political intrigue, revenge, and a star-crossed romance, DARK OF THE WEST is the first novel in a YA historical fantasy series infused with an exciting and vivid World War II inspired setting where subterfuge, political machinations and a forbidden romance fill this debut's pages with a slow-burn read.

What helps set this YA story apart is the exciting feel to its fantasy world. With DARK OF THE WEST, Hathaway creates a world that feels like a reflection of our own with one of the books strongest features being the World War II-esque flavor given to the story's setting, especially the details created to its military and technology.

The story brings to vivid life flight training and air-to-air combat such as dog-fighting. I loved all the historical details incorporated, especially the fighter planes and had more than one Top Gun adrenaline filled moment during flight battle scenes! The death-defying maneuvers sequences and dangers felt real.

Joanna Hathaway's debut should also appeal to readers who enjoy a strong dose of political machinations in their novels. One part military adventure and one part romance, it carefully balances the building tension of both across its pages. There are family dramas, crumbling empires, revolutionary uprisings, airplane dogfights, an assassination, revenge and a forbidden romance to root for.

I adored Athan’s perspective and readers a going to swoon over his love-letters. The story is told from the dual perspectives of Athan, a fighter pilot and youngest son of General Dakar of Savient and of Princess Aurelia of Etania, whose mother stands between the general and revolution.

I loved the evolving relationship between Athan and Aurelia. I think readers are going to especially fall for Athan as his viewpoint and characterization make him such a sweetheart and you just can't help but fall for him. The ending and the love letters especially broke me.

In the End
I enjoyed so many facets of this debut series opener and look forward to reading more of Joanna Hathaway's Glass Alliance books. I will say that this was a slow-burn read for me with the first half a bit complicated with all the deceptions and betrayals while I was trying to familiarize myself with a new landscape—thankfully, the book will include a gorgeous map which will be much appreciated. The second half of the plot really gained momentum and was hard to put down. DARK OF THE WEST is definitely a compelling read whose author I'm excited to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Teen Publishing for the electronic ARC.

Review scheduled to post on Book Swoon ( https://www.book-swoon.com ) on Friday, February 1st, 2019!

"This war is young and doesn't yet know what it wants"

* * *
3 / 5

Dark of the West confused me. It felt like a clever book, full of plots and intrigue, but I felt lost for most of it. There was too much going on, too many betrayals and a little bit too pretentious.

"Somewhere, the forest is burning, my father is raging, and the kingdom staggers"

Aurelia Isendare is a princess of the Kingdom of Etania. Etania is one of the northern kingdoms that has a complicated relationship with the newly forged in blood Savient. Savient is ruled by the general, a tricky, bloodthirsty man with secrets in his past. Athan Dakar is his third son, training to be a pilot who does not want to follow his brothers into war. When his mother is shot and killed in the street, Athan is told that it is the work of Aurelia's mother, who has a past with the general. Meanwhile in the south a revolution is brewing at the hands of a man rumoured dead - Seath - and he has ties to Aurelia's mother and her country of birth.

When Savient takes a contingent to Etania Athan is ordered to get to know the princess. He thinks her arrogant and inexperienced. She thinks he is but a simple pilot and is charmed by his rogueish good looks, his piloting skills, and his flattery. The writing is elegant, if a little overworked, and I liked Athan and I loved that Hathaway chose to make him a pilot rather than a soldier. There's some beautiful descriptions of his flying. Aurelia is a little more typical for a YA novel - a princess who doesn't know very much, who likes to draw and spend time in the woods, who doesn't want to get married. You've heard it all before. 

"There was me and there was him and now there's only me. The loneliness of that startles me"

Dark of the West definitely had potential. Like I said, I loved Athan and I liked the prose. But the book was incredibly slow and was too complicated for it's own good. Etania's royalty and court has far too many main characters to keep track of, I had no idea what was going on with Aurelia's brother or mother or slightly creepy suitor. There's political machinations abound. I also felt very confused about the setting - there's advanced planes, machine guns, mentions of alarm clocks and screens, but nobody has a phone. The setting felt maybe WWII, but it was never quite clear. 

Dark of the West tries really hard, perhaps too much. It is elegant and interesting and has elements of uniqueness, but it is also too complicated and Aurelia is a bit boring. 

My thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC of Dark of the West

DNF'd at chapter 2

I'm sure the book is fine, and I liked some aspects of it, but the prologue was terrible as far as plot goes, the writing is simultaneously pretentious and boring—and somehow manages to read like distance-inducing third person despite being first—and so much exposition has been spewed at me, I feel like I've already read half the book. There are better war books and there are better fantasies.

