Nedra Brysstain is a seventeen-year-old girl from the northern territories of the Lunar Island. She likes her life up there but as a deadly plague starts spreading through the North, Nedra decides to leave her home to learn the trade of medicinal alchemy at the prestigious Yugen Academy. Nedra is determined to find a cure for the plague but as the disease begins spreading faster and faster, she becomes desperate to find the needed cure and suddenly finds herself diving into alchemy’s most dangerous corners and ultimately turns to the most forbidden practice of all, necromancy.

I’d never read anything by Beth Revis prior to starting this novel but the synopsis of it sounded extremely interesting which is why I originally requested an ARC of the book. And the first 60% of “Give the Dark My Love” were indeed great and I would’ve easily given this book at least four stars if it had continued being that good which unfortunately wasn’t the case.

At first I was really interested in the story especially because I have only read about two or three books about necromancy in my life and so it was very cool to learn more about the topic. The plot during the first half was also very interesting and I pretty much flew through the chapters because I always needed to know what would happen next. But around the 60% mark, the plot became really slow and I began not really enjoying this book anymore because many scenes just really dragged on.

As for the characters, they were all pretty interesting and I actually liked all of them. Either because they were just very likable, or because they just fit the story very well. But it was the main character, Nedra, who ended up acting in a way that made me enjoy the last 40% of “Give the Dark My Love” a lot less than the beginning of it. She was very likable and interesting at first, but at some point she just began doing things that often made me roll my eyes or shake my head. Especially between the 70% and 90% mark of the novel, I felt like she was often being quite unreasonable which suddenly turned her into a character that I began disliking.

Furthermore, during the first three or four chapters, I also had a bit of a problem with Beth Revis’s writing style but thankfully, it either got better in the subsequent chapters or I just got used to it quite quickly.

Overall, this was still definitely a book I mostly enjoyed reading which is why I’m giving it three out of five stars. As I’ve said, the first half was definitely a lot better than the second half and made me want to read the entire series. But the second half just kind of “destroyed” the story for me and I unfortunately have to say that I probably won’t be picking up the sequel once it comes out next year.

Have any spooky books on your TBR for October? If so, put them aside and pick up this book instead! If your TBR is wide open, pick up this book! If you don't do spooky books, you do now, pick up this book!

I have to say, this was not at all was expecting. I mean I read the description and I was obviously intrigued enough to request an ARC but somehow I focused in on the magic/alchemy school part and ignored the whole dark necromancy part of the description, so I gotta say I was surprised but pleasantly so. This book is not a light, fluffy read, there is political intrigue, quests for knowledge that go beyond one's own personal morals, loss on so many levels and just a tiny bit of romance. It did take me a few chapters to get into the book but once I got past the school/relationship building and into the alchemy, I was a goner. Putting this book down to do things like work and sleep was physically painful! I loved Nedra's character arc and her story broke my heart not just a little. I wish I could have had just a little more depth and growth with our other POV character, even though we didn't hear from him as often. I'm thinking we may be getting a lot more Grey in book 2, which I realize is way too far away....

I'd definitely recommend this, especially if you aren't afraid of a little darkness and crave some anti-heroines in your life! I will definitely be buying a copy as soon as its released (and not just because I'm dying to see what the map is going to look like!).

My rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars. This review is based off an arc provided by Netgalley in exchange for honest reviews.

Beth Revis's Give The Dark My Love transports you to a new world filled with the magic of alchemy, the intrigue of politics, and a chance at a new life through education. The heart of the novel though is the love of family and the lengths that someone would go to for her family and the people she care about. That fact allows every reader to connect to Nedra and her story. The ending left me with chills up the back of my neck and the deep desire to know what will happen next.

This book started out well with an exciting and scary prologue. Then the main body of the book felt unfinished and rushed. The characters were flat and the relationships felt contrived. It was dark and gruesome with animal cruelty. The main character’s actions were incomprehensible. The world building was incomplete so it was difficult to tell what kind of time period and world it even was. I got bored and could not finish this.

