The Demon of Darkling Reach

The Black Prince Trilogy #1

by P.J. Fox

Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Earl of Enzie, has made a devil's bargain: he's going to sell Rowena, Isla's beautiful and innocent younger sister, to a known murderer in exchange for forgiveness of his debts. Tristan Mountbatten, the infamous Duke of Darkling Reach, has a habit of marrying such women and then disposing of them...horribly. For this and other reasons, there are rumors. That he practices the dark arts; that he's a necromancer; that he is, in fact a demon. And studying him, this notorious politician and realm builder across the table, Isla can believe it. Believe it all. Because she knows, even from that first introduction, that Tristan Mountbatten isn't human. No one else seems to have noticed the obvious, but Isla has...and is terrified. For herself, but more so for the sister she loves. The sister who's been more of a daughter, the sister for whom she'd sacrifice anything. So Isla makes a devil's bargain of her own.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Historical, Paranormal, Dark, Historical Romance, Demons

424 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2014

About the author

P.J. Fox published her first story when she was ten. Between then and the present moment, she detoured to, in no particular order, earn several degrees (including a law degree), bore everyone she knew with lectures about medieval history, get married, and start a family. She realized, ultimately, that she had to make a go of this writing thing because nothing else would ever make her happy.

Reviews

[Mermarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, now, this book really sent feminism back to the Dark Ages...perhaps not in how you'd assume, either. Spoilers are so engrossed into this review; you may want to skip it. I likely won't be reading the sequel, in fact, the idea of a novel cutting off in the middle of nowhere, even without a cliffhanger, just irks the fuck out of me.


I'm at liberty to say that at first, found this book to be semi-delightful, but no - it's definitely not written with a Dark Ages heroine mentality. The Demon of Darkling Reach, in essence, is the longest, modern feminist rager I've heard tale of. Authors nowadays have this tendency of writing from their own perspective, than the era in which they choose to write-in. All of the fine tuning, Medieval, era appropriate touches were in place; the writing technically accurate, but the heroine, Isla, was in a modern crux. She was more modern than any other Historical Fiction or Historical Romance heroine I've encountered; in all of my life. All of the pretty extensive collection of some odd 700-800 books. Most of my reads have been Historical Fiction. Even compared to Medieval timelines, Victorian, WWII women working and single parenting; the 1960 gothic heroines running from houses, women fleeing the French Reign of Terror; even Viking women in their swords blazing and masculine mindset, were not as pretentiously feministic as this heroine. I agree that their dialogue and thought process in spatterings, could have likely been relative to modern times, however, it felt seemingly as if the heroine had been a modern day woman transported into the Dark Ages. EVERY woman pretty much the very definition of Medieval chattel, except for the heroine. At best, the heroine was bipolar, one moment enraptured by someone to take care of her, to be rescued, then the next seeking independence. She never quite had a real, solid opinion about anyone; all of her relationships were shaken and fragmented, and the one person she should have truly defied--she loved. She excused the hero’s savagery against women, who did little but threaten Isla's security; which had a tendency of yo-yoing from scene to scene, when it was convenient. I wouldn’t have pointed out that tidbit, but I felt the tenor was so modern, it irked me. A modern mindset + abusing women = no, in my book. The only true crime for the hero's victim was that she was loose with her favors. That's all. For a feminist injected into the Dark Ages; that was pretty much slut-shaming, IMHO. Furthermore, Isla's complaints pertaining to women being little more than walking vaginas for men's interests sort of backfires because she condemned a female victim's life for expressing herself in the manner that Isla would perceive as independent. Isla absently chalked it off as the hero being at the top of the food chain. She held no remorse for the woman who died, eaten alive, in-front of her, staring into her eyes as she died. Also, the anti-religious crusade in this novel is apparent and I felt it WAS justified because the clergy were rat-bastages who deserved whatever befell them. They were a terrible lot. But the promiscuous maid who mainly sought a roll and tumble with Isla's beau; her life was to be done away with, like the clergy, out of sheer jealousy? It's hard to preach Dark Age feminism when you watch milkmaids die & laugh because your boyfriend ate them, relieving you of that worry that he’d bed her. It sort of validates that Isla, too, considered women to be worth no more than sexual activities, if the woman’s biggest crime was having random sex. Isla believed a woman’s virginity was viewed as the price-tag value of a woman. Apparently the maid’s sexual exploits somehow degraded that worth, then? It’s difficult to create an already ‘independent’ minded heroine, who is gradually just devolving, instead of learning and growing as the story progresses. Essentially, a man is the heroine’s only means of leaving that terrible terrible, backwater life. A man. Feminism isn’t working out too well for her, is it?

Isla's hate for nearly everything; literally everything, filled her inner monologue moreso than anything else. Have a voice--have the wit to comprehend wrongs of the church and Dark Age mindsets, but it eventually grated my nerves. Choose and pick your battles, honey. You cannot crusade EVERYTHING.

I’ve made a quick list of modern implementation, inconsistencies and contradictions that were carried on far too long, when it could have been a slow budding thought in the heroine’s mind:

- Hatred of the church (understandable, but a long crusade)
- HATE - too numerous to count. It was a grocery list of heroine's dislikes.
- Heroine preaching about the importance of contraceptives
- Everything was backwards thinking to the heroine
- Constant boredom with everything/everyone; even so far as describing and addressing said boredom. Really? She was reckoned for a workhorse on the manor. When do you have time to be bored?

- The inability to accept the hero had duties and business elsewhere, the heroine doubted, I mean, PAGES upon PAGES of doubt, every time the hero was out of her eyesight. Where is this strong woman mouthpiece? She couldn’t function without the man who had called her beautiful. The one person who had ever. This is apologism of toxic relationships. Let’s see how long this little fantasy world would last, if the heroine actually stood up to the hero. My best bet is that he’d make her into his next meal.

- Fuck this, and fuck that inner monologue.
- Lots of cock sucking & ripping off references.
- Secondary heroine considers heroine a whore for dallying with the hero, but it's glossed over as "OK" because they're betrothed. Isn't that ironic that her marriageable status clears her of sexual activity, but the maid was slut-shamed for wanting to fuck the hero? It's totes church idealism, methinks?