This book had me at the comparisons to The Winner’s Trilogy, yet I feel that this book definitely had its own charm and brilliance to set itself apart from it. I am a sucker for stories in which characters that weren’t meant to fall in love inevitably do, and this story certainly delivers on that promise in such a way that made my heart really go out to these two and hope for the best. However, happy ends don’t always come painlessly and the best solutions and outcomes may arrive with a price. This story reflects this and truly adds depth and dimension to the plot’s focus on the struggle of being loyal to your loved ones and being loyal to your cause.

Sadly beautiful and heart wrenching! The story pulls you in and breaks your heart and then slowly memes it. I cried a lot for the characters in this book. Two warring factions and the realities and heartbreak of war that ensues. Aurelia and Athan are strong characters that are on opposite sides. Athan goes undercover and infiltrates Aurelia's side. They fall in love but love doesn't always solve problems, just makes them more difficult. This story wounded me and it's going to take awhile for the wound to heal. I highly recommend this book. The writing is wonderful and so worth it.

Dark of The West tells the story of Aurelia and Athan, two star-crossed lovers in a World War II inspired fantasy world filled with political intrigue and territories on the brink of war; but you'd be fooled if you think this is anything like your typical ya fantasy novel.

I was amazed by how well thought out everything in this book was. When I started reading this, I wasn't expecting to get into such an intricate and detailed discussion of the geopolitics of this world. While at times, especially in the beginning, I found myself lost in the different names of territories and people fighting against one another, or allying with each other, after I got the hang of it, I could not stop being amazed at how brilliantly done and executed everything was from beginning to end. My mind was blown so many times by the detailed thinking of the characters that by the time I reached the end my jaw had dropped several times. I absolutely loved the level of scheming present in this book, and what that holds for the future of this series, especially after what is revealed in the very prologue of the novel, because let me tell you, the plotting will only increase in the subsequent books. I guess that mild confusion at the beginning of the novel could be easily solved by simply adding a map, which I'm positive will happen in the final copies.

I also loved how realisitc the depictions of war and war politics were written and discussed here. The author did not shy away from anything that we know has happened in our own world's history when it comes to war, and I think she introduced those elements into her story pretty accurately, as can be seen by the discussion of war crimes and what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to war, the consequences of said crimes when they are committed by your own side in a war and what to do with that information once you have it. The discussion of interventionism versus occupation was also heavily present throughout the book and one cannot help but make connections to what a lot of countries in our own world have gone through and continue to go through in regards to that topic. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I appreciated how the author incorporated a lot of these controversial topics into a fictional world and developed them in a respectful manner.

Now I want to dedicate a few lines to the characters in this book, because I think Aurelia and Athan are some of the most realistic and well-developed characters I've read in a while in YA books. I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for characters who come from different walks of life, and Dark of The West takes that trope to another level. Aurelia is the daughter of the Queen of a kingdom that's being plagued with civil unrest, and Athan is the son of a general who has build up everything he's gained in his life from scratch. Each character has a completely different point of view on life and everything in it. We have Aurelia whose entire life has been spent inside a castle with every commodity at her disposal, someone who has never had to fight for anything in her entire. And then we have Athan, whose life was been filled with war and loss since he was a little kid, who has had to become a pilot in his father's army to be able to defend their homeland. And it's incredible how all those differences can change once they start to get to know each other and to step in each other's shoes. The discussions they have as regards royalty (the divine rights of kings is even mentioned and explored in this book), governments, and war were so incredibly important and well-written, and the development both characters go through because of the connection they develop for each other was my favorite part of this book. Aurelia as a main female protagonist shows incredible growth throughout the book, and if you've read the prologue, one can only imagine the growth and development she will go through in the entire series. Athan can only be described as a sweet cinnamon roll which has to unfortunately go through the horrors of being part of a war simply because he happens to be the son of the General. Throughout the book he is caught between a rock and a hard place, since his dreams happen to be completely different from what his father expects him to be, and to see Athan's struggle between wanting to impress and fulfill his father's expectations and following his own dreams was heartbreaking. The side characters are even just as intriguing as the main characters and I feel like we barely scratched the surface when it comes to them. Hopefully we'll get more in the subsequent books.

While I see some people being upset or even angered at the fact that we get a very spoilery prologue as regards the future of the main characters, to me personally, I think that's what hooked me and made me incredibly expectant for the next book in the series. Since the ending of the book doesn't catch up to the timeline where the prologue takes place, I feel like I can't wait to learn how the characters got to the place we are shown they are in that prologue, which of course is going to be an angsty filled journey for our two star-crossed lovers.

