DNF @ 14%

I wanted to give Tara Sim another chance despite my having DNF'd Scavenge the Stars, but Sim's writing style just doesn't seem to work for me. I was also somewhat overwhelmed by the vastness of the worldbuilding and the constant POV changes.

A more accurate synopsis: classic epic fantasy of dying realm with competing magics is reimagined for queer older teenagers who have spent time on tumblr in the past.

The characters:
- Taesia: technically there's no one main character, but it's clear that she's the author's favorite. Disaster bisexual, full of anger, controls shadows.
- Dante: Taesia's brother, really just trying his best. Deserved better.
- Angelica: regal and stuck-up fire elementalist who has all the internal struggles.
- Risha: team mom, very not-dark necromancer
- Nikolas: sadboi with family issues and imposter syndrome. Probably will be popular, although I didn't have a strong opinion on him.
- Julian: outsider POV. The others are all nobles, and he's just a middle-class hunter of beasts. Confused.

What I liked:
- Main characters are all different, but easy to understand. They make sense.
- The characters mostly know each other before the story starts! Like would make sense in a small-ish kingdom.
- There's some romance but it doesn't overshadow the plot.
- Literally nonstop action in the second half.

What I didn't like:
- The synopsis only mentions four main characters, but there are at least six. Really doing Dante and Julian dirty.
- There's not a ton of innovation - I've seen most of these tropes before done in the same way. Some might be bored by this book, but I will gladly read the same thing over and over again, so it was fine with me.
- So much happened. A little too much for my smooth brain. Long book for the first in a series, especially since it feels more YA than adult.
- I don't really feel the need to read the next book :(. Like I liked this, but don't need more.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tara Sim wrapped me up in a big gay goth book-shaped burrito with the City of Dusk. I feel like I need to dress in all black, gorgeous extravagance just to match up to the absolute magnificent goth vibes in this book. It made me eager to finish work just so I get sink into this good book. If you’ve ever wanted an Adult Percy Jackson with morally grey (and entirely sexy) gay goths with godly powers and set in an epic pre-Raphelite inspired fantasy world this is it. Words are limited, but that is what I’m going with.

The City of Dusk provides a fun and exciting world for readers to read. It pushes you into a slow burn of intimate plots, characterization, and into a world of gothic architecture, dons, living gods, their divine descendants, occult, grimoires, and fancy heirs galavanting in their sexy villas. I’ve missed being able to dive into a fun world, where I really get to spend time knowing and getting a feel for morally grey characters. It follows various characters, the heirs of their houses – Taesia, Nikolas, Risha, Angelica. As their world dies, the young god-touched heirs get wrapped up in the court politics and scandals (other than their own).

Tara Sim made me mourn with Nikolas, and the loss of his brother, the pride of his father, and related the fact that all he wanted from life was a dog. I felt the burning rage of Taesia, as it ripped through the entire novel. I looked in awe as Angelica’s music lit up the scene. Risha and her correct opinion that bones are always in fashion. I’m devastatingly interested in the guard meets heir trope, where character A shoves character B against the wall with a knive, competely resisting the hots they have for each other. I will just leave you hanging with that tempting bit of information. So many of the characters are fascinating. The rich gay heirs secretly sleeping with their sexy golden kissed friends will get me every time.

Dig into this for murderous gods, slow burns, secret lovers, celestial weapons, necromancy, the villa lifestyle, messy gay heirs, and the descendants of gods. If you’re like me and you miss those fashionable girlies, those big tomed epics, definitely pick up City of Dusk.

Honestly, I think me and this book have a hate-love relationship. When I started reading it I expected to finish it really quickly because the premise was so good and I thought I was gonna fall in love with the story and the characters. To my disappointment none of that occurred.

The fact that it took me around two months to finish this book speaks volumes. The writing and the characters were kinda bland and I just couldn’t get myself to enjoy this book for more than a couple chapters.

The City of Dusk didn’t lack mystery, romance or shocking betrayals but it was missing the wow factor.

There were obviously some good parts like the magic system which was interesting to learn about but it was also not original or something never seen before. I think that a lot of the side characters like Jas and Julian were probably more likeable and better established than the main ones. I hated all of the main characters expect for Taesia but to be honest even she got one my nerves a lot.

Giving it this rating for those small moments when this book was what I wanted it to be. Hopefully the next book will reach the expectations that I set for this series!