-The endless underlinings, undercores and mocking tone that carried over: Hey, I'll bet you didn't know women did thissssss...and were recognized as thissssss waaaaay back thennn. SO UNRECOGNIZED. SO UNDER-APPRECIATED. They were, but write me a story about the circumstance; this wasn't supposed to be cue cards or fun-facts or sneering statistics on women's influence & role in the Dark Ages.

This book wasn’t a Dark Ages book, to me; no matter how many dyeing tannery lessons and superstitions that were commonplace. It truly felt as though it was a modern mind looking back INTO the Dark Ages, dispelling and pointing out the wrongs, faults and injustices, instead of the women who had to endure and experience them firsthand. Were women’s hardships through the course of history ungodly and a fucking crisis? YES. YES. YES. But frankly, I prefer a heroine who makes the best of bad situations. Roll with the punches and learned her lessons as the book progressed. A woman who eventually stood up for herself in a mad world of religious crazies, bestial men and treated like vessels for pleasure & breeding. This book badly needed a heroine from its own time to champion their causes. Not someone rewriting history. Sadly, I felt it was a history lesson & Powerpoint Project at a Code Pink pow-wow.

It was a slow forming opinion, but as I said in a status update:
I think the narrator demonized everyone; the heroine’s family and friends, to normalize and humanize the hero and his dark affinity. Sure, her family treated her like an unwanted burden and allowed the church to harm her at their own leisure, but other evil is to be tolerated and laughed off, because that evil is protecting you—under the guise of care? When it was all admitted that love/care is purely obsession and jealousy and that “you’re mine,” in the hero’s own words. It seems the heroine and hero are definitely made for one another, if that’s the case.

One star for the tolerable descriptions in the beginning and the witch in the woods who told the heroine to fucking lie in the bed she made. Matter-of-factly and without a bit of sympathy, which, of course--gave the heroine the idea that she was no longer her friend. I got this feeling that the heroine could dish out all of this negativity, but if someone dare(even a friend) point out her own faults or responsibility, she couldn't tolerate it. That's not a strong character, in my book. :)

[R ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This book is a masterpiece, everything about it was amazing and I can't believe I survived this long without reading it. The characters were simply magnificent and the writing style was BEAUTIFUL. I loved it. I loved every single second of it and this has become one of my favourites for 2020.

This book was simply SO good.

It is literally everything I could ever ask for in a novel. There was intrigue, suspense, lyrical writing, a slow-burn romance, a thought out villain and so much more.

It might not be everyone’s type of novel. I, personally, love descriptions, and this author definitely delivered. The writing was simply out of this world. I don’t even like 3rd person pov because I feel like at times it takes away from the story but this was PERFECTION.

I loved the suspense, I wanted to know what was going to happen, and ended up staying up till 4 in the morning because this book was so intriguing and I just NEEDED TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS. Recently, I’ve actually been going to bed at a decent time, I’ve decided to part with my novels at 12 because I want actual sleep. But this book did not allow me to stop reading. I was so captivated and indulged in the story I would’ve stayed up another 10 hours if it meant I’d finish the novel.

The only reason why I didn’t give this a full 5 stars was because I didn’t like Isla’s attitude and reasoning towards the end. She was just so consumed in the concept of love and such and it felt like she was weakening as a character. I loved her throughout the whole novel, she was level-headed and didn’t care what the men around her thought of her. She sacrificed everything in the name of love and cared for others even though some did not return the feeling. She spoke her mind and was independent, and I just loved her character. I wish she stayed like this, but her personality slightly went down a slippery slope. Still, I definitely reccomend adding this gem to your TBR since it's AMAZING.

instagram | goodreads

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars for this book that doesn't know if it's horror, romance, or a medieval history textbook. A very dry, overdone medieval history textbook.

I literally had to skip pages and pages of history on medieval medicine, technology, hygiene, and the foundations of the beliefs in white and black magic. I tried to read all the info-dumps. I really did. But when it went on for pages and pages and pages (Cariad's soliloquy on magic was my breaking point), I just started skimming til I got back to the actual story. We get it - these people were dirty and ignorant and dropped like flies. Can we move on now?

The actual plot part was slow as well - I'm beginning to suspect that this series should've been just one book, omitting the sonorous history lessons and focusing on the narrative that the reader can actually get in to. Unfortunately, there are at least two if not three more books, and I suspect that finding out what I want to know (which is what, exactly, Tristan Mountbatten is, what his plans are for Isla, and when [if ever] she actually grows a spine and stops whining about how ugly she is) is going to take the rest of the series instead of being included in the first book, which is what I expected.

This isn't really a cliffhanger, because at least a cliffhanger suggests an ending, a cutting off point between plot lines. But no. This book simply ends. Right in the middle. Like it's a serial or something. But no serial ever written (to my knowledge) had 400+ pages in each section! 250 of which were completely immaterial and unbelievably boring. 250 pages of historical drivel - which I usually like, but not like this - repeating itself over and over.



TL;DR: I'm going to try to get through the second book, but only because I want to know more about Tristan. Please, God, no more repetitive history lessons about tanning or sewage.

[⋆☆☽ Kriss ☾☆⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Demon of Darkling Reach is a dark book done RIGHT.

Unlike pretenders in this category, that clumsily plow ahead with any evil or macabre subject they can latch onto, thinking that making readers feel disgusted or shocked is the appeal of a dark read, this book elegantly shifts between various shades of grey and appeals to the natural darkness everyone has in them.

It constantly poses questions that, while easy enough to understand, are vastly philosophical and tackle issues like the nature of morality and accepting the flaws and darkness within one’s self and others.

The characters were well fleshed out. I loved Isla! She’s someone I related to; her turmoil and complexity felt very human. She wasn’t made to be wholly good, she isn't a picture of perfection despite her empathetic nature, but in the end, I can't scorn her choices after being immersed in her thoughts and life.

Unlike a lot of heroines that refuse to allow themselves to feel hatred or anger or to have opinions against the social norm, Isla is a freer character that allows herself to feel all her emotions and they come across as valid and justified. Her family takes her for granted and mistreats her and she’s spent her whole life alone, feeling unwanted and misunderstood, so when she finally finds someone who really sees her, speaks to her, understands her, wants her, whom is kindred with her on a deeper level than any person she’s ever met, it’s no wonder she can find it in her heart to accept his nature and the things that we’d see as flaws—and they are pretty intense, what with him being a demon—and throw herself into loving him.