Nedra wants nothing more than to become a medical alchemist (think magical doctor). When the opportunity arises for her to spend one year at the best alchemical school in the country, she jumps at it, even though she knows it means leaving her twin sister and her parents – perhaps forever. Nedra quickly jumps to the top of her class, but when a plague breaks out and starts killing commoners, Nedra finds herself out of the classroom and into the hospital. As she studies the plague, she realizes that it might not be entirely natural. Anyone around her could be responsible for its rise, even those that she trusts the most and she turns to a forbidden form of alchemy, necromancy, to try to find the answers.

The book is narrated by two characters, Grey and Nedra. Nedra was an enthralling character. The book follows her as circumstances get direr and she does what she has to do to survive and keep her twin sister alive. Her inevitable descent into darkness felt earned and real. Grey is Nedra’s classmate and love interest, and I didn’t mention him in the synopsis because he was entirely unnecessary to the book. I think he just served to give an outsider’s perspective on Nedra, but his chapters read as wholly superfluous to me. Perhaps he’ll have more of a role in the sequel?

The alchemy and necromancy themselves were quite cool, aside from the cruelty to rats. The cruelty is addressed and makes sense (one could argue that we use lab mice in a similar fashion), but might be upsetting to animal lovers. The first part of the book, while not fast paced, was still fun to read as we got to hang out with Nedra quite a bit in the hospital and learn about her craft and motivations. As she experiments more with necromancy, the book gets twisty and dark, and I really enjoyed the ending. There are also some fun political machinations and a revolution brewing in the background, all of which add to the immediacy of later plot points.

If you enjoyed a good villain origin story, such as Marie Lu’s The Young Elites, Tamora Pierce’s Tempests and Slaughter or the TV show Breaking Bad, you should give this book a read. I enjoyed it, and I think I’ll like the sequel even more when it comes out in a year or so. 3 stars.

Thanks to Razorbill and Netgalley for the eARC, which I received in exchange for an unbiased review. Give the Dark My Love will be available for purchase on 25 September, but you can put your copy on hold today!

3,5 stars

Sometimes a book leaves you conflicted. Give the Dark My Love is one of those. On the one hand I enjoyed reading it, but on the other hand I have a lot of bits and pieces that didn’t work for me.

Let me start with the writing itself which was good. The prologue gave us a taste of what was to come and then it build itself up slowly, becoming an atmospheric horror book. However I did find the build-up lacking. This has to do with details. Nedra is trying to find a cure with her mentor and for a good portion of this book she works in the hospital or works in the labs with him. But there are never any specifics on what they do in the lab to find a cure. It is just kind of left up in the air. It made the leap they made towards the origin and cure of the plague somewhat unbelievable. I don’t think the explanation was on board for it either. And there are other specifics surrounding this plague that bother me. The ending with it was just convenient to me.

Another element was that this book was told in dual point of view. For the majority of the book we get Nedra’s point of view. But every now and then Grey, her love interest, pops in with a point of view. Honestly his chapters were pointless up to the end and even then something else could have been done with the information he provided. His point of view was there to offer us more insight on the politics but that unfortunately failed. There was not nearly enough on it to give us a good feel for the revolution behind the scenes. Or why Lunar Island so desperately wants to become apart from the emperor. I get it had it been the poor, but this revolution wasn’t coming from them.

Having said that I still enjoyed this book though. The prologue made me so happy I decided to give this a chance because I liked the necromancy. I liked how it took something from the necromancer. That portion was just really well done for me.

Nedra was an interesting person who fought for what she wanted. She never really gave way to all the distractions surrounding her (like the instalove) and kept her nose pointed in the direction of wanting to find a cure for the plague, about learning all she could about it. Too much even so. The decisions she made were morally gray, asking us if she wasn’t becoming a villain in herself.

Grey on the other hand was the perfect poster boy and it made him so incredibly bland. He never really managed to properly stand up for Nedra (not that she needed it) or truly support her.

I am very interested in seeing how this continues in a next installment. While there is no cliffhanger and the base of this plot has come to an end, I am very curious to see where Nedra goes next.

I quiet enjoyed this book. While it was a little slow to get into there was a pretty good pay off in the end. I look forward to book 2.

I loved Nedra’s journey- it shows that even those with passion for helping others can be pushed too far and be forced to make hard decisions.