Ivy G.’s Reviews > Howling Dark > Status Update

I think this book has a much slower start than the first one. It’s still good but I am not as gripped in the plot currently, because at least 25% of it was about Hadrian arguing with Lin and trying to make things work with Jinan.

I’m actually glad we’re finally referencing the vision he saw in Calagan and whatever the Quiet is. We’re finally getting somewhere!

Hadrian is a bit of a hypocrite because before finding out that Brevon was going to give the Cielcin blood for pharmaceutical research, instead of cloning for slavery like humans have, he was justifying sparing himself thinking he was not going to contribute to the cycle of slavery. But he agreed to do it to the Cielcin anyway.

I’m not sure yet if this is by design.

There’s a vague sense of hint that the Cielcins that were humanized in the first book would shift to how they’ve been originally perceived with truth to it. For now, Hadrian’s ignorant of it since the notion we have is the same as the reader. I don’t know how to feel about it yet, I’m waiting until I reach that point of understanding.

Maybe Hadrian suffers sunk cost fallacy and he couldn’t turn back.

I don’t feel Jinan as a loss. I didn’t really emotionally connect with her and her relationship with Hadrian to feel sympathetic over their impending parting.

Putting this in a modern setting, a clash between work and principles doesn’t weigh much grief to the relationship I’m supposed to be mourning. I understand both sides and they have chosen the opposites. I only wish for him and Valka to reconcile.

It also seems like it might take a while for me to reconcile the fact that Valka isn’t Hadrian’s lover considering how much they bonded and developed their relationship in the first book. To have Janin as his lover felt too new and established, I’m not learning the same information as Hadrian now.

Good to be back. The first chapter is much more difficult to accumulate in compared to starting the series considering there’s enough time skip to have established that Hadrian has a lover who isn’t Valka, Switch has multiple, and they are securing contact with a lead to find the mythical world.

So, it’s confusing to come to terms with established events for the meantime.