In my opinion, Isla is one of the best heroines I’ve ever found in a book. Her flaws and complexity and feelings are so real, so humane, so unafraid to simply be. I love her.

Tristan was pretty well fleshed out, too; the author kept us guessing about his real nature for a lot of the book, we never quite knew exactly what he, as a demon, thought or felt or wanted, so we are put in the same boat as Isla, who grapples with uncertainty and doubt regarding him. He also comes across as different, not just a human with some eccentricities. The way he behaves... it’s not quite human, but also not so inhuman that we can’t understand the concepts of what he wants and how he acts.

Although even with the love interest being a demon, one doesn’t get a sense that Tristan is abusive; in the social constructs of the story, which I gather are a mixture of a fantasy world and a medieval-like setting, a lot of his domineering behavior isn’t unusual or necessarily out of place. He isn’t always sweet and kind, but he never beats Isla or forces himself on her or emotionally batters her (she does have some turmoil, but it’s not so much from him cutting wounds into her psyche so much as it is just her experiencing new, scary feelings and needing to work her way through them), and in the end he reveals the horrific truth of his demon nature and gives her the chance to leave him if she cannot accept what he is. There is no element of force from him, as he realizes even if he did (which he could), it would not get him what he wants.

I commend the author for handling the idea of a “dark relationship” well, since we get that forbidden allure of a demon’s nature and a heroine who indulges feelings and thoughts that aren’t as socially acceptable without making it into something abusive and uncomfortable or gross and pushing the boundaries too far; even as you recognize the darker natures of the two characters, you also can’t help but support their relationship and how they are deeply connected over their shared loneliness and feelings of being unwanted and misunderstood.

Another thing I want to mention is that there is a sort of push and pull to the topic of gender equality. Like, Isla's politics aren't always perfectly progressive, nor is she what you'd expect of a medieval woman. I think the author wanted to sort of balance it out so she was progressive for the fantasy-medieval world she's in, but not so much that it strikes a reader as perfectly modern. The fluctuation makes sense, as Isla is sort of charting these opinions on her own and has moments where she dances between what she's come to think for herself and what she's been told by the world she's in; clearly she isn't around like-minded peers much.

I saw some other reviewers feel that Apple and Rowena being portrayed as they are was really unappealing, but I think that no one in the story is really without severe flaw; Apple and Rowena are awful like everyone else, them being women is inconsequential because the idea is more that Isla's whole family is so against her that a demon's affections are appealing. I found Rowena's brand of antagonist interesting and that it makes sense; Isla has always seen her sister through these rose colored glasses and has never been her direct enemy in anything, so Isla was never able to see her sister for who she really is--vapid, shallow, selfish, petty, jealous. I like how much Isla loves her and keeps trying, but eventually her patience runs thin and she realizes she was foolish for defending and caring for such a horrid creature.

As a forewarning, which, I suppose may come as a spoiler and may not, depends on how familiar you are with demon lore: Tristan eats people and in the story he eats one of the maids at Isla’s family’s estate. It’s what he has to do as a demon in order to continue living but yeah, he eats people now and then, blood and flesh and organs and all. I wouldn’t say it’s cannibalism since he’s a demon, though he is technically residing in the body of a human that is his host form, but if that concept bothers you then perhaps skip out. There’s also general vulgarity and some sexual situations, though I wouldn’t say they are very explicit or lengthy.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this book, while it doesn’t leave on a true cliffhanger or cut off abruptly like a serialization, we aren’t left with the most satisfying ending, more like a resolution of one arc with several others left to be explored later.

I think a lot of people have a problem with this because the book is 400+ pages long but doesn’t seem to accomplish much in terms of plot projection. Personally, I found this perfectly fine. I like slow burn stories that want to focus heavily on the characters and their feelings/thoughts/relationships/growth/etc. We are also given a lot of detail in this book; the author is a true writer of fantasy. World building is pretty great, lots of immersion based writing that wants you to feel like you’re in the world with the characters, and lots of explanations are given for the uniquely created elements, like the nature of magic, the world’s religion, etc. If you’re not one for heavier fantasies or dislike languid pages of details or slow burn, character focused stories, you might find this book boring or a drag. But if you can love the details and the richness of the story for its slow, tender approach to unfolding this beautifully dark tale, I must say that it is worth it.

Five stars in my book! And it’s going on the “eternal favorites” shelf. I’m going to begin reading the next 4 books (it’s supposed to be a trilogy but book 3 is cut into two large volumes so it’s basically four books as far as I’m concerned) soon and I hope they do even more to expand upon this fantasy world and the dark romantic aspect of Isla and Tristan’s relationship.

(Also, I was fortunate enough to get this book and the others in the series for free, so if the price tag of $4.99 is a little intimidating keep checking back for a price drop! If it was free for a limited time once, chances are it'll go on sale again in the near future!)

[Precious ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Normal is an illusion. Moral is an illusion. Whatever else happens, never lose sight of those two facts. What’s normal to the spider, is after all, chaos to the fly.”



So after reading this book, I very much felt this way. Because, this is certianly a different cup of dark coffee. Thank you Sweety for the rec!

Main things for inquiring readers:
-I have it listed as a historical but its lowkey medieval. (Which I mean is the same cateogory but still.)
-If I had to give it the romance a trope it would be slowburn.
- very detailed = lots of information.
-morally gray and conflicting.
-occult/witchcraft/(outdated) reglion heavily present.

Now, if you're still interested, let's talk.

This story is told from Isla's pov the entire time. Essentially, she's a modern girl in this v. unmodern world. She's the oldest but in a way considered the spare. She has a younger sister, Rowena, whom is the "typical" beauty of the time and she (Isla) mostly stays out of the way and takes care of the manor her family lives in because her dad's-to put it lightly- incompentent.
Said father has arranged for the Duke of Darkling Reach to marry the younger sister in order to help save them from destitution. Upon arriving, we find that he's terrifying, handsome, and indifferent. Cocerned for her sister (who states she's not on board with this betrothal) she offers herself in her stead & the story builds from there.

Things I liked:
Isla.

Seriously, I was so happy at the progression of self worth she had for herself throughout the story. She was always conscious of the stark differences and double standards between men and women esp. in her time. However, after Tristan comes onto the scene and seeing how everyone reacts/treats her when she isn't a basically a doormat, she starts to be more self-serving. I don't see her as selfish at all. It's literally her wanting her family to care for them as she's cared for them and if they can't then well, kick rocks. It's kind of like that whole "family is family" ideal when really, that sh*t is cancelled. Toxic is toxic and you let that go whenever it's not needed.
So having empathy for her father and sister was laughable and if anyone thinks Isla or myself should've..


