Huh. This was kind of a shocker to me. I thought this was going to be an instant new favorite. Sadly, it didn't quite click with me.

I wouldn't say anything was particularly bad. It was just...the concepts of everything about the book was incredible, but the execution just wasn't there. I struggled with the writing style, especially at the beginning. It was for some reason pretty confusing to read. Like my brain couldn't make sense of the sentence structures. On top of the confusion, both the plot and the chemistry between the two main characters felt lacking in a way that left me feeling like I wasn't quite sure what I was reading for. Like, what I was actually getting out of the story.

The saving graces were that I liked both the main characters individually, well enough, and the worldbuilding was pretty darn intriguing.

Overall, it just felt like it everything needed more substance, more depth to it, and the writing style needed a bit of cohesive tweeking.

It took me a little bit to get into this story but in the end I was glad I stuck with it. The pacing and relationship development was a little uneven at times and it felt fairly dark and violent for a YA. But I liked the twist on the whole demons vs church element, and the world building was fun. I wanted to love our main couple a little more, but I think I'm invested enough to pick up the second when it comes out! Overall a solid if not sparkling debut.

I will start by honestly saying I had to DNF this book. I hate typically having to do that to a book. I felt it was necessary so I would allow myself to maybe one day go back and attempt to rereading and hopefully completing said book. Reasoning is due to the world building. Maybe it's my own lack of creativity that has trouble keeping up with scene and with the characters. Although the author did add a full list of characters and meaning of they're statuses. I should have known with that list that I wouldn't be able to fully enjoy the story.

Someone that only reads fantasy will probably love this more than I. The opportunity it's a great one is there but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

ARC Review

Cruel is the light
By Sophie Clark
Publish date: May 25, 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you @penguinteenca for sending a copy to review ❤️

This is Sophie debut novel in the world YA romantasy.
I absolutely loved the world Sophie created with unique magic and characters.

Selene was the perfect FMC watching her character grow throughout the book was amazing and to see her vulnerabilities. Jules was charming and witty and I was all for it.

My one critique is some of the world building was confusing and it would pull me out of the story. I however loved the glossary at the front of the book that went over all the different parts of the world.

I loved the banter and twists throughout the book. I really enjoyed Sophie’s captivating writing style and look forward to book 2.

Reimagined world where demons exist, and the Vatican and its demon-hunters are responsible for keeping them at bay.

*Romantasy
*rivals to lovers
*fake engagement
*forbidden romance

Conceptually, I found the story to be interesting and fresh. However the execution was a bit off for me, including inconsistent pacing, confusing world-building and a lack of depth to the characters. I also found the writing to be a bit clunky.

I certainly don’t think it is a bad book - but is not keeping my attention enough to get over the smoking/cigarettes.

So I am DNFing at 56%.

I can’t get behind a YA fantasy book that has so many characters smoking cigarettes. At the 56% mark cigarettes have been mentioned at least 20 times. 33 total times within the book according to a search.

I think there is a time and place where smoking in a YA book serves a purpose. However in a fantasy novel like this, its feels like its only purpose is to make the characters seem edgy. In the end it feels like glorifying something that kills 8 million people annually (according to WHO).

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a book I really wanted to love. Demons and exorcists and hate to love and what have you. The cover was beautiful and well, this was a highly anticipated read.

No one was more disappointed by not liking it than me. I felt like there was so much potential, it had these Underworld vibes but, the scenes didn’t feel organic to me. Things would happen and it just didn’t feel like a natural progression. The characters were okay … but, I felt Jules was overly happy go lucky especially paired with his history and circumstances it just didn’t feel like it meshed. And the vibe between him and Selene was more annoyance than anything. I also felt things skipped around a lot and I had trouble following the stories progression properly.

I really wanted to love this one and I know it’ll find its audience. It just wasn’t for me.

Thank you for Penguin Canada for the opportunity to read early!

Thanks to Sophie Clark, NetGalley, and Random House Children’s for an ARC copy.

DNF

This book felt very crowded at the beginning, Introducing so many names and characters was too much, I didn’t even feel like we got a good introduction to the main character. The pacing of the story was all over the place. The writing style was hard to read, immature, and had excessive cursing. I was looking forward to reading this book but sadly I was thoroughly disappointed, I couldn’t even bring myself to finish it.