I rated Dark of the West 3.5/5 stars; as one of my most highly anticipated releases of the year, it fell flat in some regards but exceeded my expectations in others.
My favorite part about Dark of the West was the characters. I loved Athan and Aurelia as individuals and as two people in a relationship. I think their relationship was so natural and beautiful, the complete antithesis to insta-love. They started out being friends, which I don't think we see enough of in YA Fantasy, and as their feelings for each other deepened, I never got the impression that their relationship was being hurried along to further the plot. For a lot of the book, they seemed to hover in this territory of maybe not-quite-loving each other, but still caring about each other deeply, which I think is so realistic for two teenagers who haven't known each other for very long.
As individuals, I think I liked Athan best. Unlike a lot of male characters in fantasy, he wasn't afraid to express and properly experience his emotions. Of course he's scared, of course he's sad, and of course he has conflicted feelings towards almost everyone in his life. But he has such a strong grasp on those emotions that instead of acting out senselessly, he thinks through them and recognizes what they are, which, in my opinion, is a truer definition of strength than if he were to just bottle everything up.
I have to admit, I didn't enjoy Aurelia as much as a character. She seemed to let things happen to her throughout a lot of the book, while not actually doing anything about them. She's a princess; while she doesn't have as much power as her brother, who is set to inherit the throne, she still must have some power and must be able to have some control over her fate.
The other characters, particularly Athan's brothers, were so interesting to read about from Athan's point of view, because even though they were objectively bad people (one of them in particular), they were Athan's brothers, and he cared about them in his own way. I also liked the hinted shared background between Athan's father and Ali's mother. I'm really interested to find out more about that. Perhaps in a novella?
The setting was another thing I really liked. While I normally like a lot of magic in fantasy novels, I think the incorporation of technology was really unique. This world has cars, planes, gramophones, and other technology that seems better suited to a novel set in the early 1900s. While Athan's chapters were mostly set in a world filled with dangerous technology, Ali's surroundings were more typical of an average fantasy novel. I think that if any book could perfectly reconcile these differing aspects of fantasy, it would be Dark of the West.
However, one thing I couldn't understand was why some aspects of the world were so outdated compared to all the technology. Aurelia's mother is planning to marry her to a man in his thirties; shouldn't arranged marriages be a thing of the past? There are superstitions about whether or not a true ruler of Etania can be murdered; in a world with so many advancements, shouldn't superstitions be less commonly accepted?
The plot caused some...issues for me. I couldn't figure out who was allied with whom, who was pretending to be allied but was really enemies with which country, and so on. The alliances were so convoluted that I couldn't figure out anything about them. I also didn't like how North and South were used so frequently to differentiate between groups. Obviously, this is all taking place on one continent, but the entirety of the North was not one allied unit, and the same goes for the South. One person does not rule over the entirety of the North or the South, and the people from each half do not share defining characteristics, like appearance or language. The only clear distinction I could really make was that the North has monarchies, while the South does not. This made understanding the political aspect behind the plot very difficult.
So, while I definitely felt that Dark of the West had some flaws, the writing was absolutely beautiful, the romance was believable and SO cute, and the main characters were just so genuinely goodhearted.

An enchanting fantasy debut from Joanna Hathaway, Dark of the West is sure to capture the hearts and minds of many readers. The novel is told by dual point of view: Aurelia Isendare, princess to the small Northern kingdom of Etania, and Athan Dakar, the third son of a ruthless Safire general, and trained to become a highly skilled fighter pilot on the front line.
Both POVs were distinguished, and each chapter and change of perspective/location is clearly headed. Clearly the author has put a lot of thought into constructing this vast, lush setting, however I did find it extremely difficult in the beginning to imagine where these cities and kingdoms that were being introduced were, though I know a map will be provided in the final print. I also felt as though a character guide at the end with pronunciation guides would help to keep which character is which straight in the reader's mind, as I found keeping track of military personnel, royalty, ambassadors and courtesans and their allegiance to be difficult at times, particularly towards the end.
I also enjoyed the prologue, though having it take seemingly so far in the future left the rest of the novel feeling as though it were more of a prequel to the prologue, and the ending felt very anti-climatic with the prologue promising so many secrets but in the end having only a few answered. This does leave the author quite nicely into book 2, as readers will then hopefully go on to have their questions answered in further books.
I would also appreciate more description into the culture of the Southern countries and its' people (who I read as being coded POC, while the North were white) as DotW portrayed it as having little culture and being uncivilised, apart from the countries which had a monarchy (like the North, which could be considered.....problematic). I'd also love to see more LGBT representation, as the only rep in DotW is Kalt, who isn't in the novel very much and we know very little about him.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced electronic copy of Dark of the West.
Actual rating: 3.5/5