Anywho, I also enjoyed that her love for Tristan is centered not only on attraction, but on actions and mutual understanding of each other. Which leads us to my next point..


Tristan:

Isla asked, “do you make a habit of marking all your prey?” She was only half joking.
..
“No,” he said, still smiling slightly. “Usually I simply eat them.”

So yes, I liked him/it. More so for the fact that he was upfront and striaghtforward with Isla the entire time. Did he keep somethings to himself? Sure. However, he eventually lays everything bare for her. He's sort of an anti-hero, beacuse to those under his care he's fair and unemotional. But he's the villian as well simply for what he is. So to say that it's a bit conflicting is an understatement.
Throughout the story I was pretty much waiting for the whiplash to take form in my neck because you really don't know what's about to happen. Since he's so honest, he's mercurial. But hey, I'm down for that.

This book also reminded me of Sharp Objects. Not really for the plot but the dark moody vibes, and lack of care about morality/ humanity we see. Sharp Objects being one of my all time favorites I was very much okay with it. Which also gave this story a newish spin on the “normal” paranormal we see, which is either sugaring it up, or the other being wanting to be a "good" person. Here we don't have that. It's v. much "It is what it is." & I think it's worth highlighting and commending.

Things that I was on the fence about:

The detail in this story was just phenomenal, however to me it was on that border of tedious sometimes. Fox holds no punches in describing v. accurately life back in the 1200-1300's. It's digusting. It's a world pre-plumbing and sanitiation, 🤢
It also felt a bit repetitive sometimes, like yes ma'am I know it's digusting please stop telling me about the decay in the air. Or "hold the shit, heavy on everything else. Kthnx"



But hey its a double edged sword, I'd rather have than not because I absolutely cannot say I couldn't picture everything.. I most certainly did. The same thing with the definitions and explanation of the dark arts. Me personally I'm okay with a bit of mystery unless it's nessecary for me to know, so I'm thinking (hoping) that it will come in handy later in the series because I feel like I've done an "Intro: into the Occult and other histories" course in reading this. But it just shows how well Fox researched and thought things through in this book.

Overall, it was that and a few other things I am not going to mention that drop it from five stars to four. Which still means I really liked it. If you haven't been turned off yet by what I've written it's on Kindle Unlimited and worth giving a shot.

-------------------------------------------------------
Inital reaction: Yo like how do I even...

RTC

I NEED to read the next book, now!

[Morgan Gene · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had so much potential. But, most of the story was boring internal ramblings of the h that added nothing to the story. The h came off as very immature and the H, who was supposedly evil, very tame.

[Celestine · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to Wikipedia: "EVIL, in a general context, is taken as the absence or complete opposite of that which is ascribed as being good. Often, evil is used to denote profound immorality. In certain religious contexts, evil has been described as a supernatural force." For 426 pages in P.J. Fox's The Demon of Darkling Reach, Isla Cavendish delves into the question of whether or not Tristan Mountbatten is evil. Fox describes this journey with such passion and agony and fluctuating Socratic method that I know these characters will stay with me for a long time.

Isla knows Tristan is tempting, manipulative, possessive, malevolent, frightening, insightful and handsome. But is he evil? It seems for every positive reflection on his character there is a counterbalance placed on the scale. For instance, Tristan is kind to his young page, but he probably killed the boy's father. The duke is protective of Isla, but executes that defense with barbarism. Chivalrous actions are played out with sly intent. At times Tristan acts with more compassion than Isla's family or even the visiting priest. There is the sense that the people of Enzie and Isla's family are pawns on Tristan's chessboard. Yet, he has clear desire to better their lot. The gray areas of violence in war and rebellion make ascribing pure evil to Tristan even more difficult. Can he even love? Is he a demon or a man?

Making it even more difficult for Isla to determine Tristan's true nature is that everything she has always trusted in her life is suddenly in question. Her beloved sister is strangely malcontent. Her father's indifferent affection is hostage to financial gain. Her place managing Enzie is usurped by chains of betrothal. This young girl is standing on the precipice of the rest of her life and she is frightened. And perhaps the scariest part of all is the knowledge that her life with Tristan may not be all that long-lived.

As in any discussion of evil, religion plays a part. Fox has crafted a fantasy religion loosely based on the early Roman Catholic Church, particularly as early church practices related to attitudes on women and heresy. Structured religion is characterized as filled with hypocrisy and ignorance. Any positive or loving doctrine is ignored, which I found odd for a book that seemed intent on balancing views of good and evil in nearly every other context.

The biggest negative about this book is that Fox gets too caught up in the minutiae of medieval life in the fantasy world she has created. There were paragraphs (and sometimes pages) detoured from the plot to describe such things as bow-making, why certain months have certain names, medieval table etiquette and the difference between a bard and a minstrel. You can skip entire pages in this novel and miss nothing related to the plot. Most annoying were the placement of these little wanderings, usually in the middle of a conversation. But even with all of this overwhelming but educational detail, I still forged ahead, needing to see what would be disclosed about Tristan next - and how Isla might react to that revelation.

The book ends without resolution, but is advertised as a trilogy, so it was expected. I will definitely pick up the next book to learn what happens with Isla and Tristan and whether evil takes over their lives or if redemption is on the horizon.

[ZARIA (Sheldon Cooper lover) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Earl of Enzie, has made a devil’s bargain: he’s going to sell Rowena, Isla’s beautiful and innocent younger sister, to a known murderer in exchange for forgiveness of his debts.
Rowena

Tristan Mountbatten, the infamous Duke of Darkling Reach

has a habit of marrying such women and then disposing of them…horribly. For this and other reasons, there are rumors. That he practices the dark arts; that he’s a necromancer; that he is, in fact a demon.

And studying him, this notorious politician and realm builder across the table, Isla can believe it. Believe it all. Because she knows, even from that first introduction, that Tristan Mountbatten isn’t human. No one else seems to have noticed the obvious, but Isla has…and is terrified. For herself, but more so for the sister she loves. The sister who’s been more of a daughter, the sister for whom she’d sacrifice anything.
Isla

So Isla makes a devil’s bargain of her own.