A really, really good YA that reminds me of being 16 again and reading Shadow Hunters! Like a lighter version of DaVinci Code, with a savory little romance between our two main characters, Jules and Selena. A bit of cat and mouse/hadd to get while kicking butt and slaying demons. Sophie has a bit of a unique writing style, in my opinion, with eloquent descriptions and pointed sentence structure in the form of run-on and shortened sentences. But it is consistent throughout the book and something i felt added to the tone of the story. It gave the characters a little bit of their life.
I would highly recommend this to older youth (maybe 13 and up?) Because it is a bit darker and has the romance that toes the line of a tad of spice.
I would also recommend this for anyone who is in their parenting era and wants to reminisce or has teens you can share a reading experience with!

Thank you Net Gallery and Penguin House for the ARC, it was such a good little read!

Sophie Clark absolutely killed it with CRUEL IS THE LIGHT. It’s impossible not to read this in one fell swoop. The plot moves at a dizzying speed, and so does the romance. Add this title to your summer reading list, folks.

It took me a little bit to get into this story but in the end I was glad I stuck with it. The pacing and relationship development was a little uneven at times and it felt fairly dark and violent for a YA. But I liked the twist on the whole demons vs church element, and the world building was fun. I wanted to love our main couple a little more, but I think I'm invested enough to pick up the second when it comes out! Overall a solid if not sparkling debut.

Cruel is the Light follows Selene Alleva, an exorcist known as the Butcher of Rome. She spends her days protecting Rome from demons. Jules Lacroix is a soldier for the Vatican, risking his life on the frontlines in France. As the demon attacks rise and the Vatican believes more is going on, Selene and Jules cross paths and spark an immediate attraction and distrust. As they reluctantly work together to figure out what is going on, centuries old secrets are uncovered that change everything.

This was a such a good fantasy!! I loved the demon hunter x soldier aspect—such a fun trope I now want more of. The world the author created is SO fascinating and immersive. It gave some Shadowhunters vibes which I loved. Having it set in an alternate Rome was awesome and the descriptions were beautiful and captivating. There are some slower parts to the plot, but the ending is super intense and leaves you desperate for the sequel.

Selene was such a great mc. She’s so badass and awesome. I loved her confidence and boldness. Jules was so funny and swoony. They’re such a cute couple and I really enjoyed their romance. The fake engagement was so fun!! I loved the friends too. Caterina and Lucia were so amusing, and I wish we saw more of them—hopefully in the sequel.

Overall, if you love fantasies about demons and swoony romances, I’d definitely recommend checking this one out!

Thank you to Penguin Teen CA and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for an ARC of this fabulous book! What a gorgeously written story! Sophie Clark’s debut is going to skyrocket to the top. Her writing creates a vivid picture of the world she is creating. It was an absolute page turner that kept me on the edge and it was so hard to put down. I am excited for book 2!

Cruel is the light is full of political and religious conspiracies set in a fantasy setting with elements of romance. The obvious here is that the cover art is beautiful and it draws you in.

I enjoyed the world banter between the characters and the MMC finding his back story.

Although the world building was good, it felt underdeveloped for me but that's not to say that the story wasn't enjoyable.

There are demons, demon hunters, exorcists, nuns with guns, a deathless God, magic wards, and it was political.

There are also some dark elements to the story evident in the way you obtain magic in the magic system.

This is a YA but the is a bit of spice so just be mindful of the age.

It was enjoyable and I would recommend this story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the eArc!

Thank you Netgalley, Random House Children’s & Knopf Books for Young Readers for gifting me with an eARC, all thoughts expressed are my own.

As one of my most anticipated YA Fantasy novels this year, I was so excited to receive an ARC. I am always fascinated by stories that explore religion, especially those involving demons and some sort of force that battles them (see: my Shadowhunters obsession).

Cruel is the Light follows Selene (an elite exorcist) and Jules (a foot soldier) as they fight in the demon wars. The Vatican, in Rome, is where the exorcists are trained and where they defend the “Deathless God”. However the first part of the book finds the main characters in other parts of the world, as events occur that bring them back to Rome.

The first half of the book is quite heavy on world building and setting the mystery surrounding the main characters. It did take me a bit to fully grasp what was happening; but the breakdown at the beginning was extremely helpful.

The story really picks up around halfway through. With an evolving mystery, revealing of clues, building romance, and the location changing to a more central location.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and felt that it was a complete story in one book. So I am extremely interested to see where the next book takes the story!

4.5 ⭐️ Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever read a romantasy with this setting in Vatican City, Rome which added such a unique element to it. The world-building did take a bit of brain power to follow along and understand their world as does any fantasy.. but once we hit that 25% mark I was IN IT. 👏  Everytime I had to put this book down and go back to real life I was mad. I wanted nothing more than to BINGE this because it’s so bingeable.

