Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff

Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff

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Title: Darkdawn
Author: Jay Kristoff
Year Published: 2019
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Adult Fantasy, Definitely not Young Adult
Format: Physical book

Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥
Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥
World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥
Flow: ♥♥♥♥♥

Synopsis:

A ruthless young assassin's journey for revenge comes to a stunning end in the conclusion of this acclaimed epic fantasy trilogy.

The Republic of Itreya is in chaos. Mia Corvere has assassinated Cardinal Duomo and rumors of Consul Scaeva’s death ripple through the street of Godsgrave like wildfire. But buried beneath those same streets, deep in the ancient city’s bones, lies a secret that will change the Republic forever.

Mia and her brother Jonnen must journey through the depths of the ancient metropolis. Their quest will take them through the Godsgrave underdark, across the Sea of Swords, back to the library of the Quiet Mountain and the poisoned blades of Mia’s old mentors, and at last the fabled Crown of the Moon. There, Mia will at last discover the origins of the darkin, and learn the destiny that lies in store for her and her world. But with the three suns now in descent, and Truedark on the horizon, will she survive?

Review*:
   I've been sitting on this review for a little while because I wanted to really take in Mia's entire story. I, like most who have read this, appreciate Mia for being that girl on a pedestal. She's super cool, super hot, strong, and completely fearless. So with sitting up pretty, there is a great chance to have this entire thing fall, right? The author suddenly makes the story about the romance rather than the duty to the plot, the romance is terrible and the plot is decent. It's all subject to potentially leave a shitty taste in your mouth.
  So with that, I was apprehensive about how Darkdawn was going to play out. Godsgrave left us on a really big high. Tric was back, Mia & Ash were a thing, Mia was a champion and murderous queen. How are we going to end it?
   I can't say I love Darkdawn and it will be something I'd consider rereading for just the scenes in this book alone. Rereading just one book out of a series is common for me, since I may not care for the lead-up enough, or the ending was garbage. It's a weird testament to a book I know I'm going to love. I gobble up scenes in one sitting not being able to put it down because that one chapter really hooked me or was a satiating ending to a burn we've gotten for a 1/4 of the book. I think we've all been there. Those moments are appreciated, but I want a book where I have to read the entire series because there is no one specific part that stands out more than the rest of the story.
   This whole series was complete. In the easiest way to describe it. The story is strong the entire way through. There are no holes. There are no missing pieces. My favorite character is still the main character and she will most likely be one of my favorites of all time for years to come.
   I will cover quickly what I did not care for. One, I don't care romantic Mia. I know I am probably 100% alone in this, but her talking about her feelings with Ash bored me more than anything. Ash actually ended up annoying me slightly with her desperation, but at the same time it kind of added to the story. Tric, who I originally didn't care for in Nevernight because of his romance, was a bit more preferred for me. It's funny because the flirty Ash in NN was preferred, but the doomed romance in DD with Tric was what I wanted. The reason why I don't care for the romance in either is because, as Mr. Kindly pointed out, Mia is on a fucking mission and WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR FEELINGS. The sex was fine, not a lot of emotions in that. My need for less clingy Ash is the only reason I gave characters a 4/5.
   The loss of characters through Darkdawn was, morbidly, beautifully done. We did not lose all of our beloved characters at once, and they did not all survive which is unrealistic. Plucking them off through the story was a great fuel for the plot and conflict for the story. I think Wavewalker and Bryn's death was by far the most tragic. I actually almost teared up when Bryn put herself out there to Wavewalker emotionally and then was fucking butchered by rodents of the Red Church. The cadence of which we lost these people was very realistic to the setting of the story. Sure we love them, however I also understand that none of us cheat death. 
   Jonnen is precious in everyway and I love him.
   As for Mia's end and the destiny in which she was granted, I enjoyed the way it ended but I wanted a little more anger. She was born from fear, honed by her rage, and in the end I wanted to hate her fucking father and cheer on her triumph. We ended with a little more forgiveness that I wanted, or at least I could have used a little more anger before the forgiveness. 
   My favorite scene, in all of the entire story though, has definitely inspired me to solidify what I want my sleeve tattoo to be. I've been going back and forth for years on what I want to put on my arm, but I think I finally landed on Mia on the pirate ship, in the middle of the fucking storm from Liis to Ashkah and it's about to snap. I absolutely fucking LOVE the way that Mia murdered the pirate king. It was so elegant and beautiful and incredibly amazing. Ugh, I could gush about it for forever.
   To sum up this somewhat ramble-y review, I absolutely adored the Nevernight series. It's hands down one of my favorite books of all time. I haven't been this jazzed about a series in a long time. If you haven't read it, fucking read it already. I will still play Black No 1. by Type 0 Negative (obv. the original version) and think of Mia when he mentions wolfskin boots. I hope to reread this series one day in the not so distant but still little bit distant future. 


Three Review*:

   All I really have to say to sum up this little deleted scene is thank you. As much as I felt Jay was giving himself a little bit too much credit for his ability to write smut, this piece was actually a really good showcase of what I felt was actually well written. 
   To clarify, I really don't care for smut when it's all "She grinded her sex against him," and in an effort to keep it mild repeatedly refer to our sexual anatomy as 'sex'. Female authors do it, male authors do it. It's fucking dumb. If I don't feel comfortable reading the smut, I can skip over the page and a half of 'sex' rubbing to get on with the story. Same goes to the phrase "she was shattered", and yes I am calling you specifically out Mrs. Maas.
  Authors, please read this to get an idea of how not to sound repetative, but also be not too lude with your sex scenes. I read this in like five minutes at work and I didn't get hot and bothered but I did appreciate the writing. 
   So for you Jay, a very nice well done.
P.S. If you don't like sex, don't fucking read this. Got it?

*This section contains spoilers.