The writing is a little hard to get in to at first, too much detail on non important areas, it's like reading a history book about the typical and mundane happenings in a late middle ages court.... the plot is pretty good, but the execution leaves something to be desired. It's not a novel I would re-read or I feel will stay with me for any length of time. It was an okay, if very flawed, read to pass the time.

[Shasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story didn't romanticize the Dark Ages-the lack of hygiene, the hypocrisy of the church, the narrow gender roles-were all right there for the reader to smell.

The heroine had a wry humor that colored her descriptions that I found refreshing at first, then got tired of. She is a modern woman in a period in history that doesn't allow for her independence. But instead of fighting for happiness in her circumstances, she hates on everyone. And everyone has something for her to hate. This set her up for being 'rescued' by someone she fears, with good reason.

The hero has legitimate things for the heroine to hate him for, but of course, she falls for him. Her confusion about the hero brought this down a star for me.

The paranormal sides of this story are set up as the only 'reasonable' ideas and the heroine justifies the hero's horrible behavior because it is in her 'best interests'. It made me mad. The demon ends up being nicer to her than all other humans even though he eats them. He also has the virginal heroine give him oral-with gagging- while she gets kisses and mild groping. Her independent spirit dies and she turns into a doubting damsel that doesn't have friends so she is desperate to go off with the only person to call her beautiful--the demon.

Mature content
This book ends in an odd spot. Not quite a cliffhanger but close enough.

[AℳY♔Queen of Fat cats♔Ain't no lie Baby Byebyebye · Rating 5 out of 5]

♥♥Update♥♥
Sweety chan has never failed me with her recs. Dark, gory, anti hero....so so good.





♥♥♥
Sweety chan rec!!! She hasn't ever failed with her recs. She knows me well and knows I love villanous heroes and dark stuff!

*takes aim*
*throws to TBR*

[Willow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gawd, I hated this book. I know there are a zillion 5-star reviews out there, but let me just say I don’t agree with them.

The story starts at a special dinner hosted by Lord Peregrine Cavendish and his wife, Lady Apple Cavendish. And yes, that is their names. Peregrine is trying to betroth his youngest daughter, Rowena, to His Grace Tristan Mountbatten for some much-needed income. There’s a slight problem, though. The Duke is a demon who reportedly eats people and has murdered all his wives. Everybody seems to know this. However, only the plebs talk about it in secret. The nobility walk around like it doesn’t exist.

Of course, Isla notices he’s a demon right away. After all, he’s got red eyes and a clawed hand. I’m surprised he didn’t have horns growing out of his head. Now, Rowena doesn’t want to marry him. She’s in love with Rudolph, so Isla volunteers to take her place because she supposedly loves her sister.

I didn’t buy this for one second. Isla is a bitter woman who trash-talks everybody she comes into contact with. She thinks Rowena is stupid. She thinks Rudolph is stupid. She complains about Rowena’s pointless banter and the vacant look in her cornflower blue eyes. I’m sorry, but you just don’t talk about someone you love this way. Nobody you love has vacant eyes. So why does Isla decide to marry Bluebeard? I have no idea. She certainly isn’t Scheherazade.

Now Isla considers herself to be smarter than everyone else. That’s because she reads so many books. This is why she is not as popular as her younger, prettier, dumber sister. Isla is too educated and opinionated, which men don’t like. Even her childhood nurse used to say she was obstreperous, reading far too many books for her own good. Although, it’s pretty clear that the nurse was highly educated simply because she uses words like ‘obstreperous.’

The problem I have with this is that Isla never picks up a single book. You’d think she would be investigating her future husband, reading up on historical accounts trying to find out as much information as she can. She might even go out and try to dig up some books on demonology and things like that to find out how to kill him if she needs to. Nope, all Isla does is go talk to the local witch and ask her for help. The witch tells her she’s on her own. lol

Now I’m sure there are people out there who’ll say, 'But wait, this is the medieval period.' There probably weren’t even any books to look up. Actually, there were, but this does not matter. That’s because this book is all fantasy. The date and time are never listed. I tried to figure out the time period by clothing and inventions, but I couldn’t because she was jumping all over the place. She describes Rowena wearing a quilted, belted corset, which is something I’ve only seen at the Renaissance festival. She describes Rudolph wearing an exaggerated codpiece , which Isla makes fun of over and over, saying other men didn’t wear these. She goes into long descriptions about making cheese and tanning hides, but I still couldn’t pin down a time. Consequently, I felt like she was just pulling up random stuff to put in there.

There’s this wacked-out priest that does this long sermon about the evils of sex. He even goes so far as to say married couples should never have sex. It’s so ridiculous. Can you imagine a priest giving that sermon to Henry VIII. He certainly wouldn’t last long. No loss, though. He was a vile character.

In fact, almost all the characters in this story are vile. How can you make a demon seem like a good guy? Just populate your book with a bunch of two-dimensional bunholes.

Yes, I hated this book. It was so boring. Most of the time with a story like this, the main couple gets married, and the heroine gets shipped out to her new home by chapter 3. Not with this story. After 426 pages they still aren’t married yet. There are long, endless passages with Isla vacillating back and forth about how she feels about her upcoming nuptials. She’s worried about losing her position and not being respected. She’s worried that she and her sister are not getting along.

Do you know what I would be worried about? My husband possibly murdering me.

The ending has this gruesome scene where Tristan does something that is absolutely disgusting, and of course, Isla is fine with it. What a dumbass.

Anyway, I won’t be reading book 2.

[moulin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too many lessons on medieval tannery and inner dialogue.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I admit, the cover art drew me in. I was expecting something more like Sharon Kay Penman or Ken Follett. Although in hindsight, I'm not sure why. At first I was intrigued but several info dumps later I became worried. I would venture to say that a full third of this novel is jarring info dumps. I love historical fiction so the information she was providing wasn't unappreciated. I simply wished she would have 'shown' rather than 'told'. It's like Isla would suddenly leave her body to do some sort of third person narrative about the way things are for 3 pages. Isla can't merely take a sip of wine, she has to explain for a page and a half about exactly how the wine came to be and how it is inadequate. I could overlook the info dumping if it wasn't for all the anachronisms. We are supposed to believe that in this time period anyone was saying 'wow' or 'okay'. The heroine, Isla, was so modern in mentality that it was obnoxious. No woman of that era or station would dream of behaving in the ways that she or her sister Rowena behaved. It was unrealistic...to the extreme. The time period seemed to prove to be more of a background prop than a real immersive experience.