Let’s talk romance 🤭 This reads as a NA romantasy, it’s a slow burn filled with so much tension and just the best banter. I was kicking my feet and giggling. Our FMC is a baddie, she’s one of the most feared demon hunters because she’s the very best and deadly. SLAY 👏 Our MMC is a common foot soldier with such an intriguing mystery behind him. This man will steal your heart away with the way he talks and his actions. OMG

Tropes✨
🗡 Fake Engagement
🗡 Knife to throat
🗡 One Bed
🗡  Sparring Scene

I love a good fast paced romantasy, so Cruel is the Light was right up my alley. I loved the world building, there's a lot of action, tension and intrigue. At times I had trouble following what was going on, but I still enjoyed it a lot. The romance was really good, and the side characters made the story so much better. I'm looking forward to the sequel!

The world is gritty and mysterious. it hooked me from the first few pages! I also was intrigued because it was a debut novel. I loved the concept and the characters dearly. The world building and lore did need more but the foundation was interesting and left me wanting to learn more. Jules and Selena's push-and-pull banter had me kicking my feet the entire time. The action was imitated and gripping.

Really interesting. This one pulled me in from the start. Lots of action. Can't wait to read more!

Thanks netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Vatican is waging war on demons, but when a series of extreme demon attacks pop up, it's up to Selene Alleva and Jules Lacroix to figure out what's happening. Selene is a powerful exorcist, and Jules is a front-line grunt with an unnerving ability to always survive and know the perfect strike to kill. Even more mysterious than the attacks is Jules' unknown background, but that background might just be the key to everything.

The author clearly put a lot of effort into world-building, and the writing was good. The characters were likable, and the plot was interesting. A lot of what happened was fairly predictable, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless. I had a hard time getting through this novel, but it's easy to see why someone would enjoy this book.

"In the beginning, there were two worlds. Ours and theirs.

I think that the aesthetics and the power structure of this book were particularly interesting. It felt somewhat dynamic and refreshing in comparison to other systems. The glossary at the beginning of the novel felt unnecessary though since the book did an adequate enough job of explaining all of that information organically.

"Unusual was never good when it came to demons. Unusual meant something had changed. And death was sure to follow."

The lore of this world is interesting but pretty murky. The world is our world and history but branched. The problem is there is no key defining branch point. So cities, cultures, buildings, and technologies that have been created through our subset of historical events also have occurred in this alternate reality with very different cultures, rules, and restrictions.

There's also inconsistencies that are confusing. Like Selene being "Roman" but also speaking Italian. Which only evolved as a regional dialect after the fall of the Roman Empire. And obviously, people from Rome are called Romans. But she regularly speaks Latin. So, even if it's not an inconsistency, it feels so poorly expressed that it creates a mental inconsistency. In the later portion of the book, Selene says she doesn't know enough Latin. But earlier she made a VERY specific prayer with words I hardly imagined she learned in school for Latin.

The deaths of the side characters, in the beginning, felt brutal and really set the scene and tone of the novel. It created stakes and consequences. With the exception of the "death" of Kian, the character whose death I mourned the most, and who didn't die for no reason at all. That didn't really persist throughout, but it was a cool setup.

I'm not normally a fan of dual pov, but I think it worked in this case because of the mystery elements and both of the protagonists were keeping secrets from one another.

While I found the main characters, Selene and Jules, to be mostly likable. Jules' backstory was incredibly predictable. But, I did respect and appreciate the scars he chose to bear as being a part of his story.

I think the romance progressed too much considering there is going to be a sequel book. The depth of affection felt disproportionate to the dynamics at play between the two. This would be a bit more forgivable if this was a standalone and the only opportunity to develop a romantic relationship between the pair. But, alas. I do like their banter, it didn't feel cringey surprisingly enough.

It felt like most of the plot elements were either too obviously alluded to or did not break from the traditional formula. I knew nearly everything in the mystery of the plot before it happened. The Cesare (spelled that way specifically) archetype really was fulfilled in every conceivable way, wasn't it.

Unrelated, but the fight sequences were written a little sloppily.

"It would make it easier if they all looked like monsters, wouldn't it?"

I feel like this book had the potential to cover some really interesting ground in morality. But, the very obvious heroes and villains created a void in which that discussion could exist. It's a particular shame because the villains had opposite goals from what was told at the beginning of the book. And the main villain's, Cesare's, goal was accomplished in the end.

It all ends with patricide.

In all seriousness, I think the ending of the book felt a little odd. Like the bait for a sequel was unnecessary considering the events that transpired. In theory, the world could be revisited, but the story was pretty conclusive.

p.s. Crucifixion being discussed as not being an act of cruelty since it was a perfected art is the most clear-cut case of delusion.