The City of Dusk was incredibly solid for an entry in the fantasy genre. The world-building holds so many layers, with an interesting religious pantheon and various political systems at odds. The magic held interesting concepts and character studies for our leads and just, the character and setting aesthetics slap!

The LGBTQ+ rep was beautiful, I am personally a huge fan of fantasies where it is part of the world without any sort of in-world homophobia either.

Plot-wise, I personally held issue with the pacing. This was a thick read, it was a slow-build to the absolute chaos of the last part and yet, the revelations and action still lacked a certain satisfaction. I am not usually huge for action sequences either, but the combat is objectively very well written and epic, it felt very cinematic.

Maybe I have read a bit too much fantasy lately that I am not sure how memorable these characters and this plot will be for me. On paper, I love the concepts of our point-of-view characters. They were each unique with distinct voices, I could pinpoint what I liked about them in theory, but I think an investment in them as people was missing for me.

I think Tara Sim writes their dynamics incredibly well balanced though. They all walk this fine and complex line of childhood friends, vague romantic interests, to enemies at the snap of a finger and various betrayals. There is just something fascinating about people who care for each other with actual opposing political motivations that may set them at odds.

Overall, this is a series I will consider picking up again because oh, that ending! I think now that the world is established the rest of the entries will run a bit smoother, would definitely suggest fantasy fans to pick this up!

Frankly, this book was wonderful and everything that I wanted it to be. It promised a grim world with dark gods, shadow magic, an empire on the brink of war, and some LGBT rep and it DELIVERED.

I’ve been a fan of Sim’s work since reading Scavenge the Stars and I was ecstatic to hear that she was coming out with a dark adult fantasy book. I am so thankful to have gotten an early copy, because I want to yell at everyone to read it!

Time and time again I will reiterate that I am primarily a character driven reader, and this book gave me four different wonderful POV’s and then some. Sim truly knows how to show difficult relationships and tensions both romantically and in friendships, and it’s a huge strength in this book.

The worldbuilding is gloriously dark and gives you a slightly creepy/melancholy feel as you learn more and more about it, and I still feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface in this series. There are four realms, Life Death, Light, and Darkness that have gods associated with them, and heirs who more or less belong to those gods. The gods have basically given up on the city, and the heirs must form some misshapen alliance to keep everything from falling to pieces.

There is no lack of action or tension either, and I truly have no bones to pick with anything in this book. Sim creates a creeping tension that sneaks up on you as you uncover mysteries and are shocked at the delicious plot twists alongside the characters, and the book culminates in an explosive ending that will leave you desperate for the sequel.

TLDR: If you’re a fan of dark magic, heirs of gods, incredibly character work and worldbuilding, then I highly recommend this book to you. I cannot wait to buy a finished copy and yell at all my friends to read this book.

Thank you so much to Orbit for sending me a copy, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to read and review!

The City of Dusk is three parts slog to one part absolute chaos.

There was so much world-building shoved into the beginning of this book that I nearly gave up because it was almost hard to keep track of it. This was also due to the fact that the story is constantly jumping around to different narrators. Mostly every chapter, but sometimes twice in one chapter near the end parts.

There are two 'sex' scenes in the book, but they came off as mechanical and served no real purpose. Other than to maybe establish a particular character as being LGBTQ+. But that is honestly done in a much better manner near the end of the book in a very nice fade to black kind of situation that I preferred much more. You could take the sex out of the book and no one would ever know.

The characters are all very three-dimensional if grating at some points. And I really did enjoy the cultural diversity of the characters and the different factions as well. But I am not sure I will continue on with the series after this first book.

It is hard not to give away details as it goes pretty quickly. I think a lot of people who are interested will enjoy this one overall. I would say it is a YA Dusk Until Dawn for a new Era.

Wow, this was quite the ride! This is my first from the author and I definitely will be picking up whatever else she writes. This was so much fun and so gritty and wonderful to read. I was on the edge of my seat! My only con is that it's the first book in a series and I need the next book like right now. Like right this instant.
The magic system was so cool and the characters! Amazing and wonderful. This is like the perfect blend of dark fantasy in the adult age range. I really loved it!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The City of Dusk definitely gave me shadow and bone vibes. Yes, every character that you meet screamed found family to me. Well, okay, not all of the characters because the evil ones needed to go. From the interesting and dark prologue to meeting all the characters, I was completely hooked and just wanted to know more. Mostly about their powers and the ritual that they wanted to perform.