Now, there are spoilers ahead.

The actual story between Isla and Tristan was at least interesting. Especially when they were actually interacting and we didn't have to hear Isla's inner monologue. I am so done with the ugly duckling trope that I could barely stand the constant references to her apparent hideousness. Isla was clearly suffering from body dysmorphia.

Tristan: You're beautiful
Isla: I'm disgusting
Tristan: No really, you're hot
Isla: Fuck you! I'M UGLYYYYYYYYY *sobs*

She swings back and forth between hating him and barely being able to survive without him. The moment comes when they are 'intimate'....which is basically her giving him a bj. No reciprocation Tristan? No? Okay. Moving on.
For some reason Tristan thinks it's a good idea to show Isla what kind of a demon he is before they get married. So Isla just kind of stands there wide eyed while he pulls apart her terrified maid and fucking eats her intestines. I mean, intestines? Really? Filled with poop. Then they make out once he is done with his bloody feces infested dinner. Isla thinks the maid totally had it coming since she thought Tristan was hot. I don't care that Tristan kills and eats people, I love horror. I just found Isla's reaction extremely unrealistic. Perhaps she was just in shock. The book ends while they are STILL not married. I mean, they became engaged at the beginning of the book and I'm still waiting for that damn wedding.

Rowena and her father were so bizarrely cruel and wishy washy that it was hard to even take them seriously. At least Rowena was only 16. I find it hard to believe that Isla was initially prepared to die for her sister because she loved her SO much only to find out that Rowena had been a heartless bitch the whole time. Really? Anyways, this review is far too long. 2 stars because it wasn't completely horrible.

[gottalottie · Rating 1 out of 5]

it’s like Wikipedia articles were inserted randomly throughout the whole book, and there were so many long-winded internal monologues musing over the same points repeatedly, and how many times do people have to tell you you’re beautiful?! why so much dense feminist theory in medieval times, is that part of the fantasy aspect? book had 100 pages of content, I swear. I love a cold, dark hero and the writer seems smart enough but this needed a heavy editing hand.

[Cifa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was strong. Everything else...not so much.

I don’t think I have read characterization this confusing in a novel.

Isla is the heroine who can’t make up her goddamned mind. She claims her sister is a sweet thing, and then claims that she is malicious, and then sweet, and then malicious.

She has spent bloody paragraphs explains how her sister is kind, only to contradict it a chapter later, by stating that her sister’s actions plays into her “deceptive” nature. Then, a few chapters later, how her sister probably did not know of her own deception.

Our narrator, Isla, seems to do this with everyone.

She paints her sister’s betrothed as an awfully shy man who is humble and writes exquisite poetry. Yet, when we meet him he’s arrogant, boisterous, has some funny looking trousers to ‘enhance his manhood,’ and seems to be entirely self absorbed. What says our narrator to this?

That this was all a part of his nature!

Uhm.... what? Did you not paint him as some shy, sensible man rather than some cocky douche who tapes “cod” on his crotch to make it look bigger?

You may be thinking, oh this is just a case of “unreliable narrator.”

No, an unreliable narrator doesn’t directly describe an individual for pages, only to contradict every single one of their DIRECT statement. It’s like she believed her first characterization, but then changed her mind.


Which leads me to HOW MUCH ISLA CHANGES HER MIND. She started off as such a head strong heroine, and then dissolved into a puddle of the cliche “why does he like me? Oh keep telling me repeatedly why I am worthy of your love. Why me?!”

I mean would it kill a heroine to think, “Why NOT me?”

For a heroine who seems to RELIGIOUSLY chant that she doesn’t case what others think, she seems to vehemently analyze every detail of what people might be thinking.

Another case of the “oh I’m gonna analyze about all the things that hurt me, all those who judge me and all my perceived shortcomings that I’m insecure about. Oh, but I like totally don’t care of course!”

Oh, and one last part. Isla sees cannibalism occur and instead of truly reflecting on it or condemning it, she simply decided that everyone dies, and that she never liked the girl being cannibalises anyways. Because the girl would have stolen Isla’s man anyways.

What a toxic, disgusting mentality to have. How interesting how quick she was to rationalize something of that nature to fit her needs.


She is so infuriating. She likes nothing. She is wish-washy about her descriptions about everyone. She has no backbone and apparently no distinct personality of her own. Towards the end, she just morphs into an extension of Tristan, with no opinions, hobbies or understandings separate from his own.


This ended very differently than how it started.

[Talltree]

H eats humans
plus h sounds terrible

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Shawnnee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not often I give a book a five-star review, but this novel manages to be historical fantasy, literary character study, and a thrilling page-turner all in one volume. The premise drew me in, but it was the characters that kept me reading, particularly the protagonist and her unexpected lover, the titular Demon of Darkling Reach.

Isla Cavendish is a capable, intelligent young woman struggling to compensate for the incompetence of her father, the Earl of Enzie, a man who cares far more about drinking his money away than he does about keeping his manor and family legacy financially afloat. Set in a reimagined Middle Ages, Isla is a girl in a man's world, but she's also the only one sober and smart enough to care that Enzie Moor, her family's aging, backwater estate, is dangerously close to failing. In addition to overseeing the day to day operations of the estate, Isla has also been a surrogate mother for her younger sister Rowena, a girl whose beauty is eclipsed only by her self-absorption. But Isla loves her little sister, and when her father, in a rare bout of selfish clarity induced by his vanishing income, decides to marry her to a man known to be a murderer and a practitioner of the dark arts, Isla is forced to make a difficult, selfless decision.

Tristan Mountbatten is the demon of Darkling Reach: brother to the current king, powerful peer of the realm, and a man infamous throughout the kingdom for marrying and then killing off a slew of former wives. Thinking to spare her sister an awful fate and allow her to live a happy life and marry for love, Isla offers herself to Mountbatten instead of Rowena. As the older daughter, she's entitled to a larger dowry and she suspects this is primarily what Tristan is interested in--by marrying her, Tristan would become her father's overlord. To her surprise, Tristan accepts, and Isla finds herself promised to a man rumored to be something more than a man: a necromancer, a force of evil, and a demon.