I wanted to read Dark of the West when I heard the comparisons to The Winner's Trilogy; then I saw the cover and I was desperate to pick this book up! Thankfully I was approved for an ARC, so I didn't have to wait too long. And this book did not disappoint! I greatly enjoyed Dark of the West, with one big exception.

One of my favorite things about this book was the writing. It was straightforward and succinct but packed so much meaning in in so little words, which is evident from the prologue. And this is a debut, which shows so much potential in Hathaway's future works.

The plot was so interesting and engrossing; I actually wasn't aware of the modernness of it, even though the summary literally mentions World War II (I know, I know, I should have read more closely smh), so that was a pleasant surprise! I don't think I've read such a modern-presenting high fantasy YA novel before. I definitely recommend it for this alone!

Also, I haven't read a YA fantasy with such political nuance in soooo long. The comparison to The Winner's Curse was definitely deserved, with the rebellion and secrecy and political intrigue. There are so much politics in this book and so many layers to it, I loved it. Of course, with politics comes war, and there is plenty of that in this novel.

Onto the characters!! I loved them all so much (except uh a certain diplomat ugh), especially the two protagonists, Athan and Aurelia. Their points of view read so distinctly, and I loved seeing the other person from one's point of view. It really showed the reader how you can think you know a person, but you never really know what they're thinking.

The romance was so cute too! They have a lot of chemistry, and their interactions made me smile so much.

Of course, there were so many complex family relationships on both sides. Aurelia's brother, the crown prince, is near warring with their mother about the decisions for the kingdom, so Aurelia is stuck in the middle, trying to appease both of them without choosing a side. Athan so badly wants not to be under his father's thumb, but how can he escape with his dad as the commander and his brothers also in the military? He also wants to fly, and the air force is really the only place he can do that. But he does love his family in a real but also dutiful way?

Now onto what I didn't like. I'll start with the trivial aspects that were personal tastes (slight spoilers ahead).

The prologue occurs in the future, but the book never reaches anywhere near that time. I guess this would just to be to really put us in the story, but it made the ending of this novel anticlimactic, to me. Also, throughout the book, there were a lot, and I mean A LOT, of secrets hinted at, but we get to know...maybe two or three of them? I suppose we'll get to know more answers later, but personally, it felt like we built up to so much and never got rewarded for it in this novel, again making it anticlimactic.

**MORE SPOILERS HERE** Another thing that bothered me? Aurelia never finds out the truth about Athan, at least not in this book. I mean, she's keeping secrets from him, but that makes sense because she's a princess and she just thinks that Athan is a grunt soldier, so why would she spill state secrets!! Meanwhile, Athan keeps his entire identity from her! IDK, personally this was unnecessary to me and a bit too big a lie and a betrayal for me to ignore. **END BIG SPOILERS**

All of these things, I could have ignored, but this next thing was too much for me to ignore. I'm honestly not sure how to word this, but I haven't seen anyone else talking about it so.

Resya, where Aurelia's mother is from, is very much coded brown, as is the south, from what I got. Resya is the only kingdom, while the rest of the south is...I'm not even sure. They aren't kingdoms like the entirety of the north, and the fact that Resya is made it feel like, to me, that was presenting Resya as the only civilized country in the south, just because they have the same government as the north (i.e. the white people). That felt a little hmmmm to me, as well as the fact that Resya becomes fairly villainized later. Oh, and the fact that Resya and another country that was coded brown didn't have any distinct cultural characteristics from each other but that might just be a lack of worldbuilding. (I did ask the author if she had any cultural influences, and she said no, she drew influences from everywhere :/ )

Again, these were issues to me personally, and I feel like the sequel will fix most of them purely because we'll get to expand the world more. I hope that's the case.

I very much recommend this book, especially if you like The Winner's Curse or Code Name Verity. It had such a creative plot and great writing, and if you're in the mood for a fantasy, this is one you should check out. Dark of the West is a thrilling, engrossing ride of a novel; you won't be able to put it down. (I really wanted to make a plane pun, but I can't think of one right now, I'M SORRY, I'm not that great a writer!)