With each twist, turn, and betrayal this book was a complete page turner. It was honestly so hard to put down because I just need to know what was going to happen next. Especially when we got to some pretty awesome fight/battle scenes. If this ever turns into a show or movie, I will totally watch it and expect greatness on my screens.

Other than that, the entire pace was amazing throughout this book. Seriously, I didn't expect half of what went down to actually happen already. Which, yes, made the entire ending of this book emotionally crazy and chaotically good. Not sure if that really makes sense but that's how I feel right now.

I'm definitely happy that I got the chance to dive into this wonderful world and I'm so excited for the sequel.

The City of Dusk by Tara Sim

Pros: lots of intrigue, interesting fleshed out characters with realistic motivations, multiple forms of magic, good fight scenes

Cons:

The city of Nexus sits at the crossroads of the realms of the four gods. Since the Sealing 500 years ago they’ve been cut off from the other realms and their world is slowly dying because of it. The four houses are descendants of liasons between past royals and the gods, and use their magic to help the people as they vie for the throne. Two of the house heirs want to unseal the pathways to save their realm, while the other 2 want political power and the ability to master their gods’ magic. Meanwhile, conjurors, practitioners of forbidden demon magic, have started creating havoc in the city. Godsnight is approaching, when the planets align and with it the heirs’ best hope of breaking the sealing. But what can four humans achieve when the gods have other plans?

There’s a lot going on in this book and you’ll spend the first few chapters trying to get a handle on the heirs, their houses, their various forms of magic, the political intrigues everyone is involved in and the characters various personal goals and problems. There is a handy guide at the start of the book that gives the house name, their god, the family members, and form of magic. Refer to it often until you get to know who’s who.

The characters were all fully fleshed out with varied motivations. Things rarely went in directions I expected and it was a delight seeing what each one would do next. Two of the heirs had overbearing parents and trouble mastering their magic. The other two had easy mastery but other problems to deal with. It was fun watching the various sibling relationships as well, some loving and others confrontational. The different family units felt realistic, including the dysfunctional ones.

The magic was cool. My favourite power was House Vakara’s necromancy, but seeing the light and shadow magics was fun. You don’t see as much of the elemental magic, given Angelica’s difficulties, though you do see others wield the power. The conjuration circles and learning how demon magic worked in this world was also interesting.

The worldbuilding was well done. In addition to the realms and magic, the principle world has several cultures, all represented in Nexus.

The plot is very complex and when the revelations started happening at the end I’d figured out a few twists while others were a complete surprise. There are some great battles, including a massive, multi-chapter one at the end.

If you like dark fantasy with complex characters and multiple plot threads, interesting magic with great worldbuilding, then give this a go. Just be aware that it’s the first of a series and the ending will leave you wanting more.

This is wayyyy too long for a first installment and it's definitely YA, not adult, but still liked it overall.

I will say this book starts off with a bang. The prologue had me instantly hooked. It's the right combination of mystery, imagery, and darkness. And that kind of immersive writing definitely stays throughout the story. The magic system is also super cool, the world-building is unique, and the different heirs feel like real people. Overall, the storytelling is pretty top-notch and there's a lot to like about this.

But man, I just can't get over how dragged out it all feels. There is a lot going on plot-wise, but the pacing is just sooo slow. I felt very complicated while reading because I was enjoying the story, but I just couldn't wait for it to end. I was also pretty bummed that this wasn't as adult as I thought it was going to be - it's just YA dressed up a little bit.

Again, even with the little hiccups, I liked this more than I didn't. It's very reminiscent of some great books like ‘There Will Come a Darkness,’ ‘Wicked Saints,’ and 'All of Us Villains.’ So if you enjoyed those, this is something you can be looking forward to!

The City of Dusk has readers enter an immersive world. Some of the things in this story you have to start putting together for yourself because Sim doesn't just come out and say it. So if you're a reader whose easily overwhelmed, you may struggle with this book. That being said, I found the beginning of the book hard to follow - and I usually do like immersive worlds. The beginning was just slow to me, but it does pick up after a couple of chapters! We have multiple POV's in this book as well. And with that, there may be some character perspectives you prefer over others. All the characters were very well-rounded. There are familial ties and relationships which I did enjoy reading about. There were some POVs that seemed out of place and for new readers not used to heavy fantasy - it may be something you grow irritated with. It didn't bother me per se, but just something I think other readers could grow annoyed with. The ending was awesome and I'd definitely read book two, but I do hope book two gives just a little more pizazz the way it did with the ending in book one.

