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sashapasha's review
5.0
Loved the ending. This is the sort of bittersweet, yet uplifting, story that stays with you for days afterwards. It was also impressively creepy and shockingly gory. Truly a gem. ;)
Reading soundtrack:
-Overture -- The Hateful Eight Soundtrack by Ennio Morricone (Most scenes in the house)
-Casadh an Tsúgáin / Frankie's Song -- Brooklyn Soundtrack by Iarla Ó Lionáird (Singing/dancing scenes)
-Time For Bed -- Anna Karenina Soundtrack by Dario Marianelli (The occasional quiet scene)
-The Rest of My Life -- The Amazing Spider-man 2 Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and The Magnificent Six (Ending scenes)
Reading soundtrack:
-Overture -- The Hateful Eight Soundtrack by Ennio Morricone (Most scenes in the house)
-Casadh an Tsúgáin / Frankie's Song -- Brooklyn Soundtrack by Iarla Ó Lionáird (Singing/dancing scenes)
-Time For Bed -- Anna Karenina Soundtrack by Dario Marianelli (The occasional quiet scene)
-The Rest of My Life -- The Amazing Spider-man 2 Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and The Magnificent Six (Ending scenes)
cupcakeable's review
4.0
In her About the Author section, K.M. Rice divulges that Darkling was inspired by a dream. I found this to be both the novel's strength and weakness. On the one hand, it is incredibly imaginative and ranges widely from the grotesque to the romantic. On the other, the setting at times feels vague--not so much the main character's immediate surroundings but more so the World itself. I think I would have preferred it to start in a way akin to the Hunger Games, wherein you are given an immediate illustration of the world in which Katniss lives before she is whisked off to the games. It seems important to establish the foundation before building the (literal and figurative) house. But this was really my only complaint.
Willow is a strong female character--her immediate sacrifice of her freedom and safety makes her both likable and sympathetic. Tristan won me over with his kindness, sense of mystery, and good looks (as described). But the character I found most intriguing was definitely Victoria. So often, I have read a passionate love story that is either one-sided, or both people are equally madly in love with one another. But in this case, a man happens to be in love with a woman who is bat-shit crazy, at least for awhile. Her behavior absolutely fascinated me and the gothic nature her part of the story added made the book all the more delightful. I was amazed at how the novel could go from terrifying or viscerally disgusting one minute to grievous or sexy the next.
Darkling is a story of love (both romantic and familial), obsession, grief, sacrifice, and forgiveness, feeling at once fantastical and historical. How Rice fit so many themes into such a short book is beyond me, but I will certainly be anxiously awaiting her next project.
Willow is a strong female character--her immediate sacrifice of her freedom and safety makes her both likable and sympathetic. Tristan won me over with his kindness, sense of mystery, and good looks (as described). But the character I found most intriguing was definitely Victoria. So often, I have read a passionate love story that is either one-sided, or both people are equally madly in love with one another. But in this case, a man happens to be in love with a woman who is bat-shit crazy, at least for awhile. Her behavior absolutely fascinated me and the gothic nature her part of the story added made the book all the more delightful. I was amazed at how the novel could go from terrifying or viscerally disgusting one minute to grievous or sexy the next.
Darkling is a story of love (both romantic and familial), obsession, grief, sacrifice, and forgiveness, feeling at once fantastical and historical. How Rice fit so many themes into such a short book is beyond me, but I will certainly be anxiously awaiting her next project.
ihlonial's review
2.0
this just felt like a wattpad of a story that rewarded me with only a small amount of entertainment.
reflectiverambling_nalana's review
4.0
Don't be fooled by the somewhat misleading synopsis in context of age category summary, Darkling is not your typical YA paranormal romance as we've come to suspect. Which, I'm ashamed to say, might be part of the reason I put off reading this until quite some time after I purchased it. Much to my delight this was a deeply dark, haunting, tale with characters who just happened to be in the YA range and questions of the heart come into play. Except one of the things that "Darkling" excels at is how many forms of love are at the very core of this story. It looks at love for another romantically, for your family, for a culture and community, as well and maybe most importantly for one's self. How does this love empower? How does it hinder? How does accepting your own scars, as well as those of others, shape the form of that feeling? And how does the role of compassion, forgiveness, fold into the equation?
WHile, yes, there are some traits that feel at place within the "YA" audience label that feel like they fit in what has become less of a parameter in book circles and practically its own category, one thing that this story does remarkably well is address the embodiment and manifestation of our traumas, explores the complex nature of the spirit, and also raises though never sidesteps (to the benefit of the story) some really profound questions about spirituality.
Dark, delightful, and endearing.
Sidenote: Audiobook has the massive bonus of including the most beautiful song in its intended forms.
WHile, yes, there are some traits that feel at place within the "YA" audience label that feel like they fit in what has become less of a parameter in book circles and practically its own category, one thing that this story does remarkably well is address the embodiment and manifestation of our traumas, explores the complex nature of the spirit, and also raises though never sidesteps (to the benefit of the story) some really profound questions about spirituality.