**This post will be up February 5!**

What I love: Oh my goodness gracious, this series is going to murder me before it’s over. I don’t know how many books are planned, but I’m freaking out thinking of what is to come. I read this all the way through, then reread the prologue, and I’m even more of a mess now. THE DARK OF THE WEST is filled with political maneuvering and the machinations of war. And you need to pay attention from the start. It is all told through the perspective of a young princess and a new pilot, who are slowly but desperately caught up in its web, even as they fall for each other. It is a masterful process in an incredibly detailed world - and sure to have brutal results. The story contains a trope I love - enemies to lovers. As well as one I don't love - characters keeping their true identities secret from each other - but I was completely invested in these characters' lives and choices through it all. All I can say is that there's going to be some consequences to come, and I may need to be hiding under a blanket when they happen.

What I wish: I wish this book had a cast list, and I can't wait to see the map. Also this is a small picky thing, but this story had so many R names - a prince, a king and two different countries, which definitely confused me on who and what was what.

*A review will also be going on my blog http://www.loveisnotatriangle.com

Love Triangle Factor: None
Cliffhanger Scale: Medium - so much more to come!

Marketed towards people who love The Winner’s Trilogy, this made me really want to get my hands on this arc since I loved The Winner’s Trilogy. This book has pilots, kingdoms, espionage, and two well written characters that help drive this book and made me want to keep reading. I cannot wait for the sequel and see what happens after what went down in the ending. Thank you Netgalley, Tor Teen, and Joanna Hathaway for this arc!

Joanna Hathaway's YA fantasy debut, Dark of the West, will hit shelves on February 5, 2019! Thank you to NetGalley & Tor Teen Publishing for the electronic ARC.

A tale of two different families in the throes of war, secrets and deceit, star-crossed lovers, heart break, friendships, fighter pilots, LOVE LETTERS, this book is filled with things to rave about. If I can say one thing that I know to be true it will be this - Dark of the West will leave you anxiously awaiting the next installment of the Glass Alliance series.

The prologue of this book sets the tone straight away - devastation, heartbreak, chaos... love.

The rest of the book is basically a prequel to the prologue, and all through this read, I realized I LOVED that. It gave every moment a deeper meaning to me, the reader. Everything felt more important to me - and it really didn't give anything away at all. In fact I went back and re read the prologue after I finished and WOW, I fell way more in love with the entire story and I just CANT WAIT for the next book.

This story has many different plot lines, but the narrative that we follow alternating between Aurelia, a princess of the royal kingdom Etania, and Athan, the youngest son of a hot-headed general, from war riddled and ally nation, Safire.

But, as in politics, nothing is as it seems and when the generals wife is shot and killed, Athan's father orders him to go undercover while in Etania, to gain insider information from the queens children, using his deceased mother's maiden name.

During said mission, the sweetest relationship blooms between Athan and Ali. And not the love at first sight, ooey-gooey, makes you gag, fairy tale type of teenage sappy stuff, either. I found myself, multiple times, grinning and "awwwwww-ing" out loud, wanting to clutch my kindle to my chest.

The beginning (about 1/4) of this book moved pretty slow for me. (This is the only reason that I gave the book 3.5 instead of 4 stars. Some fantasy books do this a little more seamlessly, so it was just a little too long of slow spot for me) If you are used to reading fantasy, then you know that is pretty common. Sometimes it is hard to get oriented to a new world. You have to get accustomed to new verbiage, locations, etc. All while there is usually some sort of action going on as well. You're trying to remember every little detail because some ones name, title, shoe color, hair pin, address, etc is probably important to the story.

However, the writing in this novel is FANTASTIC, the character development is utterly amazing.. I totally LOVED Athan. The top-gun fighter pilot vibe was pretty perfect. The war scenes - especially the "dog fights" were super descriptive and kept me on the edge of my seat. Not that I know anything about fighter jets, but the author seems to! The many levels of politics and family politics that were going on both sides of this story kept your mind whirring the entire time. After the slow start, I could NOT put this down at all and I flew through the rest of it in about one night.

The final copy WILL have a map, which will probably help lessen confusion in the beginning and thus help orient readers at a better pace.

I have no doubt that the rest of this series is going to be outstanding and I will forget that the beginning of this first book was hard for me to immerse myself in! So if it is the same for you at first - PUSH through. It is SO SO worth it!!

Dark of the West follows two POV’s. We have Aurelia, who is a princess in a kingdom of the North and Athan who is the the son of The General (a dude who controls the army in another country hehe). There are schemes, politics and wars. In it all is Aurelia & Athan meets and falls in love, being on opposite sides of the upcoming conflicts.