**Thank you for the ARC!! All opinions are completely my own.**

4.5-4.75 stars. Incredibly enchanting, complex, and thrilling!!

THEMES: Fantasy; epic fantasy; magic; political intrigue; gods, men, monsters; superpowers.

SUMMARY (spoiler-free): This story starts, as all classics do, with a kingdom. It is ruled by a holy king, who is attended by four houses. Each of the four houses - Life, Death, Light, and Darkness - are represented by four gods and four magical families, who are descended from the gods and, as a result, have the power to wield corresponding magic associated with their house. The house of life can control the four elements. The house of death can control necromancy. The house of light can control, well, you guessed it, light (and transportation). The house of darkness can control shade and shadow.

We meet these four houses through the young nobles of each of the four houses, in the midst of a perilous time. Something has gone wrong, and the gods are no longer responding to any of their descendants' pleas. Crops are withering, dangerous monsters are appearing, spirits are failing to pass on, and the kingdom is slowly but surely dying. The four young nobles must find out what has gone wrong, all while balancing complex and intimate relationships with family and friends, uncovering thrilling political plots, and solving a high-level murder. And, to top it all off, lurking in the shadows are many nefarious players, just waiting to reveal their plans...

THOUGHTS: WOO BOY. Fans of complex fantasy/epic fantasy (shout-out to fans of Rook & Rose), YOU WILL LOVE THIS. And yes, since I love epic fantasy, usually I am quite skeptical and go into it just waiting to pounce on any flaws.

Yes, other reviews say this book unravels slowly and is complicated. Yes, the book starts off with a list of characters and their associated families, gods, and powers. But most importantly, YES, this book is incredible!! THE WORLD-BUILDING IN THIS IS JUST *CHEFS KISS*. Each of the characters are well fleshed out and have their own complicated and diverse relationships with their family members and friends. They each struggle to overcome something, but in a human way (not a cheesy way). Strangely enough, I connected to all four characters (instead of mainly connecting to one, as per the usual).

TLDR; An epic fantasy, incredible world-building, magic, four complex characters with their own ideations and motives, political intrigue, and, oh, did I mention MAGIC? Get your hands on this as soon as possible!

Eagerly awaiting the next book. Thank you!

Obtained via Net Galley for an honest review.

I am grateful and appreciate ALL of the creativity, imagination, time, insight and sacrifice it takes to produce a written piece, with that being said, this review contains spoilers.

The "Yes":
-Enjoyed world setup in the beginning (4 houses, heirs, king, unique qualities of each family, common inabilities to access power).

The "Almost There":
-~40%-55% was boring, then it picked up, and lost me again at ~80%.

-Just too long, I was close to DNFing at 40%. Upon finishing it I didn't feel fulfilled and won't be reading the next book, unfortunately. The world has potential, but still needs more editing.

-World building elements were "thrown in" (feeling like from left field) at convenient times with the intention to be intruiging but, in my opinion, it became annoying and ended up just prolonging the book (five houses instead of four, aunt mentioning the veins of the gods).

-Not connected to any of the main characters and I don't really feel like I even know them. I see what they do and I'm frustrated with many and their actions. I don't know who they are as a person, at a deeper level. The only character I admired and was intrigued by was Julian. He was the most fleshed out.

- Found myself being taken all over the place with the plot from focusing on similar circumstances between characters to politics to environmental destruction to romance (just thrown in there) a potential solution to not. It was a rollercoaster ride and I wanted more resolve. A lot of action mentioned/covered, but without enough depth for me personally.

-Shadow familiars arent explained well or elaborated on. I would have liked the magic system to have been clearer and more elaborated on.