Her engagement is not at all what she expected: aside from the growing horror about her soon to be husband's intentions toward her, she finds herself plunged into a world of courtly intrigue, murder, and soon learns frightening truths about not only her husband and his subjects, but her own family and the fate of the kingdom at large.

Even as she tries to adjust to these sudden changes, her relationship with Rowena changes in ways she couldn't have predicted, and as Tristan takes control of Enzie Moor, she learns that there's more to her "demon" than meets the eye.

What Isla and Tristan's characters have in common is the fact that they are both, in many ways, alone in a crowded room. Isla is a woman used to doing a man's job, responsible since childhood for her own well-being and the well-being of her parents and sister, and Tristan is a lord widely considered to be an evil man but who, Isla learns, in fact follows a peculiar moral code of his own. Compared to the morally bankrupt family Isla was born into, Tristan is indeed a new type of creature entirely. Despite all of her initial horror, she finds herself growing interested in him. The novel's plot follows their developing relationship, the uneasy set of affairs governing Enzie Moor and the realm, and uncovers secrets about the kingdom's future and Tristan's past.

The story is told suspensefully and well, and Fox writes it with an obviously informed eye: the medieval setting is vivid and authentic, while the supporting characters are nuanced, well-rounded, and memorable. If George R. R. Martin wrote dark fantasy with a touch of romance, it would look like this. The story of Isla and Tristan is intimate and focused, but in the background of their unlikely courtship, a larger tale concerning the entire realm is growing, and Tristan--along with Isla--is at the heart of it.

I can't wait for Book Two--this is the first of a trilogy, and it ends on a suspenseful note. The Demon of Darkling Reach, in the end, leaves you wanting more.

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever an author goes off and creates a dangerous dude who not only disembowels people but eats them too and then the heroine goes *shrug* ....


ER .... OKAY girly whatever floats your boat.

Don't get me wrong it started out pretty good and I think the author had some plans and stuff.


Isla was okay at first. She had the brains going, and even though her minds' eye saw painted her as an ugly troll I could live with her as a heroine. She did some thinking, she did some research, she showed some backbone ...

Tristan isn't that intriguing, all things considered. His smirky routine isn't new, and he was constantly offset by the bumbling pathetic people around him which made him look cooler than he had any business being.

The set up was going well. Tristan remained morally shady and aloof, and Isla tried hard to keep up and have a mind of her own and some thoughts in that brain.

Then, of course, everything derailed when EVERYONE in the story turned into extreme, massive dicks so disgusting that I guess the reader was supposed to be groomed towards thinking that disemboweling and devouring people is perfectly fine and everyone else just has hypocritical standards!

While Isla's father and sister turned to being more horrible dicks than even before, Isla becomes mushy towards Tristan. She's a lovesick pathetic shrimp who desperately wants away from her family and boring life and that's how all her reason went overboard.

They're like 15-year olds making out during break time, it's really embarrassing and uncharacteristic, I'd say, for both. Maybe the author just focussed to hard on her big, unsurprising reveal pf Tristan's maneating habits and therefore forgot about what made the characters interesting in the first place.

No one reads stuff like this for the story. This type of hardcore Beauty and the Beast has been done before, it's nothing new. So unless the characters are interesting enough and keep their personality, there's really no reason to keep reading. I kinda hope that Book 2 will be more genuine, but I don't believe it will.

[Mirabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful first part of this trilogy. I would have given all 5 stars if I hadn't had to skip some paragraphs or even full pages where the author got lost in the details of describing indeed historically interesting but for the story insignificant matters; like how they dyed fabrics back in the Middle Ages, or produced cheese, or about some other things that were not really relevant to the story. I found this rather boring than supporting, because it slowed down the reading flow. I didn't choose to read a history book about ancient customs, I would have loved to have the focus more on the romance, to read much more about the development of the couple's relationship. I think it was a genuine pity that some of those beautiful moments were disrupted by such irrelevant details. However, the subtle changing of the characters, their slow-growing bond with them coming to understand and accept each other like they are, it was beautifully written. I'm very looking forward to the second part, I'm especially hoping to get to know more about the demon's personality. A very intriguing hero! --------------- EDIT: after finishing the last book of this series I have to correct my former rating to 5 stars, because despite the things I didn't like, I loved about the first book that it focused on the couple and the development of their relationship. Book 3 and 4 were good, but the first two are my favorites of this series.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

"What’s normal to the spider, is after all, chaos to the fly.”

I'll be honest I skimmed the hell out of a lot of whiney wordy parts...which was a fair bit.
Also, the more I thought about this book, the more I realized that I don't root for any of the characters. Not that I mind that they are unlikable, but I just was hoping for at least one person to care about.

[Izzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huge huge spoiler alert!

The H, Tristan, sleeps with h, Rowena’s evil sister in the last book of this series. I think it’s important to know all triggers before investing your time in a series. I feel like I wasted my time with this series, as the last book ruined the whole series for me.

[Rgreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the top. Dark and disturbing. Compelling.

Now the negative. Too descriptive. Overshare infodump.


Cliffhanger.

[Mugdha · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was this???

This book is perfect example of info dumping, internal monologue.

Sure things happen but in middle of some scene there is unwanted information.

Why??

[Alex ✴︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Demon of Darkling Reach is not what I expected, and I'm completely okay with that. It is not really a romance. In fact, I would classify it more as a character study than anything. It was haunting, deep, and mysterious.

Isla is an independent, thoughtful 19 year old girl who is decidedly not the favorite of her father's, the Earl of Enzie Moore. Her younger sister Rowena is more charismatic, charming and beautiful, and thus gets a lot of male attention. When Rowena is set to be betrothed to the otherworldly Tristan Mountbatten, Rowena is against the marriage. Isla, ever the protective and loving older sister, chooses to take her place and marry Tristan in Rowena's stead. Isla has an eerie feeling about Tristan and there's something in the back of her mind telling her he may not be all that human.

Thus is the situation as it presents itself. The book follows the depths of Isla's thoughts and feelings: being betrothed to an equal parts alluring and horrifying man, along with living in a zealously religious and unequal world that is plagued by strife and war. I cannot overstate the depth in which this book goes into Isla's feelings about her situation, her relationships with both Tristan and her family, and her place in the wider world.