When I got accepted to read an early copy of this, I was so excited. Seriously, this books sounds and looks awesome. I thought I would love it, but sadly I didn’t. Now this review instantly sounds negative, but bear with me. I did really enjoy some parts, and I can definitely see me continuing this series. It just didn’t live up to my expectations.

First of all: the world. It was so confusing! They talk about countries and conflicts and wars, and I have no idea where all this comes from. They are all so vague about everything. In the beginning I expected to be confused, as I usually am in the beginning of all fantasy books before getting used to it. But while reading this I never got the “aha” feeling I was waiting for, when the pieces and the world clicks into place. The world that is being built, in theory it sounds and seems awesome, but I’m not convinced by it. It reminds me a bit of a post-World War II world, with planes and different countries etc. etc. I just feel like nothing was explained. Believe me, I don’t like info dumping, but there was just … no info?
(In my copy there was no map, and I think that would been have very helpful, so if others have a map to refer to while reading I think that would be a great help!)
But with or without the map, they talk about history and roles and monarchs and this League council things and a dude who is supposed to be really scary named Seth (or Sath?) and I don’t think it is explained all too well, if at all.

Then we have the plot. I love plotting and wars as any other fantasy lover. But here there was supposed to be a bigger scheme at play, and when get to the reveal of everything it does not feel enough? I just feel like nothing actually was revealed. There was also this plotpoint in the beginning of the book, and this is blamed on someone else. But it is so obvious who that was really behind it. This is not 100% confirmed yet, but I found some parts very easy to predict! The book feels like the first 200 pages of a 800 page book, something is missing. Now, I’m fully aware that this is a series, but I just feel like the story that we get in this book is intriguing enough to be one book.
I like the slow build up and how we get to know the characters and all that, that is actually the parts I really enjoyed! I liked the buildup, how the pieces went around on the board, it was just the endgame that didn’t bring satisfaction or answers.

I enjoyed the characters a lot, they felt fleshed out and brought a lot of different things to the table. I just thought Aurelia was a bit boring, tehe. But she was really fine, and I like how some of the characters are really questionable but sometimes have nice and soft moments! I’m really confused by some of them, but they make them more complex in my eyes and I’m curious to see how they will change or show their true colors in later instalments.

All in all I liked it, I just didn’t love it. I’m very intrigued by the characters and I’m hoping things will clear more up for me regarding the world. I did start to get a hang of it (sort of) in the end. I’m also hoping for more answers regarding, well, a lot. Let’s see in the next instalment! 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for providing me with an eArc.

Two and a half stars

I've been trying to read Dark of the West for two weeks now and I just cannot get into it.

I've had to DNF at a third of the way through.

I wash initially drawn in by the beautiful cover and upon reading the synopsis I was hooked on the plot.

Upon reading though everything felt incredibly slow paced with too much dialogue that did little to push the story forward.

I've read other reviews that say if you stick it out the book is brilliant when it picks up but at a third of the way in I expect to have some indication of where the plot is going and what is motivating the characters down these paths bus I had nothing.

There was a big focus on world and character building and I do like that we get to read from both protagonists perspectives however being so slow moving this focus felt overdrawn and boring.

There was a lot of military talk which I also PERSONALLY found boring. I have a keen interest in strategy but this felt like it was used to show a side of a character and again not to really drive the plot anywhere.

Overall it is structurally and grammatically will written but it was way too slow for me to enjoy and too easy to put down and forget.

This is a beautiful, intricate book that completely swept me up. Some readers may feel that the pace of the first half is a little slow, but the delicate politicking, character examination, and relationship building offer their own kind of intensity. I expected Athan and Aurelia to have much more of a Romeo and Juliet type relationship, but it wasn’t like that at all. The plot doesn’t revolve around forbidden love as much as it does terrible secrets and impossible choices.

Finally, as the shape of the ending begins to emerge, the plot drives inexorably toward what can only be a heartbreakingy painful conclusion. And yet, I was not prepared for some of the questions that arose, some of the ways my heart would break. I have rarely read such a complex take on the cruel reality of war.

OMG guys....this book is so beautiful. I had the privilege of reading this book early on in its journey to publication. The grand sweep of the story takes you from the skies to a glittering court to a war zone. It's lush and evocative, the writing is incredible lyrical...I could go on and on. Pick this one up, you won't regret it!

Also...the angst and romance in this story is just...swoooon.