Dark, delightful, and endearing.
Sidenote: Audiobook has the massive bonus of including the most beautiful song in its intended forms.
kblincoln's review
4.0
3.5 stars, actually for me and my personal tastes
This is kind of a beauty and the beast retelling where a girl goes to sacrifice herself to a mysterious "dark creature" in a mansion (overgrown with roses) near her village and ends up having a strong emotional relationship with the creature instead.
Willow has a falconer best friend, a mysteriously absent adored older sister, and as the book starts, a mother who is dressing her for a "sacrifice." Willow lives in a village in the woods that has no sun...thus plants and herds are dying.
They think a mysterious forest creature is the cause of this, and have tried sacrificing animals, but now have upped the ante to humans. (And here begins the fuzziness that lead me to 3.5 stars despite the strong, compelling voice of Willow, our plucky narrator. The village is sacrificing her? Her parents go along with this after the mysterious loss of their other daughter? If the animals didn't work, why humans? If the mansion is so close, why haven't the hunters checked it out before?)
The dark creature turns out to be a tormented soul, and of course Willow must save him.
There's more fuzziness in the exact nature of what the darkling is, and how he controls his appearance, and how he is supposed to fight off the thing tormenting him. There's alot of creepiness in the way Willow goes around the house in constant danger, and most of the book is Willow and the darkling finding out about each other's histories.
But the biggest fuzziness for me was the darkling. He was very.....unsolid for me as a character. He kind of just reacted to Willow's demands and the tormentor's demands and had little say for himself other than explaining his backstory. And so for me the emotional connection between Willow and the darkling fell flat. I like beta heroes, but he was super-beta.
So not to my taste.
This is kind of a beauty and the beast retelling where a girl goes to sacrifice herself to a mysterious "dark creature" in a mansion (overgrown with roses) near her village and ends up having a strong emotional relationship with the creature instead.
Willow has a falconer best friend, a mysteriously absent adored older sister, and as the book starts, a mother who is dressing her for a "sacrifice." Willow lives in a village in the woods that has no sun...thus plants and herds are dying.
They think a mysterious forest creature is the cause of this, and have tried sacrificing animals, but now have upped the ante to humans. (And here begins the fuzziness that lead me to 3.5 stars despite the strong, compelling voice of Willow, our plucky narrator. The village is sacrificing her? Her parents go along with this after the mysterious loss of their other daughter? If the animals didn't work, why humans? If the mansion is so close, why haven't the hunters checked it out before?)
The dark creature turns out to be a tormented soul, and of course Willow must save him.
There's more fuzziness in the exact nature of what the darkling is, and how he controls his appearance, and how he is supposed to fight off the thing tormenting him. There's alot of creepiness in the way Willow goes around the house in constant danger, and most of the book is Willow and the darkling finding out about each other's histories.
But the biggest fuzziness for me was the darkling. He was very.....unsolid for me as a character. He kind of just reacted to Willow's demands and the tormentor's demands and had little say for himself other than explaining his backstory. And so for me the emotional connection between Willow and the darkling fell flat. I like beta heroes, but he was super-beta.
So not to my taste.
phoebebrooke's review
3.0
2.5 stars.
The beginning and the writing in this book was so lovely and promising, but I’m sorry, the romance in this book made me nauseous. Completely unrealistic insta love. There’s no way someone would choose someone they only just met over someone they’ve known and loved their whole lives. That really ruined it for me. Still, the imagery was so great!
The beginning and the writing in this book was so lovely and promising, but I’m sorry, the romance in this book made me nauseous. Completely unrealistic insta love. There’s no way someone would choose someone they only just met over someone they’ve known and loved their whole lives. That really ruined it for me. Still, the imagery was so great!
erica32paulk's review
2.0
Oh boy this book started out so well. The Audiobook was amazing especially the song. But after a few chapters in the story took a big nosedive. Just with the answer to one question "Who is doing all this?" as soon as I found out I immediately became uninterested. I had 2 hours left and almost quit until I saw comments about the big twist. I never found the twist it was all pretty predictable and they mentioned one person near the end who was the cause and I was like.........who? So it was not set up very well for any kind of twist to occur. About the only thing I enjoyed about the book was the narrator and the spookiness of it all but overall a very predictable story and not well structured.
pyrm's review
2.0
Okay, this was more a horror story and a way too rushed love story, I would almost call it instant love story, which for me did not work out. I found myself skipping half of the book, which is for me a terrible sign, but still, I kept reading it, hoping it would become so much better, but it didn’t....
I didn’t care about ANY of the characters at all.
And the love story, oh my god, so out of the place, so weird, I did not got it at all...
Sadly this book wasn’t for me, even though it had some big promises.
I didn’t care about ANY of the characters at all.
And the love story, oh my god, so out of the place, so weird, I did not got it at all...
Sadly this book wasn’t for me, even though it had some big promises.
rtd's review
adventurous
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0