PJ Fox goes to great lengths to describe the struggles, trials and tribulations of everyday medieval life at a manor house that has definitely seen better days. There was quite a bit of info dump but I surprisingly didn't hate it. Yes, there were some passages I skimmed through. Detailed descriptions of the cheese-making process, what peat is, and a diatribe on what certain foraged ingredients treat which illness to some people may seem a bit overkill. And sometimes it was, but I can't help but feel that it gave this story a sense of bleak realism, similar to Game of Thrones in its attempts to show the gritty life of a crumbling medieval estate. Still, some people will find this less appealing than I did, so be wary that there's a ton of description in this book that is not at all necessary to the plot.

This is not a dialogue heavy book at all. In between detailed descriptions of hygiene or different materials for longbows, comes Isla's inner thoughts: of who she is as a person and how she sees the problematic world around her. In fact, I think Isla's discovery of herself (leading up to a shocking climax towards the end of the book and her acceptance of it) takes center stage.

Tristan is no doubt a compelling and immensely interesting part of the story, but in a lot of ways he is a device to make Isla come to terms with what she wants in the world, and face the darkest pits of depravity. But he also helps Isla herself become more secure in her misgivings of the world, and secure in herself as someone who deserves to be loved in a time when love is severely lacking.

Throughout, the book keeps building up this tension and feeling of unease as we see Isla's thoughts and beliefs change in regards to Tristan and her family. It builds wonderfully to the climax of the book where Isla is forced to make a decision and come to terms with the good, the bad and the ugly, so to speak.

There is so much going on thematically with this book that I think anyone who wants to read something that has a lot of fodder for discussion would appreciate it.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to get this book for free from Amazon (you might want to see if it still available), it was a book I had wanted to read for a while but wasn't quite willing to take a chance and buy it, but I can say with all honesty that it would have been worth its money. This book reminded me strongly of one of my favorite authors back in the day, Kathleen Woodwiss, but here i got the best of both worlds her style within the paranormal romance genre. Set in Medieval England, written in great detail and highly atmospheric as well as being character driven. We have a sort of beauty and beast story-line, but boy our beast is a bad guy and stays that way, no prince charming hidden away. Both characters stay true to who they are like it or not and some ways this is more honest than most relationships. I highly recommend both books, the second one I had to buy immediately, with no buyers remorse and now I can't wait for the next and last one one.

[cEe beE · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate it when a beautiful book cover entices a reader, only for her to fling it aside in disgust after awhile. I gave up after slogging through a plot that frequently segues into lengthy info dumps about medieval life. It didn’t help that the main character, Isla was not very interesting. She disliked her life and everything around her. She had very modern sensibilities that didn’t match everyone else in their backward setting. It felt like an historical scholar inserted themselves into their subject matter as an outsider.

It was tedious and once I learned this was part one of a series, I gave up. The story wasn’t THAT interesting for me to continue. D+

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was completely blown away by this book. from the very first chapter I was hooked. Fox's writing made you feel like you were there and made you feel FOR her characters. So good!!! Ill be buying the second book today.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh yeah, he’s evil...and I can’t hear his every loving thought because it’s not alternating point of views like authors LOVE to do right now.

Count me in!!

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

So it took me a quarter of the book to realize that the title of this book wasn't metaphorical. I would like to note that there's literally a scene in this book where—upon the revelation that he's not human—the dude says "say it" to her and I had to google whether I had (once again) accidentally read a book that turned out to have been Twilight fanfiction in its past life.

That said, I actually liked the dark age flavor of the magic in this story and how Fox didn't shy away from the grotesque aspects of monsters and demons. The denouement to this story was horrifying and morally complicated and I couldn't look away. The history nerd in me also really appreciated the meticulous period detail—although it sometimes got a little too dense.

Unfortunately, this book often descended into unsubtle lectures against the Christianity-stand-in church or about the plight of women. And I mean, I'm down with a medieval fantasy novel with a feminist mindset, but the tone of the asides were so at odds with the rest of the novel that you could really tell that author was using the characters as a mouthpiece.

Also, on the feminist front, Fox seems to want to have her cake and eat it too. While she might talk game, the main character entirely lacks agency throughout the novel and every single one of the other female characters are either depicted as grasping bitches or cheerful sluts. For the former, instead of being characters with complicated motivations, many of the female characters (her sister being the most egregious example) exist mainly to be randomly malicious and manufacture drama so the main character can clutch her breast and gasp "E tu, Brute?" I don't think I would have minded all the women being grasping and small minded if the main character (who of course is beautiful and doesn't know it) wasn't depicted as generous and self-sacrificing in comparison. For instance, if she had cut her sister out of the engagement not because of altruism but because she wanted to get the fuck out of Dodge, I would have been less bothered by the later catfighting As for the other, while there isn't exactly that much judgement of these women, the main character never fails to mention that they sleep around whenever they show up.

I'm really of two minds on this book. There was a lot that I liked, and it really felt like something I hadn't read before, but it was also an uneven read. I'm probably going to read the sequel, so I will report back later.

[Anzû · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm finding it a tad difficult to rate this one. For one, I really like the idea of a thin line between hero and villain. Questionable actions, justifying them from a different point of view that might not seem so evil in the end. Tristan, our local might-be-demon, is precisely that. I think he is my favorite part of this book. His strangeness is fascinating, the author did a great job fleshing him out. I still felt at times that he was a bit bland, too robotic. But maybe that was the idea, to make him feel 'wrong'.

Isla, our protagonist... Eh. I did not click with her whatsoever. I couldn't help but feel a constant condescending air about her, a special snowflake kind of deal. I can get over that, sometimes. The way her relationship and feelings towards Tristan changed over time was too childish, it did not feel like a natural progression or a connection. There was no chemistry. It happened, and that's about it. They're an item now. Deal with it.

Some other things I like were the little inserts of random trivia about how certain things worked back in the day, hygiene, and whatnot. Even though sometimes it felt a little bit strange to have it all of a sudden take the spotlight in a scene.

Overall, the mood of the setting was nothing special, I would have enjoyed it more if it was gloomier and darker, more atmospheric. But that's just me and the typical things that draw me to gothic novels, I like me them desolate moods. At times I found myself grinding through the chapters, waiting for something to happen. It was a complete slug at the end, it took much too long to be able to finish than anticipated.

Will I be giving the rest of the series a try? No. I think this was more than enough for me.