Two broken kings, one bleeding heroine, and a prophecy that finally bares its teeth 🩸🔥
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (3/5)
Spice-meter: 🌶️🌶️🌶️☆☆☆ (3/5)
Audiobook: 🎧 Duet-style
Series: A Choice of Light and Dark, Book 3
HEA: No, cliffhanger ending
Dark is where this series stops pretending it’s just moody romantasy and finally commits to being emotionally brutal. Trauma, obsession, political tension, and power collide in a way that feels heavier, sharper, and far more volatile than the previous books. This is also the point where you can clearly feel the author leveling up. The writing is tighter, the emotional arcs cut deeper, and the moral grayness is no longer a vibe. It is the backbone of the story.
Where Light questioned devotion, Dark rips the illusion apart. Love becomes possession. Protection turns into control. And Izidora’s trauma is no longer something happening to her in the background. It drives the story, fractures relationships, and forces every character to show their worst instincts.
The Story
Izidora stands between two realms, two mates, and two versions of the future, all while her mental health unravels under the weight of prophecy and expectation. Healing is no longer a soft, hopeful arc. It is messy, uncomfortable, and painfully slow. The choice she thought would bring clarity only pushes her deeper into emotional freefall.
Ruslan, now king of the Iron Realm, fights to balance ruthless power with the damage he has already done to the woman he loves. His restraint is fragile. His control is thinner. And his mistakes are finally catching up with him.
Kazimir, fueled by obsession and wounded pride, arrives ready to reclaim what he still considers his. His devotion crosses the line into entitlement, and the tension between the realms escalates toward open conflict.
This is no longer a love triangle.
It is a battlefield.
What I Loved
✔️ Strong character development across multiple POVs
✔️ The darker, more mature emotional tone
✔️ Feminine rage handled with raw intensity
✔️ Escalating political tension that actually feels dangerous
✔️ The sense that the world is finally unraveling in meaningful ways
🎧 Narration
Narrated by Daphne Fields and Gideon Frost, both deliver confident, immersive performances. Their voices support the emotional volatility of the story well, giving weight to Izidora’s inner turmoil and the increasingly fractured mental states of both men.
Tropes & Vibes
✔️ Fated Mates
✔️ Morally Gray Characters
✔️ Revenge Arcs
✔️ Touch-Her-and-Die
✔️ Feminine Rage
✔️ Prophecy
✔️ Political Intrigue
✔️ Cliffhanger Ending
Final Thoughts
Dark is emotionally punishing in the best and worst ways. It deepens every theme the series has been building toward and finally lets the characters bleed for their choices. The writing is stronger, the stakes are higher, and the moral lines are almost completely erased.
And that ending?
Devastating. Infuriating. Brilliant.