This book is so...SO slow. The world and magic system is so complex (and frankly, confusing) that the characters are barely fleshed out. There's a mean girl character, a rebel girl character, a responsible girl character, and a guy...and then some other guys...like I couldn't take it anymore. There is a king, four familiies descended from gods, there are other realms but the realms have been sealed, there are demons, there are beasts, there are the gods themselves, the realms are decaying because they've been sealed off from each other. This was one of my most anticipated reads and it is just such a bitter disappointment. Not even the diversity of the characters (while lacking in personality, there are nevertheless LGBTQ+ characters which is great) could make this one worth the weeks I spent trying to slog through it.

I knew I wanted to read this book when I heard it was a multi realm dark fantasy, with each realm having a god, and each god having an heir. And the realms are now sealed from each other, because the gods have withdrawn their favor. It sounded freaking incredible, and I was very eager to read it! Trigger warnings: mentions of parental abuse, grief, self-harm, blood, gore

Everything about this book boils down to the fact that Tara Sim is a genius.

The world, the realms, dear gosh, there is so much packed into them. It's something beyond sweeping. It's a whole universe. It digs into the existential questions, and it does not leave anything unturned. AND THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK IN A TRILOGY. Just, the way this world was able to present such an intricate world, with a plot that has just as many tiny cogs working to move it forward, is brilliant. It never felt like the information was dumped to be dumped, and I was able to immerse myself in the world and understand everything that was being thrown at me. The way it is crafted, it left me breathless. So, so brilliant.

I feel similarly about the plot. It's one that spans many characters, many realms. There's political intrigue, along with darkness beginning to seep out of corners. There is so much of, and there are so many tiny pieces at play. And all of it makes sense and works AND THERE'S EVEN TWISTS THAT LITERALLY MADE MY JAW DROP. It's incredible.

I fell in love with all of the characters a lot more than I thought I was going to. I grew to love them because they truly emerged throughout the book. It felt like the book gave me space to become invested with them. This book is a slow burn in terms of characters, but it completely works, because I ended up completely in love with all of them.

There is also a creepiness that seems to hang in the air, waiting. It comes out at certain times, in scenes that are completely terrifying, oh my gosh, they made me hold my breath and the way they were written was just spectacular. And so much of it builds on dread, on things that are made of myths and legends of times long passed, with glimpses of powers that are truly frightening. It does this so well, and it makes everything about the darker aspects of this book just brilliant.

AND THERE'S A SCENE LIKE THE FIGHT SCENE FROM THE FIRST SEASON OF THE WITCHER EXPECT IT'S ROMANTICALLY TINGED AND THERE'S A BONE DRESS.

I really, really loved this book. It's downright stunning in everything that it does, and it is just brilliant all around. It's so, so incredible.

4.5 stars

Ah, this was so good! We dive right into the world and even though there are several main characters and houses and gods, the author does a great job of helping the reader understand everything and not get overwhelmed. The characters are different enough that I knew who was who and the powers they all have are interesting and unique. The pacing is well done, keeping steady until the last quarter then ramping up for an epic climax.

I love the idea of having families from different houses, each with their own abilities and responsibilities. There are elementalists, necromancers, and those with the power of either light or shadow. Each character is interesting and though some are more likable than others, they all had relatable moments. There's some romance, though it's on the backburner which was nice. I liked the focus on the gods and trying to open the portals to other worlds.

The ending is absolutely crazy and I didn't want to put the book down for a second. I'm already so pumped for the next installment!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the copy

ALL THE MIXED EMOTIONS.

First. This book is SLOW burn. I didn’t truly enjoy it till the last 25%, when the reveals start coming and the story starts really kicking off into one of the most epic battle scenes I’ve read in a long time. And it was EPIC I tell you.

But…. You have to get through the first 75%.

Aside from the pace, there are so, so many POVs. Way too many to keep track of initially, and eventually when I could, it was hard to be invested in them. Additionally, the worldbuilding is SO complex—not only do we have elemental magic, but we have necromancers, shade magic, light magic, gods, demons, realms, portals, wings, familiars, magic beasts, musical magic conduits, dream magic, etc. It’s a LOT. A lot a lot. By the end of it, I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d portaled to modern day earth. And as a PSA, this a borderline grimdark adult book, which was juuust a little much at times. Also, the political agenda came off super strong.

Tl;dr: The City of Dusk was just a bit too long, a bit too complex, a bit too convoluted for the epic battle payoff. I honestly don’t think I’ll pick up the second book, which is a crying shame, since there were so many good ideas in here.

Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

-A

great world building and magic system, intricate plot, interesting characters with great development!